The early stages of the star formation process are closely related tothe condition of the parent interstellar medium, in particular to theheating/cooling balance, which itself is a function of ambientconditions. Important questions such as dust abundance, sizedistribution, temperature distribution, fraction of molecular gas,fraction of dense gas, gas surface density and total amount of gas anddust require separation of metallicity and radiation effects. TheMagellanic Clouds provide an ideal laboratory to carry out suchstudies almost under “controlled conditions”. Although they areprominent targets for space observatories (Spitzer, Herschel), animportant role remains for large groundbased facilities, such as a25 m class sub-millimeter telescope on Dome C. Large-scale mapping athigh resolution should be carried out both in the continuum and invarious lines, fully complementing other groundbased and spacebasedobserving programs.