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This paper is related to a national research project covering every Italian region and province with respect to their performances in the attainment of the priorities of the 2014-2020 EU Cohesion Policy. The first part of the paper presents a survey of the literature available on Inner Peripheries, with specific regard to the methodologies useful for their identification. The second part will present an analysis at the national level, with a focus on the case of Lombardy, and an index of multimodal accessibility selected for a preliminary evaluation of the concept of Inner Periphery. The third part of the paper will discuss an empirical assessment of the Inner Periphery individuated in the Lombardy region, using a set of indicators provided by the STeMA model. The discussion developed in the three sections is intended to test the territories defined as Inner Periphery in Lombardy according to the set of indicators made available by the national project.

The territorial cohesion is today the main European policy through which to reduce the economic-social, environmental and cultural imbalances between European regions, as well as a “tool” to measure, on the basis of geographic diversity, the level of cohesion achieved in terms of territorial impact assessment of the policies. The present paper, result of the second year of research of the PRIN 2015- Territorial Impact Assessment of the territorial cohesion of the Italian regions, aims to spread the results of the measure of territorial cohesion in the Campania Region in terms of Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth (Europe 2020 Strategy), through the application of the innovative STeMA-TIA methodology to the regional system. The reading that the analysis returns, starting from the strategic objectives defined in the regional programming 2014-2020, shows a widespread weakness in the level of territorial cohesion reached (NUTS 2 and NUTS 3), but also suggests the most appropriate policy choices for the future, both in terms of strengthening the “virtuosity”, and in mitigating and recovering inefficiencies.

In the current paper the authors used the STeMA methodology, adopted in PRIN 2015 Programme and applied to Italian inner areas to check the impact of European and Italian policies to get the objective of territorial cohesion. At first the authors provide a synthesis of scientific and institutional debate on inner areas and inner peripheries. Then they use three indicators, according to the TIA approach, to audit the contributions of important local development factors, such University and three-years graduates. They also studied the policies of cohesion and territorial development in Sicily in planning 2014-2020. Finally, the authors outline some initial reflections on the state of the research carried out and on the necessity for a redesign of the complex relationship between university and territory, as a strategic aspect of the more general national policies for territorial cohesion.