Key indicators for territorial cohesion and spatial planning: The reform of the EU cohesion policy and the new role of spatial indicators

European Union (EU) cohesion policy accounts for one-third of the EU budget and is currently undergoing significant reform. Future cohesion funding will concentrate on a limited number of policy priorities, closely linked to the Europe 2020 Strategy and conditional on verified progress towards targets. The introduction of 'Territorial Cohesion' as a core objective of the EU in the Lisbon Treaty points to an important new role for spatial data and indicators in implementing cohesion policy. The ESPON1 funded project, Key Indicators for Territorial Cohesion and Spatial Planning (KITCASP), is currently developing a core set of spatial indicators on the basis of national policy priorities in five EU case study territories, including the Republic of Ireland, and in the context of EU cohesion policy. This paper discusses the need for policy-makers and practitioners on the island of Ireland to critically engage with emerging cohesion policy and to coordinate the current emphasis on evidencebased spatial planning with the Europe 2020 Strategy.