Information compilation and management (co-ordinated by Kiel University (IFG-CAU)):
Compilation of all available information from national Regulatory Authorities, EU initiatives, industry associations and Non-Governmental Organisations on:
- Aggregate Usage (Leader: NKUA)
- Resource type and availability (Leader: IFG-CAU)
- Regulatory framework (Leader: UOA) The different licensing/regulatory regimes and their compatibility will be compared with the present European Environmental Legislation (e.g. EIA Directives, Habitats Directive, Water Quality Directives).
- Extraction techniques (Leader: UOA)
Data management and integrated mapping of the occurrence and characterisation of marine aggregates, including coupling to a Geographical Information System (GIS) for various visualisation approaches (Leader: MIG)

Marine aggregate prospecting (co-ordinated by Ghent University (RUG)):
- Review of geophysical instrumentation, survey and interpretative techniques presently in use for the location/evaluation of marine aggregate deposits (Leader: RUG)
- Field evaluation of MA prospecting techniques (Southern North Sea and Baltic Sea experimental sites): optimisation of survey strategies (including the deployment of 'state-of-the-art' geophysical instrumentation) and of sampling strategies, on the basis of geophysical data. (Leader: RUG)
- Recommendations and formulation of research protocols (Leader: UOA)

Assessment of the environmental impacts of marine aggregate (MA) extraction (co-ordinated by the University of Southampton (SUSOES)):
- Review and sensitivity of the hydro- sediment and morphodynamic models presently in use, to study mining-induced changes. Morphodynamic modelling of the experimental sites calibrated/validated against high-quality field observations (Leader: UT)
- Field observations of offshore (near-field) and coastal hydrodynamics/sediment dynamics (Leaders: SUSOES/ULCO)
- Review of research protocols presently in use to monitor ecological changes at MA extraction sites. Field evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of these methods. Establishing the nature and vulnerability (to aggregate mining) of the benthic communities (Leader: AZTI)

Research Integration and Formulation of Guidelines (co-ordinated by AZTI):
- Integration of the results from all previous tasks, resulting in the design of improved research protocols for MA resource prospecting and for the assessment of the environmental impacts of MA extraction