The overall objectives of ECOSTAND are to provide the necessary support to permit the agreement on a common methodology for assessing the effects of ITS on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This will enable future ITS investment and policy decisions to be taken on the basis of sound and detailed knowledge of their environmental impacts. ECOSTAND favours a continuous dialogue between the EU, Japan and USA on the assessment of ITS, permitting a high quality EU contribution to the definition of a joint research agenda and an agreed assessment methodology, and actively stimulating cooperation between the three regions. Furthermore, ECOSTAND will stimulate the exchange of information on state-of-the-art modelling techniques and simulation tools, and will promote the definition of a common agenda for future research in this area. The project will involve a three-step-process, beginning with a short preparation phase, followed by two rounds of symposia, and ending with a joint technical report. In the preparation phase a review of best practice will be carried out, together with a relationship-building exercise in order to ensure the attendance and cooperation of key experts at the symposia. In each round of symposia three events will be organised, with one in each of the main regions covered by this project (the EU, Japan, and the USA). Each round of symposia will culminate in the production of a separate 'Policy Advice Report'. The theme of the first Report will be 'Preliminary Findings and Research Agenda', and the theme of the second Report will be 'Road Map and Recommendations'. The final output of the project will be the EU contribution to a Joint Technical Report with Japan and the USA.