1. Intermediaries New intermediary services and the transformation of urban water supply and wastewater disposal systems in Europe A research project funded by the European Commission under the Framework 5 Programme Key Action “Sustainable Management and Quality of Water” (contract EVK1-CT-2002-00115) Duration: 11/2002 – 10/2005

2. The research issues • Urban infrastructure in transition • Between utility and consumer: intermediary space • Intermediary services • Intermediary organisations

3. The work packages (I) • Current status of water market liberalisation (focussing on Accession States) • Identifying Intermediaries: Types of intermediary activity across urban infrastructure networks • Understanding Intermediaries: Contexts of intermediary development and operation across urban infrastructure networks

4. The work packages (II) • Mapping Intermediaries: Case studies of intermediary activities in the water and wastewater sectors • Evaluating Intermediaries: Impacts of intermediary action in urban contexts • Promoting Intermediaries: Building and testing a decision support module • Exploiting Intermediaries: Promoting project results

5. The ‘Intermediaries’ team • Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning (IRS), Erkner (D) - Coordinator • University of Newcastle (GB) • University of Salford (GB) • Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby (DK) • Panteion University of Athens (GR) • Metropolitan Research Institute (HU) • Urban Alternatives Association (BG) Plus: • 8 end-user Assistant Contractors from 7 countries