URBAL aims to improve the management of and interrelation between urban-rural spaces to reduce territorial imbalances. Project objectives include on the one hand to improve the understanding of, and raising awareness among local decision-makers on how to, manage urbal space. On the other hand will the project look into what are the spatial implications of sectoral policies. Activities will be carried out as part of five work packages. Actions will be taken to increase the involvement of different actors to avoid fragmented governance and to decrease territorial im-balances, especially targeting imbalances in the provision of healthcare and in economic de-velopment opportunities. Activities will also support more integrated land management to pre-vent urban sprawl, preserve green and recreational areas and manage the competition for land. In parallel, will these activities be monitored and researched to identify best practice in managing ?urbal? space, which will be presented to the EC.

The aim of the project is to show how the performance of the urban water cycle can be optimised with respect to the built environment. For that purpose five themes have been identified, two of which, flows and purification, deal with the efficiency of water cycles, while the rest of the themes ? water system, water management and society focus on how efficiency can be increased by means of achieving balance between the UWC and the environment. During the project each partner will carry out studies and concrete pilot projects where new purification and source control technologies as well as innovative uses for existing technologies will be tested.

The VISP project focuses on a) the global processes of urban and economic change that are creating new challenges for all cities and towns, and b) future EU spatial policy responses that are looking to promote polycentric urban development as a means of achieving balanced and sustainable futures.

The project combines research and pilot projects to improve groundwater quality and integrate groundwater protection into spatial planning. Pilot projects will include work with wetlands, nitrates and pollutants while a wide range of additional activities will ensure the effective dissemination of the lessons learnt.

The overarching aim of the project is to provide relevant authorities with a framework for assessing the cost effectiveness and sustainability of measures for the management of groundwater quality in the context of river basin management plans. In this project, which also has direct links to the implementation of Water Framework and Groundwater Directives, groundwater protection measures (identified under the Water4all project) are combined with cost-effectiveness calculations in order to come up with a common assessment methodology.

The project aims to improve waterfront development in nine gateway cities around the North Sea. It will be implemented along three themes: develop a learning network; meeting strategic objectives and fostering organisational innovation; stetting standards for urban and social design quality. Specific focus will be laid on sustainability and social inclusion. The project will bring together a database of good practice on waterfront redevelopment and systematically test, monitor and evaluate the application of the most relevant methods in the participating cities. As a result of the partner activities, a best practice toolkit will be developed and promoted.

The main aim of the project is to improve urban water systems. Some partners will implement the water plans developed during an earlier stage of the project, addressing for example the enhancement of the water quality of watercourses and the realisation of their recreational potentials. Several ?new? partners will start on the development of water plans, using the experience of the others.

The project aims to examine the potential of water management practices for socio-economic development along water corridors, which provide link from source to the sea. This is to be achieved by examining the practices of five already approved projects, namely MOPARK, NoLimp, TEN3, PURE and WCI II. In this way it is hoped contribute to the development of future proposals for the new period that would also meet the targets laid down in the Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas and a number of EU directives in terms of employment opportunities, investments needed for the implementation of these directives, ICZM and water related issues.

A Wadden Sea Forum will be established to develop scenarios for sustainable development and strategies for their implementation. These strategies include policies for resource use, regulation of activities in the coastal zone, promotion of sustainable regional development, recommendations for the joint implementation of EU legislation and the identification of projects to implement sustainable development into spatial planning. Stakeholders include national, regional and local authorities, different interest groups and advisory boards and experts.