The Integrated Project Real-SOFC joins 26 partners from throughout Europe active in planar SOFC technology. The project is funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme and aims at improving the understanding of degradation in SOFC stacks and extending the durability of planar SOFC devices such that they become viable for stationary applications. The project consortium comprises of universities, research institutions and industrial companies. The project concept is based on improving materials and materials processing by the provision of extensive test results allowing the identification of degradation mechanisms, and then to supply industrial components of enhanced quality for repeated testing analysis. An iterative programme of component development is employed resulting in the production of '2nd' and '3rd' Generations of SOFC components/stacks. This paper offers recent results on the degradation issues and covers selected aspects of other project-related output such as testing conditions, environmental impact assessment and educational activities.