The concept of ‘left-behindness’ has attracted growing political, media and academic attention in recent times. Yet, understandings of what it means for a certain area to be ‘left-behind’ vary widely and are subject to different interpretations.

EXIT is a European-funded project that aims to provide an in-depth analysis of ‘left-behindness’ as a concept used for characterising territorial inequalities faced by certain areas and, grounded on this, identify strategies to address it. This means not only building knowledge on drivers of inequalities in areas that are characterised as ‘left-behind’, but also on what drives perceptions of these areas as ‘left-behind’ among their inhabitants.