The overall aim of GRAAL is to increase awareness of the potential of GMES downstream services among Local and Regional Authorities (LRA) while fostering participation of SMEs in GMES activities. To achieve this, three main objectives have been assigned to the project:

• Increase the role of the Demand (User) side in driving the further develop GMES, and in particular the downstream services
• Help the Offer side (Service Providers) to reach European LRAs
• Facilitate the enlargement of the GMES Community beyond its usual circles.

These major objectives will be achieved by the production and development of specific communication tools and web services addressing LRAs, Academia as well as actors from the private sector. By means of a web portal and by engaging in a targeted awareness campaign, GRAAL will reach out to local and regional authorities that currently have little or no knowledge about GMES downstream services. A matching function will notably link users with particular needs to GMES service suppliers that are able to offer innovative solutions. In addition, a Virtual GMES Academy will serve the interaction between users, service providers and academia.