Quality in life, work and play
West Flanders is a beautiful and qualitative province with high living standards. It makes for a pleasant region to live, work and relax. It offers all the facilities needed when it comes to education, tourism, gastronomy and work, since there is a continuous aim to strike a healthy balance between the interests of agriculture, business, nature, housing development and the infrastructure.
As the only coastal province in Belgium, tourism remains one of the cornerstones of the West Flanders economy. The Flemish coast, Bruges and the Westhoek are West Flanders’ traditional attractions, which offer everything a tourist needs: fresh air along the seaside, plenty of nature and agricultural areas, vast polders and picturesque towns…
The Province has a very dynamic food industry with an excellent reputation on international level. Among its regional products are chocolate, beer, gin (jenever) and cheese (e.g. “Oud Brugge”). West Flanders also offers an abundance of delicious pastries, such as the widely known West Flemish ‘Lukken’, or butter waffles from the Westhoek.
When it comes to education, Flanders is said to have one of the best education systems in the whole world. There are no universities in West Flanders. However, the province does have three university-colleges (HOWEST, KATHO, KHBO), as well as the KULAK – the bachelor campus of K.U. Leuven (Catholic University of Louvain) in Kortrijk. In addition, some of the schools in West Flanders offer a few unique, sector-oriented training programmes, such as maritime techniques in Ostend and textile production techniques in Waregem.
