The EU and the Western Balkan Countries face common challenges in the very important area of Monitoring and Control (M&C) that create a favourable environment for strategic collaboration in both research and industrial level. BALCON will act as a major driver for the reinforcement of EU–WBC cooperation in M&C research, and as such, boost concrete EU-WBC R&D activities among the M&C key research and industrial leaders of the two regions. The project will achieve its objectives via a wide range of activities that include the:- Assessment of the EU-WBC research collaboration potential in the broader field of M&C to conclude on the "EU-WBC research areas of common interest in the field of M&C", including a set of indicative courses of action to enhance EU-WBC RTD cooperation in the M&C area.- Setting up of a consultation and validation mechanism ("EU-WBC High-level Working Group in M&C area") that will engage key recognised stakeholders of both regions in project activities to increase the project outcomes visibility and credibility, facilitate consensus building and finally their acceptance by the wider EU-WBC community in the area of Monitoring and Control.- Organisation of a variety of networking, training and awareness raising activities to bring closer the research & industrial actors of the two regions, thus, preparing the ground for advanced support services towards the realisation of concrete EU-WBC RTD activities in the M&C area.- Deployment of a variety of dissemination actions, as well as preparing post-project exploitation activities for project outcomes and reassure their sustainability beyond project life-time. BALCON project mobilises a multi-disciplinary consortium of 8 partners: 3 from EU countries (Greece and France) and 5 from Western Balkan Countries (Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, FYROM and Bosnia and Herzegovina). Albania and Kosovo (under UNSC Resolution 1244/99) will also be addressed under project activities through the extensive network and contacts that BALCON WBC partners posses in the broader region.