Civil society at the heart of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis

A Council for the development of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, the Forum brings civil society on board in the reflections and work carried out by the first European Territorial Cooperation Group.

The Forum is made up of 60 representatives from civil society (30 French, 15 French-speaking Belgians and 15 Dutch-speaking Belgians). These representatives come from consultative bodies in the cross-border territory: the development Councils of Metropolitan Lille, Wallonia-Picardy and Transforum. Trade union economists, charities, sporting associations, citizens' groups, etc. are represented within the Forum. On 30 September 2011, its members elected their President, Philippe Luyten, for a two year term. The President calls the Board to a meeting every month. The Board organises the work of the Forum and links up with other development Councils, thus promoting interactivity.

The Forum participates in cross-border reflection, gives opinions and formulates project proposals for the Eurometropolis. Close collaboration has been set up with the Eurometropolis' six thematic working groups (mobility and accessibility, services for the population, tourism, territorial sustainable development strategies, economic development/employment and culture). The Forum can thus give its opinion and submit concrete proposals. Several cross-border projects have already been created out of civil society collaboration, such as the Eurometropolis' Employment Forum.

Moreover, civil society has now set up two working groups: "Health-medical-social" and "Transfrontalia". Submitted to the Interreg committee, the Transfrontalia group's project aims to promote the discovery of our neighbours' culture, if possible learning their language and getting to know respective localities, through various actions. Civil society should thus constitute a real driving force for proposals within the Eurometropolis.