The nexus between research impact and sustainability assessment: From stakeholders’ perspective

Abstract A multi-criteria decision-making system based on stakeholder evaluation is performed to investigate the nexus between research impact and sustainability performance in the agro-food sector, in Spain. This study attempts to go a step further beyond the scientific assessment of research by examining its societal contribution. The empirical application is built upon the ELECTRE III methodology. Combining Evaluation theory and Stakeholder theory, the analysis facilitates the assessment of research impact with the inclusion of stakeholders’ knowledge. Four research programmes are selected from different agro-food industries representing the case studies addressed in this study. Each stakeholder performs an evaluation of the research programmes based on indicators and sub-indicators of sustainability performance. The findings reveal ranking matrices of research impact and demonstrate its implicit contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals. This study provides insights to policy-makers and practitioners and sheds light on how research evaluation accentuates the transition to sustainable agro-food sector.