For a whole week the MARS project has hosted its first meeting on the Spanish island of Mallorca, bringing together 100 scientists from 24 partner institutions in 17 countries. Over the course of four days (17 – 21 February), the cross-disciplinary team – including aquatic ecologists, hydrologists, chemists, economists, engineers and software developers – came together to discuss and plan MARS’ work for the next four years. In serveral sessions the tasks and workpackages were discussed in detail. The consortium agreed on the details of the experiments and next steps in the project's work plan. The meeting will help shape and design the tools for future water management that the project will produce.