Co-operation" is a topical theme. For many people in society, trade and industry as well as in public administration, co-operation, strategic networks and alliances are an important prerequisite for success and development. Voluntary co-operation is increasingly to be found in different areas of public life: - between towns and communities (inter-communal co-operation), - between societal groups in so-called "non-profit organizations", - between business enterprises (corporate networks), - between industry and public administration (private-public-partnership), - between consumers and producers, - as Local or Regional Agenda processes, - as co-operative contact between different hierarchy levels, and also - between different players in a region.