The main aim of the UWC project was to show in practice how to optimise the overall performance of the urban water cycle with respect to the built environment in which it is embedded in. Specific attention was paid to organisational, legal and financial aspects of urban water cycle management in the North Sea Region. Achievements: The UWC project has resulted in new insights and strategies to optimise the urban water cycle by the exchange of local knowledge and experiences. Increasing the efficiency of water cycles will improve water quality, leading to greater bio-diversity and a healthier environment. Thus they will be more cost-effective whereby financial waste can be reduced.The project has shown that there is a strong relationship between the urban water cycle, the urban water system and spatial planning. Optimising the urban waste cycle also included minimizing negative effects of the urban water cycle on the water system. Therefore measures were taken to on the one hand improve the purification of waste water and storm water and on the other hand separate water flows that should not be mixed in the first place. These measures have considerable effect on the built environment as urban water becomes more of an ordering principle in renewal projects as well as that in new housing development projects.In Fryslân (NL) a small project change led to additional funding of € 600.000 for the water-art connection. Additionally this research was going on to copy the Aqualan project in another WWTP in Bergum.