Environmental issues are one of the major concerns of the European citizen.
Consequently, the research into and the monitoring of environmental pollutants is a key issue of environmental research. This booklet describes the activities of a research network comprising 14 top European laboratories, their successes and the training of the next generation of young researchers. In fact, a multidisciplinary approach to measure and analyse air, soil and water pollutants has been undertaken in the framework of this network also involving an industrial partner from Finland. The environmental problems investigated span from the depletion of the ozone layer, the acidification of soil and water, the generation and dissemination of new organisms into the environment to waste and hazardous residues.