Member Trip Lille-Kortrijk | September 14-16, 2026

Connekt is organizing a three-day member trip to the Lille-Kortrijk region from September 14 to 16, 2026. For years, this region has been working on issues that are also on the agenda in the Netherlands: urban accessibility, multimodal logistics, and cross-border cooperation. Spending three days together with Connekt peers and French and Belgian colleagues working on the same challenges provides space for conversations that otherwise would not take place.

Why Lille-Kortrijk?

What makes the region interesting is that you can see how this approach works in practice, in a region with a different administrative context, different scales, and different choices than we are accustomed to.

The visits in the draft program include Ports de Lille, which demonstrates how urban logistics and multimodal infrastructure converge in an international corridor context, with the construction of the Seine–Nord Europe Canal as a concrete example. Lille Métropole and Ville de Lille show how a metropolis creates mobility policy and translates it to the city. In Kortrijk, the focus is on data-driven spatial policy and a digital twin at Leiedal, the relationship between inland shipping and urban development along the Leie banks, and the Seine-Scheldt project as a link between local interventions and international corridors. The trip concludes at the Eurometropolis, where fourteen institutional partners work together across the French-Belgian border on mobility, space, and economy—not as an aspiration, but as a daily practice.

Provisional program

We are currently putting this trip together, in which Connekt's Advisory Board and Supervisory Board are also participating. The program is a draft and may still change in the coming period. Visits and substantive focuses may be adjusted based on availability and current events. We will keep you informed by continuing to supplement and/or change this program. You can find the draft program here.

Costs

The study trip is exclusive to members of Connekt. The costs for participating in this trip depend on the type of membership:

• Regular Members: €1,800 per participant
• Premium Members and Strategic Partners: €900 for the first participant, €1,800 for each subsequent participant (members of Connekt's Advisory Board have priority)

The stated amounts include the bus trip, accommodation, visits, local transport, and meals (including drinks). Other costs are at your own expense. Please consult the general terms and conditions for Connekt member trips here for more information.

Would you like to join?

The trip is almost full; for the last available spot, please contact Marije de Nijs.