communities or cities. The industrial revolution and the construction of modern industrialised conurbations in Europe was dependent upon managed water supplies. The United Kingdom pioneered urban planning at that time. The time of industrialisation and development of cities (between 1800 and 1900) in terms of WSS is called the time of simple regime followed by the regimes of lower complexity between 1900 and 1950, medium (1980–1970), high complexity (1970–1985) and the era finally ended up in an so called attempt of integration from 1985 onwards. The terms reflect the approach of most (Western) European countries towards WSS at that time. It steadily developed from privately organised co-operations to governmental influenced systems. Together with water management in general, it nowadays comes back to private initiatives manifested in Public-Private co-operations. Other tools and instruments The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Waters The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Waters is the EU's policy response to the challenges of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. It is basically structured in four parts: The review of actions taken to mitigate water scarcity and droughts, So called Fitness-Checks identifying overlapping or redundant policy structures and recommend improvement strategies, The assessments of (a) river basin management plans (by Member States) and (b) vulnerability of water resources due to climate change. Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform Main text:Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform One international nonprofit association (under Belgian law) supporting the European Union in dealing with the challenges of water related issues is the WssTP. This platform was built up in 2004 with financial support of the European Commission and is steadily growing ever since. The association is dealing with water supply and sanitation issues within Europe and all over the world. Nowadays, it is funded through fees paid by its 127 members from industry, research and education. The aim of the association is to support the development of the water related sector within Europe, assist both the EU and developing countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and provide Research and Development roadmaps and recommendations on water related issues especially involving the European Commission. Water Information System for Europe The Water Information System for Europe (WISE) is a partnership of the European Commission, the Directorate-General for the Environment (European Commission), Eurostat, the Joint Research Centre and the European Environment Agency. Since 2007 this web-based service platform provides the public with information about ongoing research projects,