Sheffield UK's most high profile pilot is now complete.  What was once badly used land that fell far short of its potential is now a beautiful park incorporating an open air community amphitheatre and steps made from local materials.  The site is planted with a large variety of fruit and nut trees which will be available for local people to harvest.

The site was officially opened on 17 September with a parade through the city and an afternoon of entertainment to christen the amphitheatre.  Please visit our website for photographs www.mp4-interreg.eu

• Environmental concerns pose the biggest challenge for the cruise sector today.
• Popular cities face being swamped by thousands of cruise passengers.
• Everyone wants to be green but not many want to pay the price.
• Ports looking to serve the cruise sector need to ensure that the required wastewater, garbage and recycling facilities are in place – and also consider shoreside LNG supplies.

Institutions interested in joining a project idea or project ideas in search of additional partners in relation to the 7th Call for Applications are still welcome to make use of the project idea section. Ideas, cooperation themes and contact details can be submitted online.

The projects and cluster projects approved at Steering Committee No 6 are now presented in the project section of the Programme website. The presentations include a project overview with a map displaying the partners involved as well as specific project details.

The pre-assessment period in relation to the 7th Call for Applications has ended. The Secretariat received 16 pre-assessments for projects and clusters. Feedback will be provided before the opening of the Call.

Relevant professionals are hereby invited to submit a quotation for a design contract for the North Sea Region Programme.

Characterize the North Sea Region
Thank you for participating at our survey about the North Sea Region. We would like to find out about its image and attractive locations. Your opinion and point of view is of special interest for us.

Please go to  http://www.cruisegateway.eu/node/36 to start the survey.

Lead Beneficiary Seminar No. 5 will take place on 27 and 28 September 2011 in Denmark. Invitations and the seminar programme will be sent out in August.

In co-operation with NOFA (NL), the project Vital Rural Area held its third International Policy Forum on Regional Development on May 26th and 27th, 2011, in Multi-functional Village Centre de Beijer at Rinsumageast (NL). A video with an impression of the forum is available here.

Registration for the first Joint Conference of all 13 Transnational Cooperation Programmes is now open. The conference will take place in Katowice, Poland, 15-16 September 2011.

The application pack and the clustering guidance for the 7th Call are now online. Both documents provide valuable information for applicants in preparation for the upcoming call.

Web videos summarizing both days of the Annual Conference can now be found on Youtube. The two clips give a taste of the event, including comments from participants and short interviews with stakeholders.

The "North Sea Region 2020", which the North Sea Commission will present at the Joint Annual Conference in Bruges, is now available for download.

Registration for the Annual Conference 2011 will close on Monday 13 June. 333 participants have registered to date.

Steering Committee meeting No. 6 was held 7-8 June in Kiel, Germany. At the meeting, the Steering Committee decided about the applications received under the 6th Call for Applications, which was open from 14 February to 14 March.

The INTERREG IVB North-West Europe Programme is currently recruiting a Project Coordinator to work in its offices based in Lille, France. Deadline is 22 June.

The Programme invites interested professionals to submit a bid for a short term contract regarding the production of a number of articles for an upcoming publication on transport issues. Deadline is 10 June.

On 9th September 2011 the NMU lead partner Transport Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, organises in cooperation with the Royal Meteorological Society the conference on how to reduce the impact of emissions from aviation and shipping.

For more information, and to register online, please visit the conference website www.conference.tri-napier.org.

Click here for the Flyer: http://www.nsr.nm-uni.eu/download/cat_view/61-public-download-area/43-other-media

As of Friday 27 May, all members of staff in the North Sea Region Programme secretariat will be getting a new telephone number. Please click here to see a list of the new contact details in the 'Who's Who' section.