Some of the Associates of the projects have actively participated in providing technical assistance in the initial phase of implementation of specific projects.

In concrete, a technical assistance was undertaken by the city of Barcelona on water cycle management that led to the proposal of a concrete project for the recollection and use of rain water for watering the stadium of Sousse. The project, coordinated by the Barcelona Cicle d’Aigua SA, will be concluded with the presentation of the study and the technical pre-proposal prepared for the construction of the deposit, that will take place on the 8th July 2014.

Also, the Provincial Council of Barcelona has engaged with the city of Sousse on issues related to the economic promotion of the territory and through methodological support for the creation of a structure for the coordination of such activities. The result of this assessment will be concrete guidelines and an operative proposal for the creation of a structure for the coordination of local development and economic promotion activities in the city of Sousse.

Last, the city of Marseille has engaged in a technical assessment on the management of public lighting in the city of Sousse, that will focus on a specific training of the municipal personnel in order to build on its capacity to adequately manage the public lighting system and to create a basis for political and technical decisions that would promote energy optimisation. Furthermore, the two parts have identified opportunities for long term collaboration on this issue.

All three projects derive from the needs identified by the local team of Sousse and the objectives marked by its urban development strategy. These experiences highlight the importance of the cooperation between the different partners of the USUDS project and the opportunities implied in such technical assistance missions. The possibility of a future long term collaboration between the city of Marseille and the city of Sousse on the management of public lighting and the energy optimisation is only an example of how such initiatives can build on the sustainability of the project after its finalisation.