Louvre-Lens, the detonator of change
“Catalyst”, “Louvre otherwise”, “strong signal”: so many qualifiers that designate the Louvre-Lens. This cultural laboratory aims to revitalize the territory. And it takes on the ambitious double challenge of interesting both the inhabitants of the Mining Basin and fans of the Louvre. This museum is the result of a collective mobilization and aims to produce a real leverage effect for the territory.
Its large park, open to all, is also designed as a place for exhibitions, events and discoveries. An essential link in the chain of parks, it opens onto a district where excellence and innovation combine with the Center for the Conservation of the works of the Louvre, the Bollaert-Delelis stadium, Louvre Lens Vallée, the University of Artois… The Louvre -Lens is the figurehead of a network of first-rate cultural facilities: 9-9bis and its Metaphone, the City of Electricians, the National Culture Commune Stage, etc.
The CRIL, an international lab
The Lens Computer Science Research Center is a joint research unit between the University of Artois and the CNRS, whose unifying research theme has concerned artificial intelligence and its applications for more than twenty-five years. The CRIL now has around sixty members: researchers, teacher-researchers, doctoral students and administrative and technical staff. It is located on two sites in Lens: the Faculty of Sciences Jean Perrin and the IUT.
The CRIL is a laboratory of excellence in AI marked by a strong internationalization, which is reflected in a wide variety of nationalities among its members (more than ten nationalities), by its participation in various international projects (European project H2020 TAILOR, agreement- framework with the National Institute of Informatics in Japan, co-piloting of an international laboratory associated with the University of California at Los Angeles in the USA, etc.) and by a high number of co-publications with colleagues from laboratories located abroad.
Creative Talent Accelerator
Like center of excellence and cultural innovation created in 2013, Louvre Lens Valley supports the territory's transition through entrepreneurship, culture and innovation. Since its creation in 2013 LLV has supported, in incubation and acceleration, more than 100 projects.
The aim is to develop a stone's throw from the Louvre-Lens and the Louvre Conservation Center in Liévin creative hub, a place of experimentation of more than 2 m² aimed at decompartmentalising the artistic, academic, entrepreneurial and civic spheres around:
- digitization of works
- conservation, preservation of works and enhancement of heritage
- innovation in mediation, in arts and crafts and in tourism.
In 2019, he received from the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery le French Tech label which intends to make France one of the most dynamic countries in terms of the take-off of start-ups. Its ecosystem brings together more than 160 companies, partners and actors and 60 stakeholders in the community French Tech Artois.
Louvre Lens Vallée is also a Fab Lab (the MuséoLab) created on the initiative of the University of Artois, a nursery and one of the 3 totem places of the Artois innovation park.
Since 2022, it has been labeled by the BPI- French Touch as a place for the dissemination and promotion of the creative and cultural industries.
Soon, the first digital hospital in France
The new hospital in Lens, which will open its services to patients in 2027, will be a cutting-edge tool in terms of medical technology. The first digital hospital in France, it will also be a model in the field of sustainable development and digital renovation: a model of energy and digital transition at the service of the environment and health.
Focus on PIAC
Invested in the prerogatives of digital transition, like the whole territory of the Metropolitan Pole of Artois, the agglomeration of Hénin-Carvin carries an original project of commercial incubator. The Incubator for Initiatives and Creative Activities "PIAC" aims to be a place for exchanges and meetings that allows all local economic players and associations to be involved.
The project takes place on a wasteland (former garage) located in the heart of the city and it hosts meetings and exhibitions of young artists. The rehabilitation of the site has enabled the creation of a logistics center intended to support local businesses in their e-commerce development activities, while promoting innovation through several spaces:
- spaces dedicated to coworking, conviviality, and exchanges
- a business incubator allowing entrepreneurs to test their trade as a merchant or craftsman.
