Extending and reinterpreting earlier work on the 'Spatial Model', this paper presents a generic model for supporting awareness in cooperative systems ('the AETHER model') and an implementation of a prototype awareness engine. The applicability of the approach is investigated by showing how some of the fundamental functionality in CSCW applications (e.g. versioning and access control) can be supported by the engine and by 'simulating' some other applications from the CSCW literature The paper closes with a discussion of how the model facilitates the construction of flexible CSCW systems (e.g. workflow systems) supporting a variety of forms of awareness.