Territorial Cohesion: lovely, but what is it exactly?

by Floriane Bernardot on 17 May 2011 / 100 visites

We are acquainted with economic and social cohesion, a pillar of the regional European policy which targets homogeneous development in the regions. The adjective “territorial” was introduced in 2007 in the Lisbon Treaty, which also partially introduces energy. But what exactly does this mean?

This article is extracted from the Energy Cities INFO magazine n.39 (April 2011), that you can read online.

For the European Commission, “territorial cohesion is about ensuring the harmonious development of all these places and about making sure their citizens are able to make the most of inherent features of these territories. As such, it is a means of transforming diversity into an asset that contributes to sustainable development of the entire EU” (Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion: making territorial diversity an asset, 2008).

For Pierre Calame (on the left), President of the Board of the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind and the author of several essays on the role and position of the State in modern society “It is the art developed by a human community sharing the same space and linked through the many relationships of everyday life of:

making the most of its tangible, intangible, human and natural resources,
seeking the development of said resources to ensure maximum well-being and social cohesion amongst its members.” (Response to the Green Paper, Foundation for the Progress of Humankind).

The concept sought after when Energy Cities promotes low energy cities with a high quality for life for all, is that of harmony between the economic, social, environmental and human dimensions. Making the most of the energy saving potential and local renewable resources of a territory leads to creating new jobs, improving resource management, limiting pollution, mobilising human intelligence, reducing energy poverty and providing the population with the quality of life they want.

All in all, territorial cohesion may seem to be a vague concept that needs to be filled with sense and action, not only for EU institutions but also for many people in Europe. What if we were to set aside theoretical definitions and take a closer look at local authorities? What if cities and regions were the first to actually demonstrate what territorial cohesion is all about?

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