In view of the broad scope of the programme the CATO-2 advisory board expressed in their last recommendations a concern with respect to programme coherency. In response to this interaction will be a permanent issue on the agenda, starting June 1^st at the work package leaders meeting.

CATO currently executes some 50 work packages (in addition to the work performed in around 40 PhD projects). The thematic nature of the programme does ensure good cooperation within Sub-Programmes but does not necessarily lead to strong interaction across themes. In response to the recommendations of the Advisory Board around 25 work package leaders gathered on June 1st to review programme interdependencies, redefine shared objectives, and discuss common threats and challenges as e.g. posed by the changes in the CCS landscape. For most of us this was a fruitful event - which will help us look beyond the borders of our individual work packages - although this may be partly due to the location (Ouwehands Dierenpark, Rhenen) and the extremely nice weather that allowed us to have most of our discussion in the open.

We intend to follow up on these discussions during the CATO-2 meeting on July 1st and will make interaction between work packages a permanent issue on the agenda of our Programme Council and WP leaders meetings.