The lack of integrated river basin management, both in terms of water resources and flood-risk, is currently one of the most crucial challenges, additionally boosted by climate change. Thus it requires advanced concerted action, particularly as the impacts of land use and vegetation cover on water regime within the Danube basin area are quite similar. This requires a strategic policy for the implementation of an innovative transnational catchment-based “Land Use Development Plan” (LUDP) for the Danube River Basin. It shall guarantee both sustainable protection of water resources and improved flood risk prevention by fostering an advanced trans-sector and transnational cooperation of key stakeholders, initiated by the project and maintained beyond. By means of various Pilot Actions, newly developed best practices in function-oriented sustainable land use management, considering climate change, are tested and documented. The Pilot Actions will be clustered according to their interdependences of land use and vegetation cover respectively, dealing with three different types of water resources (groundwater, torrents, rivers). For stakeholders and decision-makers an innovative transnational guidance (GUIDR) will be developed, complemented by a tailored, application-oriented tool-kit for its operationalization in their respective working spheres. Supported by intensive stakeholder workshops and trainings, the initiation of the practical GUIDR implementation will be conducted within the pilot areas in order to mitigate the different conflicts of interest and to develop prospects for essential actions. As LUDP demonstrates procedures for a sound water management on a transnational basis, it provides important inputs for the further development of EUSDR and other relevant policies. The cooperation of various stakeholders within CAMARO-D will serve as a blueprint for policy development and can be a model for similar cooperation processes in other thematic fields in the EU. .