Background Elefsina Bay, a medium sized port, is one of the most industrialised and environmentally degraded areas in Greece. Quality of life and economic development of the area is adversely affected by pollution and hazards from port and industrial activities, as well as from uncontrolled urbanisation, which has limited communal spaces and constrained access to the sea. The situation among the Elefsina communities is typical of many other industrial port and urban areas in Greece, South-eastern Europe and the EU in general. Objectives The project sought to demonstrate that the regeneration of such an area is possible, if a dedicated investment in civic infrastructure takes place and the initiative has the support of all stakeholders. It aimed to establish a collaborative approach to the integrated socio-environmental regeneration of the Elefsina Bay urban area, incorporating the city of Elefsina. This would involve: enhancing the civic infrastructure; introducing capacity-building measures for local authorities and the community; and improving the port’s environmental performance by adapting and implementing the LIFE ‘ECOPORT’ project’s eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) guidelines. The project also aimed to implement awareness-raising activities. The project would apply, develop and disseminate a state-of-the-art social technology called ‘deliberative community visioning’ that supports participatory processes, in line with the EU’s Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment. Results The project succeeded in providing the residents of Elefsina with a vision for an improved urban environment. Extensive participatory processes – meetings, workshops, public events and a wide range of educational actions – resulted in raising public awareness of the issues involved and in providing tangible goals for an improved urban environment in the future. With the collaboration of local businesses and the municipality, the project brought about the following key environmental improvements: 1. The installation of a system to track the movements of vessels in Elefsina Bay, to identify hazardous loads, and communicate with ship operators in the event of an accident. 2. Renovations were carried out on a major artery between an archaeological area and the seacoast. Similarly, renovations were also carried out to an urban square for recreational use, the city’s cultural and environmental information centre and an adjacent coastal square. 3. An environmental management system was established at the Elefsina Port Authority and EMAS certification of the port achieved. 4. Extensive participatory processes encouraged the development of common goals and agreement on an action plan for the Elefsina Bay and urban area. 5. Extensive educational activities were carried out with the active support of students and teachers. Activities included beach clean-up operations, painting competitions, as well as meetings and talks in order to establish a common vision of the future for the city of Elefsina. 6. Promotional material included the production of a documentary entitled: “Elefsina: one city, two faces”. This depicts the history of the area since ancient times and examines its degradation and actions that are being taken towards urban regeneration. The film participated in the 12th Documentary Film Festival in Thessaloniki (14 and 15 March, 2010). It will also be submitted to other international film festivals. A short project DVD has also been produced. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).