Building on the guiding principles of polycentricity and urban-rural partnership laid down by the ESDP, this 4 year action project, led by Brussels University will look at new ways of stimulating indigenous development and balanced growth. The 8 strong partnership which is made up of practice-based organisations and academic research institutes from Belgium, the Republic of Ireland and France, strongly believes in participation, empowerment and multi-level governance which it considers are key factors to successfully harness the social and economic capital of regions. Within each of the partner regions, two territories representing a range of urban-rural mixes will serve as laboratories to explore new ways of extending community participation in planning processes, test more effective models of multi-level governance and develop new approaches to partnership building. In each of pilot territory, a local platform will be set up involving development players and elected representatives at local level. Two transnational pools of experts will provide external input on strategic territorial planning and multi-level governance to the local platforms, thereby promoting maximum interaction between the local and transnational level. The partners have scheduled a variety of workshops, events and publications to disseminate their findings as the project develops.