As the leading figures of their region for the elaboration and execution of public policies concerning environmental planning and development, AGUR, the Province of West Flanders and the wvi are considered to be the pioneers in the field of cross-border cooperation. They are convinced that it is necessary to erase the border and to bring the population closer together out of concern for the coherence and solidarity and they are aware of the assets of each region and the power of their community. That is why, since many years, the Province and the wvi have been developing projects for cross-border cooperation with the financial aid of the European Union.

In 2004, they decided to combine their forces and means in order to generate a cross-border Geographic Information System. The project, which received the name GoGIS, is financed by the Interreg IIIA programme of France-Wallonia-Flanders. The project resulted from the need for new means within the scope of the reorganisation of the cross-border area and concentrates on two main subjects:

- On the basis of regional cartographic material and aerial pictures a website was made about the industrial estates in the cross-border region. (search)
. The website is an important tool for the three project partners as well as for other structures such as the local authorities, but also aims at entrepreneurs and interested citizens. The website provides a coordinated overview of the location, size and occupation of the industrial estates in the cross-border region. By offering such a coordinated overview the website encourages both a coherent environmental planning policy and joint economic promotion of the region.

- Simultaneously with the development of the GIS application, a socio-economic profile was made of the cross-border region. This profile was the basis for the development of a cross-border observatory (observatory)
. This observatory is intended to interpret and understand the operation of the cross-border region. In other words, similarities, complementarities, differences and needs are identified on the basis of joint observation.

This cross-border Geographic Information System is an important surplus value for the region as it stimulates the dynamism generated by the cross-border platform of West Flanders – Flanders-Dunkerque – Cöte d’Opale founded in 2005, supported on the French side by the Syndicat Mixte de la Côte d’Opale, the Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque, the Pays Moulins de Flandre, the Pays Coeur de Flandre, AGUR and on the Belgian side by the Province of West Flanders, the wvi, Westhoekoverleg and RESOC Westhoek.