Territory, development, environment, citizens are three closely interrelated concepts, and industrialisation, deindustrialisation and reindustrialisation cause environmental and territorial repercussions in ethical, legal, economic, historical, geographical and sociological aspects.

In fact, the characteristics of each territory, in its own specificity, imply different relationships with its inhabitants and different educational needs with respect to active citizenship, sustainability and multiculturalism. Geography is, epistemologically, a synthesis discipline and, by its very nature, can provide the elements to form active citizens by implementing research and experiences on the educational value of geographical knowledge, on the links between subjects, communities and places and on the care and protection of the territory in terms of sustainability, integration and social cohesion.