The territorial dimension of environmental sustainability : potential territorial indicators to support the environmental dimension of territorial cohesion

This study undertakes an analysis of the environmental dimensions of territorial cohesion and of related EU policies. It is intended to contribute to and support external processes including the European Commission's Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion, revision of the EU budget (e.g. regarding Cohesion Policy) and the work of ESPON (the European Spatial Planning Observation Network) on territorial indicator development. It recognises the relevance of economic and social aspects as equal issues within the concept of territorial cohesion. As most discussions focus on the economic and social issues of territorial cohesion, it is pertinent to stress the environmental dimension of this concept. Hence, the choice of potential territorial indicators for consideration so that those could support the analysis of territorial cohesion by making better use of existing databases (like air quality, water, land use, climate change) in order to bring environmental aspects into the cohesion debate. Thus emerge questions and challenges regarding data availability, the nature of potential analysis and its utility to support the consideration of the potential key elements of the environmental dimension of territorial cohesion. It aims to provide a structure within which further work can be undertaken in this area, including data analysis and development of potential indicators.