TESS started on October 1st, 2008, and will cover a period of 30 months. The project's work structure incorporates eight (8) workpackages:

• Workpackage 1, Project management, coordinates the TESS consortium for the successful implementation of the project. This workpackage includes the coordination and quality control of the undertaken work.
  
• Workpackage 2, Central policy environment, runs in parallel with WP3 and will produce a combined report so that information flows to and from central, local and intermediate government can be identified.
  
• Workpackage 3, Local Environmental Information, runs in parallel with WP2 and produces a combined report so that information flows to and from central, local and intermediate government can be identified.
  
• Workpackage 4, Modelling for Sustainable Development, identifies as many as possible of the computer models used in the EU to predict development of species populations from habitats and to to estimate income from cultivation and recreational uses of land.
  
• Workpackage 5, Case studies. Survey of government practices, case studies of local communities and corresponding reports with emphasis on needs for environmental decision support and capabilities for delivery of biodiversity monitoring comprise the main tasks of this work package.
  
• Workpackage 6, Transactional Environmental Decision Support, produces the two major outputs from this project. One is an analysis of how biodiversity change relates to current national SEA, SIA and EIA policies and other aspects of environmental governance, with recommendations for best practice. The second is the design of a system to (i) enhance information for these government assessments and (ii) help local land-users make micro-assessment decisions that benefit incomes and biodiversity.
  
• Workpackage 7, Awareness & dissemination, works in two levels. The first level is to create awareness about the project results at European level. The second level is to facilitate the collaboration and exchange of information between the partners and other interested parties. The dissemination activities will be not only informative, but will also be used to receive feedback from interested parties concerning the project’s results.
  
• Workpackage 8, Assessment & Evaluation, provides a continuous monitoring and assessment of the TESS research results and policy guidelines. Assessment is both internal and external, utilising recognised experts in the field of biodiversity conservation, as well as governance experts and policy makers.