Territorial Impact Assessment of Territorial Cohesion in Italy. Foreword

Territorial Impact Assessment of Territorial Cohesion in Italy is the main topic as well as the title of this special issue, which makes available the intermediate results of an Italian National Research Project PRIN2015 which will be closed in February 2020 (Project 73. PI Maria Prezioso - 20155NXJ8T - SH3 “Territorial Impact Assessment della coesione territoriale delle regioni italiane. Modello, su base place evidence, per la valutazione di policy rivolte allo sviluppo della green economy in aree interne e periferie metropolitane”). From February 2017, ten academic groups acting in collaborative partnership have discussed and implemented visions by literature review and experimental application of an innovative methodological approach, methods and tools, producing data, mapping and geographical studies. - is intensive activity, which is involving more than sixty researchers, national and regional policy/decision makers, stakeholders and practitioners is already collected in a book (Prezioso, ed., Quale Territorial Impact Assessment della coesione territoriale nelle regioni italiane. La concettualizzazione del problema, Bologna, Pàtron, 2018). It preceded as theoretical contribution and methodological addresses the applied phase presented in this issue. - e research has been the shared space where working together and, consequently, growing and confronting each other by a critical review with European experts and large audience. - e dialogue ha seveloped around the STeMA-Territorial Impact Assessment methodological approach and the related ex-ante evaluation (data, mapping and place evidence of status quo at 2018 by the related STeMA GIS) of Italian Territorial Cohesion, analysing four main dominions (pillars and . ags) of the Europe 2020 Strategy: smart, sustainable, inclusive growth and funds spending. Processing and applying a new STeMA-TIA 3.0 version devoted to territorial Cohesion in Italy, the research selected 73 representative indicators; they have been covered and mapped at NUTS 2 (regions) and NUTS 3 (sub-regional level), referring to new 7 Systemic Regional Functional Typologies that territorialise spatial data to the geographical diversity of Country.