Zero-impact cultural heritage Event Network – ZEN is a project aimed at developing a shared methodology to reduce the impact of events and festivals in historic centers and on cultural heritage through the exchange of significant experiences and lessons learned by the particpating partners. All over Europe, events and festivals have the ability to draw positive effects on tourism, cultural diversity and local economy but they also have critical impact on local context and, more in general, on the environment. In the UK alone, it is estimated that live music events produce 400,00 t Co2 annually and a 2007 survey carried out by the University of Buckinghamshire on behalf of A Greener Festival on 649 festival goers in Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands found out that 80% were concerned about noise, 82% thought waste had a negative impact, 84% were worried about the impact of travel and transport, 60% expressed concern about water and land damage.The same survey found out that 42% of respondents believed that the responsibility for minimising these damages lies with local authorities, as many of the negative effects of events are felt immediately at local level, with increase in noise and air pollution, waste production, pressure on transport and infrastructure and damage to fragile cultural heritage.Based on these data, the main focus of ZEN is to work with different know-how and experiences to provide common solutions at EU level dealing with the reduction of these negative effects on urban settings of cultural and artistic significance and that will provide a roadmap to manage and protect cultural heritage in occasion of open-air events that attract large numbers of people. The findings of the project will be transferred at policy level through the development of an implementation plan for each participating region, and by assuring: A)exchange of experiences and best practices among all PPs, based on individualknow-how and on experiences to be researched in European regions and transferred to the PPs; B) development of a common approach at strategic level to manage the effects and impact of events on historic centres and cultural heritage; C) involvement of the local communities, both public and private stakeholders, in order to share the projects aims and to make local actors as active participants in the process; D) diffusion of the projects results. ZEN partnership consists of local and regional authorities, Universities and Business support centres who are involved with events and festivals in different ways, and that are often responsible for co-financing and guaranteeing public services. Their inputs will be valuable to address the common problems and the opportunities that arise from a future, zero-impact approach to events and to interface with those communities who are the primary beneficiaries, but also the most affected by the effects of events in their territories Achievements: ZEN - Zero Impact Cultural Heritage Event Network is a project aimed at finding common solution to reduce the envornmental impact of music events and festivals, especially those taking place within city centers and historical locations. As events are big attractions throughour Europe for tourists and residents alke and often constitute an important part of regional identity in the area where they take place, it is crucial for local and regional authorities to tackle those issues that have an impact on the quality of environment , cultural heritage and local communities, from traffic to waste, to noise to CO2 emissions. The core activities that will be carried out within ZEN will be devoted to researching the status of event and impact reducing measures in the partner areas in order to draft a common position paper that will be used to feed into implementing plans for the participating regions. ZEN counts on the partnership of 12 insitutions, Universities, regional agencies, and local authorities coming from Italy, Greece, UK, Spain, Holland, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria, covering a wide range of events and of different contexts at EU level, and providing a veritable European point of view on the issue of managing the environmental aspect of large gathering of peopel. Sviluppumbria, Regional development Agency of Umbria, Italy, is LP, and has 30 years experience in local development and EU project implementation. The particpation of public bodies will also ensure that impact-reducing measures will be included in the provision of public funds that are often released in support of music events and festivals. All activities will be accompanied by the constant involvement of local communities and stakeholders to share the project's content and progresses, and a careful communication campaiign that will diffuse the results of ZEN and the importance of Interreg IVC programme for interregional cooperation to a broader audience. ZEN was presented under the Interreg IVC 4th Call for Proposal and approved on 15 december 2011. The most important achievement of this first semester is the launch of the project in all its components, as a Kick Off meeting was organised in Perugia, Italy, on 23-25 April, starting with the first Steering Committee, the management body of the project made up of all partners representatives. The event included the beginning of the Communication activities (Component 2), as the Communication Plan was presented by the responsible partner, Municipality of Drama. In addition, a training session on social media marketing was organised and attended by all partners, as the use of social pages and web promotion is an innovative and sustainable part of the communication strategy of ZEN. On 24 April, the 1st Interregional Event took place, involving the exchange of exeriences in events and measurement of their impact in each partner region.The event was coordinated by the responsible partner for Component 3, University of East London,whose involvement in assessing the impact of the London 2012 Olympics will provide ZEN with privileged expertise. UEL presented the outline for research on bets practive recognition to be carried out by each partner, containing information on how to collect information and present them in a coherent and standard way. An expeieince on the use of sustainable materials for catering in events was also presented by the Umbrian Company Novamont, world leader in the production of eco plastic made of corn. On 25 April the 1st Study Visit took place during the International Journalism Festival of Perugia, the main global event of its kind attended by over 3.000 media representatives yearly. The IJF proved an interesting experience in bottom-up approach and correct management, as the full programme takes place indoor with little or no impact on the historical center. A correct beginning of ZEN was thus ensured.