Participants to this course have the basic understanding of the interests and challenges of producing and representing information on territorial phenomena and working with it in policy and decision-making situations, and the role that urban and metropolitan systems have in these processes. They also have an overview of some of the key origins of regional disparities in Europe, known as the challenge of cohesion. Institutions, mechanisms and processes that seek to alleviate cohesion-related problems as well as the more general dynamics that intensify international exchange and interaction are particularly addressed, as are the often local and regional initiatives and networks for identifying and working with the issues of spatial development.