The AGATE project deals with the question of the structuring of the rural areas of the Atlantic Area, linking them coherently with the territories around them, and notably with urban networks. It is a question of participating in the structuring of the territory by means of the concerting of actors, the setting up of partnerships and the emergence of projects. The project accords great importance to the involvement of local actors, who participate on a daily basis in the development of their territory and who can therefore bring pertinent insights to the debate. AGATE plans to create some twenty think-tank groups made up of different local actors, supposed in particular to reflect on themes like ‘the links among urban and rural zones’ or ‘the development of rural territories in the Atlantic Area’. Expected Results: The project proposes inter alia to define individual or collective projects for co-operation on the development of inter-relations between the urban and rural levels, and to support their development by means of setting up 20 working, discussion and debating groups (transverse work). The creation of a network of themed observations will be an essential tool for publicising the analyses and results on a wide and trans-national scale. Communication of the results will be established by means of an Internet site.