Latest publications

What we do

TIRESIA is a research center based in the School of Management of
the Politecnico di Milano and operating in three different areas:
Academic Research, Research in Action and Education

Academic Research

Observatory of the ecosystem

TIRESIA manages an observatory owned by School of Management of Politecnico of Milano in partnership with private, public and non profit organizations. The aim of the observatory is to elaborate original interpretations about the actual dynamics of the ecosystem of social impact finance and social business. The membership to the observatory offers access to publications and business cases, visibility, workshops and seminars, business and policy consultancy.

The TIRESIA’s observatory is committed to qualitatively and quantitatively define the boundaries of the social impact finance’s and social businesses’ market, with a privileged access to information about the Italian scenery.

Research areas

Discover our Research Projects, Papers,
and Other Publications

SEED – Social innovation Ecosystem Development. Competence centres for social innovation​

The specific challenge of SEED is to stimulate and support the establishment of four Social Innovation Competence Centers in Italy, Greece, Romania and Slovenia. Researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and civil servants will work together to create public and open infrastructures capable of assisting national European Social Fund (ESF) managerial authorities to better imply the ESF+ funds for the mainstream of SI as a Public Sector Innovation approach to societal challenges.​ The ultimate scope of SEED is to prepare such an environment that related actions in the field of​ social innovation under the next ESF+ programme are established and developed more robustly, and their potential can be fully exploited at a national and european level.​

SER: Maximising social impact and boosting clean energy investments in the non-profit sector

Social Energy Renovations (SER) project stimulates sustainable renovation in the third sector.

“Blockchains for social good” EIC Horizon Prize

The specific challenge of SEED is to stimulate and support the establishment of four Social Innovation Competence Centers in Italy, Greece, Romania and Slovenia. Researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and civil servants will work together to create public and open infrastructures capable of assisting national European Social Fund (ESF) managerial authorities to better imply the ESF+ funds for the mainstream of SI as a Public Sector Innovation approach to societal challenges.​ The ultimate scope of SEED is to prepare such an environment that related actions in the field of​ social innovation under the next ESF+ programme are established and developed more robustly, and their potential can be fully exploited at a national and european level.​

LEAP_RE: Long-Term Joint European Union – African Union Research and Innovation Partnership on Renewable Energy

83 research partners in Europe and Africa supporting innovation and building renewable energy solutions together.

Research in action

Generating social value

TIRESIA supports hybrid organizations in the financial industry, social economy and public sector in defining their strategic positioning in the impact economy; developing different approaches to embed the objective of generating social value into decision making, management and governance.

Methodology

The methodology proposed by TIRESIA is innovative in combining two complementary approaches to manage and assess social impact. As an enabling condition for the generation of social impact, TIRESIA aligns with the most important frameworks established at the international level.

Tailored support

On top of that, it develops tailored support to translate the specific Theory of Change of the project into decision making and operations.

 

International standards

TIRESIA ensures at the same time transparency and accountability in being compliant with the international standards and a high level of customization able to grasp the peculiarities of the societal solution and its potential to contribute to sustainable development.

Discover our Projects
and the TIRESIA Impact Insight Series

Azimut | Fondo Infrastrutture per la Crescita

​The investment fund “Fondo Infrastrutture per la Crescita – ESG” focuses on ESG investments in the social infrastructure field.

Assicurazioni Generali | Ora di Futuro

Ora di Futuro is an educational project aimed at children that involves teachers, families, schools and non-profit networks throughout Italy.

Cesop – The cooperative “Kilowatt”​ in Bologna

The “Serre dei Giardini Margherita” project was chosen as an example of urban regeneration of an abandoned public space and a case study on which to apply and test the validity of the guidelines for measuring the social impact developed.​

PerMicro – Microcredit in Italy

​PerMicro is the first company in Italy to specialise in the supply of credits and microcredit to subjects excluded from traditional credit channels due to insufficient credit history or precarious working positions. Founded in Turin in 2007, PerMicro offers two types of loans: those for families, specifically designed to address urgent and temporary financial needs related to families and individuals’ primary necessity (e.g., housing, health, training, etc.) and those for small enterprises, developed for the individuals who wish to start or sustain a small business and who have a good business idea.

Starting from the experience of the Tiresia Impact Outlook, which offered an overview and a study of the evolution of the impact investing market in Italy, Tiresia embarks on a new extensive path on the issues of the impact economy. This choice is dictated by the desire to disseminate knowledge on impact issues and discuss topical issues through continuous communication. Through the publishing of position papers, research reports, and articles, the periodic issues will discuss about impact investment, impact measurement, social & sustainable entrepreneurship, and social innovation policies.

3.21 Third Sector and Welfare facing Covid-19: a review of challenges and paths for future development

The third publication of the Tiresia Impact Insight Series is developed in collaboration with Fondazione Cesare Pozzo and Fondazione Triulza.

2.21 Philanthropic foundations and impact investing in Italy: challenges and opportunities

The second publication of the Tiresia Impact Insight Series, developed in collaboration with Assifero (the Italian Association of Foundations and Philanthropic Bodies), examines foundations' and philanthropic bodies' current commitment to impact finance, as well as the main challenges and opportunities that this commitment entails.     Philanthropic organizations may play a crucial role in the impact investing market as both investors and [...]

Education

TIRESIA has a long standing experience in education and training in the issues of social innovation and impact finance from undergraduate to executive and customized courses.

Our team leads courses to educate insightful leaders for impact change.