This workshop plans to critically analyze and compare the results obtained by the different surveys of the Milky Way. It is planned to compare the observational results against models of galaxy formation and evolution, to set the stage before the first intermediate data release of Gaia, to identify future challenges, and, in particular, to organize for the next generation of surveys, that will provide samples 100 times larger than those addressed so far.
As the large on-going spectroscopic surveys will continue to produce data and new unexpected results, it is not feasible, nor desirable, to forecast specific topics for this workshop. Five broad themes have been chosen based on current and foreseen progress in observations and theory and modeling, while the specific topics of the workshop will be specified according to the results large on-going spectroscopic surveys will have produced at the time of the meeting.