ISTITUTO DI STUDI PER L'INTEGRAZIONE DEI SISTEMI - SOCIETA'COOPERATIVA

Their core work

ISINNOVA is a Rome-based research cooperative specializing in policy analysis, foresight studies, and socio-economic evaluation for the European transport and energy sectors. They design and coordinate support actions that translate complex research findings into actionable policy recommendations — particularly around sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, and citizen engagement. Their core competence lies in bridging technical innovation with societal acceptance: they run living labs, stakeholder consultations, and forward-looking analyses that help cities and policymakers adopt new transport and energy solutions. They also bring strong expertise in biomethane market development and renewable gas certification systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014–2018), ISINNOVA focused on broad transport innovation (MIND-SETS, DESTINATIONS, NEWBITS), responsible research in ICT, and initial energy work around biomethane (BIOSURF). Their early keywords — RRI, digital, tourism mobility, shared economy, business models — reflect a generalist policy-support profile. From 2019 onward, their work shifted toward deeper socio-technical evaluation: energy efficiency impacts (REFEREE), renewable gas certification (REGATRACE), digital inclusion in transport (DIGNITY), and health-related behavioral research (STOP). The recent keywords — sustainability, co-creation, health economics, smart homes — show a clear move toward measuring real-world impacts and engaging citizens in energy and mobility transitions.

ISINNOVA is moving from mapping innovation landscapes toward measuring real-world policy impacts and embedding citizen perspectives into transport and energy transitions — making them increasingly relevant for projects that need socio-economic evaluation work packages.

How they like to work

ISINNOVA balances leadership and partnership well: they coordinated 9 of 29 projects (31%), typically Coordination and Support Actions, while contributing as a partner in larger Research and Innovation Actions. With 380 unique consortium partners across 39 countries, they operate as a networked hub rather than staying within a fixed group. Their average project funding (around €355K) suggests they take on substantial work packages focused on policy analysis, dissemination, or evaluation rather than core technical R&D.

ISINNOVA has built an exceptionally broad network of 380 unique partners across 39 countries, making them one of the most connected organizations of their size. Their partnerships span Western and Eastern Europe extensively, with additional reach into China through two urbanization projects.

What sets them apart

ISINNOVA occupies a rare niche as a cooperative (not a university, not a consultancy) that combines foresight methodology with deep sectoral knowledge in transport and energy. Unlike pure research institutes, they specialize in the "last mile" of policy impact — translating technical results into policy recommendations, evaluation frameworks, and citizen engagement strategies. Their dual strength in both coordinating support actions and contributing evaluation work packages to large technical projects makes them a versatile consortium partner for proposals that need strong dissemination, policy analysis, or societal impact components.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STOP
  Their largest single EC contribution (€1.16M) and an unusual cross-sector move into childhood obesity policy, combining health economics with behavioral analysis.
• REGATRACE
  Coordinated the EU's renewable gas trade centre, building on earlier BIOSURF work — demonstrates rare continuity in biomethane/renewable gas certification expertise.
• DIGNITY
  Coordinated a project on digital inclusion in transport, combining their transport expertise with emerging focus on social equity and citizen-centered design.