Aims

ISSAN was set up in 1994 as a research institute of the University of Trento, in order to analyse the phenomenon of the growth in non-profit making organisations in Italy, from an economic point of view. After a few years, its reputation developed and spread to the European level, to the extent that it is now the lead Italian research centre within the European Network of research centres on social enterprises in Europe (EMES). The Institute has also expanded the number of areas in which it carries out its work and its research is now no longer focussed predominantly on economic aspects, rather it has become multidisciplinary and addresses economic, sociological, legal and organisational aspects. There has also been an increase in the number of clients who ask the Institute to carry out research and indeed research and studies are undertaken not only for local bodies and institutions, but also for organisations, Foundations and public authorities at a national level. In 1997, ISSAN participated for the first time in a European project (EMES) and this opened the way up for the Institute to assume a permanent presence as a partner within projects financed by the European Commission within the various Framework Programmes, Directorates General and Equal.
With the expansion of its membership base, it also began to significantly broaden the training and education provision it is able to offer in order to meet with the various requirements of the people and groups involved in this area: ranging from the Masters qualification for young graduates, to more specialised training for the managers and operators of non-profit (Today, the Institute carries out research, education and training and publishing activities, as well as maintaining its commitment within the European (EMES) and Italian (IRIS) networks of research centres on non-profit organisations and social enterprises.

Research

University teaching staff and researchers collaborate in this area, thereby guaranteeing a professional and scientifically valid approach in the following six areas:

1. The competitive advantages of non-profit organisations
2. The forms of governance of non-profit organisations
3. The relationships between public administrations and non-profit organisations
4. Non-profit organisations in social policies
5. The managerial aspects of non-profit organisation
6. Work-related issues in non-profit organisations: legal and contractual aspects

Training

The Institute offers diversified training courses that respond to the specific needs and demands of the non-profit sector. The research carried out by the Institute is also used, to a certain extent, to formulate the contents of these courses. The Institute offers the following two courses on a permanent basis:

1. Primary level Masters degree in the management of non-profit organisations and social cooperatives,, organised in collaboration with the Department of Economics of the University of Trento;
2. Management of social enterprises,
   aimed at operators and managers engaged in various capacities in non-profit organisations in the production sector.

Publishing

The most significant results of the research work are disseminated through a variety of publications, ranging from the production of working papers to the publication of the complete body of research work. Since 2001, the Institute has entered into a form of collaboration with a Trento-based publishing house, Edizioni31, and this has led to the creation of its own series of publications.
In 2005, ISSAN became the publisher of the quarterly review, Impresa Sociale, which contains article that address issues relating to the social economy and the third sector and is intended to be an instrument to be used to closely examine the scenarios, the critical issues and the strategies of social enterprise in the context of the new welfare policies.

Networking

ISSAN is one of the founding research centres of the European network EMES www.emes.net, as well as being the only Italian member. ISSAN is responsible for extending the network’s activities to the Central and Eastern European countries. As part of the project to expand the network to Italian research centres, an Italian network has recently been set up, called IRIS www.irisnetwork.it. Not only is ISSAN a founding member of this network, it is also the operational coordinator.