Lille is the capital of the Nord - Pas de Calais region (Northern France). Around 220.000 inhabitants live in the town center while the Lille "Metropolis" counts around 1 million inhabitants, 140.000 of them being university level students. Indeed, the metropolis hosts no less than 4 universities and tens of institutes from hard sciences to economics, journalism, management, etc.

During your stay in Lille you will have the opportunity to visit numerous museums: the Palais des Beaux-Arts (the biggest museum in France after the Louvre), the Maison Natale Charles de Gaulle (Lille is his birthplace), the Museum of the Hospice Comtesse and many other interesting places.

The 6WCOC will take place during the closing week of  "lille300O - Europe XXL",

2009's major cultural event in northern France.

Lille is a very lively cultural town. 2004 was a milestone in the history of Lille as it was selected as Cultural Capital of Europe (Lille2004). The popular success of this manifestation has encouraged the authorities of Lille to renew the experience every two years with a four month long festival dedicated to a country or a part of the world (Lille3000).

 If you want to learn more about Lille:

• Lille on Wikipedia

• The Tourist Office of Lille

• The official website of the town of Lille

• The Lille3000 web site

Lille was recently awarded the title of "City of Heritage and Art". Besides its colourful Flemish architecture and its narrow ornamented facades (of which the Vieille Bourse is a prime example), Lille has a rich and varied heritage. French classical style houses sit alongside the eclectism of " grands boulevards " or even the "Maisons Folie" - these former factories (textile, brewery) that are experiencing a start as new cultural and meeting centres. Markets and regional food and drink specialities will also represent a delicious part of your stay.

Coming to Lille

Lille is conveniently located at less than 1 hour from Paris (by TGV), 38 minutes from Brussels and 1h20' from London (by Eurostar).
Essentially domestic flights fly to the airport of Lille (LIL) although, more recently, some international flights are available. The international airport of Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) is directly connected to the the Lille Europe railway station by TGV (55 minutes). Some companies sell combined tickets including the train to Lille at convenient prices (when booking, mention XDB as airport code instead of CDG). You may also fly to Brussels airport (BRU) or to Charleroi (CRL).

The congress

The 6WCOC will take place at the "Pôle Formation" of the Faculty of Medecine of the University of Lille. This is a modern facility including lecture halls and plenty of space for poster sessions and exhibition.

Avenue Eugène Avinée (Loos) - 59045 Lille (France)

For further information : click here

The "Pôle Formation" is located just outside of Lille, on the campus of the Faculty. It is at a walking distance of a metro station which itself is at only five stops from the center of Lille. This will give you the opportunity to experience the first fully automated underground built in the world (1983).