The Joint Transnational Conference will hold a workshop at the Open Days on 12 October in Brussels.

The centre of the village Barger Compascuum is now complete, using the Shared Space concept.  What was a busy crossroads governed by traffic and traffic lights, carving the village up and preventing good community relations. 

The traffic lights are now gone and what was a crossroads is now a village square where young people meet, children play and adults spend time.

Please visit the MP4 website to view a video which tells the story www.mp4-interreg.eu

Now the first issue of the e-harbours newsletter is available to download.

The North Sea Commission has announced two vacant positions as Vice-Chairs for politicians from NSC member regions, for the Innovation and Education Group and for the Sustainable Development Group.

DC NOISE is an Interreg IVB NSR project, it stands for Demographic Change: New Opportunities In Shrinking Europe. Since 2008, nine regions from five European countries have been working together to deal with the consequences of demographic change. An ageing society, fewer young people and population decline have an impact on the labour market, housing and service provision.

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

The 7th Call for Applications is now open - both for full project applications and for cluster applications. Applications can be submitted until and including Monday 3 October 2011.

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 StratMoS project will end on 30 September 2011, so dissimination is now important for us. The project consists of 4 work packages and 5 demonstration projects, and as part of the dissemination each work package and demonstration projects are making their own short videos and leaflets.

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.