Observation of the energy and water cycle at various scales is critical in predicting changes in our environment and managing these. Changes will have direct consequences for our natural and social environment e.g. for our water resources. Within GEWEX, the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment of the World Climate Research Programme, the global energy and water cycle is the main focus of attention. Changes at the global scale will have consequences at the regional scale and vice versa. To get a better handle on the various processes at the various spatial and temporal scales the Regional Hydroclimate Projects (RHP's) are established as part of the GEWEX Hydroclimatology Panel to link the regional observations and process understanding to the global scale. This is done through exchange of observations, data, modeling, transferability studies etc. In this presentation an overview is given of the various RHP's, the reason why they are established and how they are likely to evolve in the future. Each of the RHP's is a collection of individual researchers, research institutes, academia and national agencies which have a common goal related to our environment and in which collaboration with GEWEX helps to reach that goal. In the next few years the emphasis will be placed on stronger collaboration between the various RHP's as well as evaluation of the GEWEX global datasets with the regional data sets. Crucial to success in this endeavor is the linkage between in-situ observations, modeling data and earth observational data.