Foreword [to special issue: Geographical evidence in changing Europe]

This is perhaps the most ‘political’ moment of the Europe life because it is directly related to the addresses, themes, projects and activities that states and regions and territories should dictate in order to harmonize their needs and diversities with the challenges to be again competitive in the global world. It is no coincidence that several research projects have followed and supported European development for more than a decade, drawing from research and analysis many important insights for the understanding of the local socio-economic effects of the crisis, which proved useful for the actions of decision-makers at the local level. Studying the effects of the European crisis at the territorial level, starting by empirical evidence, and analyzing the different impacts on regional and local trends are already a breakthrough for countries because they have allowed us to highlight the regional experience and how these realities, although characterized by some critical issues, were able to better react to the crisis by bringing into play their own territorial capital. Taking inspiration from geographical and economic research results from several European programmes in the field of geographical applied researches, the issue proposes a critical analysis and discussion on the so defined “territorial evidence” in policy planning processes. In this regard, experiences on the planning process of European Territorial Agenda 2020, transnational planning cooperation and also national level documents are included.