A large proportion of the people in the Northern Periphery live in small towns and many of these communities are in long-term retreat. Building strong clusters of towns in remote fragile regions is a priority concern of the European Spatial Development Perspective but it requires a long-term commitment. This project is an extension of the current TOWNS NPP project which encourages the regeneration of networks of towns using bottom-up planning and self-help, with each town seeking to advance through the work of voluntary groups drawn from the local business and community sectors. In this way, experiences and expertise are pooled and disseminated with other communities both locally and transnationally. However, in order to add to the results of the original project, the Small Towns II project places a greater emphasis on youth involvement. Achievements: • Local people surveyed to determine thier wishes and vision for the future • Transnational Conference held in Finland, which included a Steering Committee meeting • 20 Community Chest grants have been awarded, totalling just over €33000, for projects worth €193,000. These range from creation of a web site to environmental improvements through to support for a village officer. • Work commenced on the organisation of the Highland Transnational Conference • Discussions have taken place on a Swedish / Scottish exchange of Project Officers and initial discussions on sending a Highland Officer to Central Finland for an exchange • A newsletter has been produced describing the work of the project and sent to a variety of people / bodies with an interest in the project • A simple measuring procedure to monitor the progress of the Network towns has been completed by the various towns • New events and marketing campaigns undertaken • A draft has been prepared of a document containing Visions for the various small towns. • Project website established, press releases issued, several presentations of project given to decision-makers