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This article introduces the contributions collected in the special issue no. 1/2018 of “geotema” and presented at the 4th Study Day on Territorial Identities (Rome, September 22nd, 2017), promoted by the homonymous research group of the A.Ge.I. (Associations of Italian Geographers). The paper aims at discussing some basic questions on participatory processes, in order to pursue four objectives: 1) to recall some of the main issues that revolve around the topic of citizen participation in territorial decision-making processes; 2) to specify the ties between territorial identity (as intended by the research group) and participatory processes; 3) to highlight the questions raised by the contributions presented at the study day; 4) to propose an action for the professionalization of geographical skills in participation, with special reference to the Italian context.