The VIVES Innovation Centre (VIC) is the beating heart for research, service and innovation of VIVES University of Applied Sciences. It is the B2B place to be to enter into dialogue with companies and organisations.

Enterprising students and lecturers can also go there to develop their creative ideas and launch start-ups. Because the combination of studying and doing business is topical. An event space suitable for seminars and receptions completes the picture.

The VIVES Innovation Centre is housed in an old flax farm that once housed the National Flax Museum. The flax workers were the real entrepreneurs of the time and thanks to their perseverance and determination the region flourished. VIVES is now transforming the farmstead into a centre of contemporary entrepreneurship and hopes that the spirit of the old flax workers can serve as inspiration.

VIVES bought the buildings of the former flax museum from the city of Kortrijk at the end of 2013. The university college renovated the building in function of a new Innovation Centre and the wellbeing and vitality management course. In concrete terms, the Innovation Centre now has five office spaces for start-ups, a reception area/lounge for start-ups, a meeting room and a multipurpose hall for exhibitions, conferences and extra work space.

The knowledge valorisation department was previously located in rented premises at Kortrijk railway station. The new location forms a literal link between the VIVES and KULAK campuses and should literally bring the research collaboration between both institutions closer together.

VIVES keeps its finger on the pulse when it comes to social trends and tendencies. From six expertise centres, the university college builds up knowledge on current themes. In these six expertise centres, VIVES experts join forces. An expertise centre is a home to easily accessible and practice-oriented research and forms a recognisable and acknowledged point of contact for companies and businesses. Moreover, the research conducted by the expertise centres provides new knowledge and insights for education.