For several years, territorial approaches to development have been spreading within international organisations and among development partners. Territorial approaches are increasingly recognized as a powerful tool for improving development outcomes.

The recently released paper aims at enhancing a common understanding of territorial approaches and calls for a wider alliance between development practitioners, researchers, international organisations, donors, and governments for supporting the adoption of territorial perspectives in policy, program, project design and implementation. It draws from the experiences from many stakeholders over the past years. The group joined forces last January 2018 after the international CIRAD conference “Living Territories” held in Montpellier, France. The Platform members and partners involved in the drafting process include European Commission, BMZ, AFD, CIRAD, GIZ, OECD, FAO, UN CDF and NEPAD. Meanwhile other organisations have joined the group.