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The VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds system (VMC) is a public survey project of ESO. It is collecting near-infrared data across large areas of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the Bridge and a few fields in the Stream. The combination of great sensitivity to stars below the old main sequence turn off, and the multiplicity at Ks band (at least 12 epochs) make VMC highly suitable for the determination of the spatially resolved star formation history and three-dimensional geometry, using variable stars such as Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars. The VMC observations, to be completed in 2018, have a high legacy value and many science results have already been published while others are in preparation.

STEP (Small Magellanic Cloud in Time: Evolution of a Prototype interacting late-type dwarf galaxy) is a Guaranteed Time Observation survey being carried out at the VLT Survey Telescope. STEP will obtain homogeneous photometry in the g-, r-, i- and Hα-bands over an area of 74 deg2 covering the main body of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Bridge that connects it to the Large Magellanic Cloud and a small part of the Magellanic Stream (2 deg2). Our photometry will allow us to detect and measure the magnitudes of individual stars well below the main sequence turnoff of the oldest populations. Here we briefly describe the observing strategy, the photometric techniques, and the upcoming data products of the STEP survey.

STREGA (STRucture and Evolution of the Galaxy) is an ongoing VLT Survey Telescope Guaranteed Time survey, aimed at investigating the mechanisms of formation and evolution of the Galactic Halo on an area of about 150 square degrees. The core programme searches for the signatures of interaction between selected stellar systems and the Galactic Halo and a complementary part is focussed on exploring the southern portion of the Fornax Stream. The adopted stellar tracers are variable stars and main sequence turn-off stars. We present an overview of the survey, the first results, and the perspectives.