For some time, integrated regional development approaches are gaining importance in Europe. Consequently - and above all with regard to Europe's enlargement - the INTERREG IIIC-project INCORD started in January 2004. The project aims to establish an intense cooperation between German and Eastern European Border Regions in the field of integrated regional development.

The ten Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) are suffering from a huge transformation process. In order to meet these structural challenges, the CEEC call upon EU-means from the Structural Funds. In this context integrated Regional Development Concepts (RDC) represent one appropriate instrument for identifying regional strengths and weaknesses and for deducting practical action strategies and measures. Besides this, the application of a RDC is often a prerequisite for concrete EU-funded operations. Moreover, the huge demand for constructing and renewing basic infrastructure in many different sectors induces the need for approaches responding to the increasing complexity of regional problems and integrating the concern of sustainable development.