The overall goals of ACCENT are to promote a common European strategy for research on atmospheric composition change, to develop and maintain durable means of communication and collaboration within the European scientific community, to facilitate this research and to optimise two-way interactions with policy-makers and the general public. ACCENT will establish Europe as an international leader in atmospheric composition change research, able to steer research agendas through its involvement in major international programmes. ACCENT furthermore aims to become the authoritative voice in Europe on issues dealing with atmospheric composition change and sustainability.