The focus of MA+ is laid on a balanced polycentric development of BSR and its metropolitan regions. MA+ intends to strengthen metropolitan regions as a whole. Transnationally agreed development targets and measures - already in the preliminary stages - should help to reduce the traditional metropolitan conflict situation of functional and growth competition between the centre of conurbation, the surrounding area and the region of integration. Exemplary new forms of intercommunal and interregional cooperation like the Eastern Norway County Network (ENCN) and the Work Team of Regional Development Centres (ArgeREZ) or the Mälar region help to enable a sustainable balance of adminsitrative interests, functions and resources in the whole metropolitan regions by metropolises, nodes, outskirt centres and regions.Main goal is to strengthen the competitiveness of each metropolitan region as integrated economic, functional, social and resource region by sharing functions and potentials and by this of BSR as a counterpole to the established economic regions of Central Europe.In the medium-term, the balance of interests of metropolises and their polycentral nodes on the one hand and of the metropolitan regions and their poly-central settlement centres on the other hand shall increase the conditions for settling jobs, improving the quality of life of all social and generative groups of population and strengthening the political cooperation in general. In the short-term, strategic key projects of marketing and management accompanying investment proceeding will lead to real development and investment effects in an exemplary manner and will be implemented on regional and local level in public private partnership. Achievements: All MA+ partners demonstrated concretely their interpretation of polycentricity and the problems in the implementation of this strategy. Several conferences, workshops and meetings took place, which were organised alternately by the participating project partners.A WP2 study tour (also open for the other MA+ partners) with the theme Polycentricity supporting regional development – the case of Glasgow and Clyde Valley was organised with the aim to extend international experience outside the BSR. Partners from Berlin and Stockholm met in open seminars for the exchange of experience (March 2004 in Berlin and June 2005 in Stockholm).The MA+ project results were published in the final project report Polycentricity in Practice and Leaf Mag No. 3.The LeafMag was produced not only in English, but also in German, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian language. All WP2 results were summarized in a final report WP2 Integrated Polycentric Land Use and Trans portation Policy and an annex WP2 Integrated Polycentric Land Use and Transportation Policy – Case Studies Review. The report includes an overview of the project including partners and tasks, a common perspective focusing on international, national, regional and local levels, recommendations and summary reports from all WP2 sub-projects.The regions involved in WP3 have discussed different strategies for the marketing of polycentric regions and have worked out methodological approaches (SWOT analysis). The increasing impor tance of knowledge-based industries will change the marketing for sites and regions. The different knowledge based clusters were identified and a benchmarking of the regional potentials in an interna tional context was carried out. All involved regions see an increasing role of creative businesses.