Cristiana Parisi

What is your area of research?

My research focuses on management accounting, sustainability accounting, and performance measurement, with particular attention to how circular economy ambitions are translated into practice within organisations, inter-organisational relations, and cities. I am especially interested in how accounting tools, performance indicators, and impact assessment methods can support sustainability transitions and make circular economy initiatives operational. More recently, I have also explored the role of technology in enabling circular economy practices and shaping new forms of inter-organisational collaboration.

Why is it so important?

This research is important because the green transition depends not only on ambitious visions, but also on the practical tools that make change possible and accountable. Circular economy initiatives often fail when organisations and cities cannot measure impacts, coordinate across actors, or translate broad sustainability goals into everyday decisions. My research contributes by showing how accounting, performance measurement, and impact assessment can help make sustainability and circularity governable in practice, while also drawing attention to their social and organisational implications.

A project you are proud of?

I am especially proud of REFLOW, a 10 million euro Horizon 2020 innovation action EU project, which I led as overall Project Coordinator and Principal Investigator. The project shaped circular economy transitions in six European cities: Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Paris, Cluj-Napoca, and Vejle. What made REFLOW especially meaningful was its combination of research and concrete societal impact, bringing together cities, companies, designers, and researchers to co-develop circular solutions. It also generated research on accounting and sustainability performance that still shapes my work today. REFLOW was later featured by the European Commission as a success story and a best practice.

Updated June 2026

Through his participation in Policy Fellowship 2025-2026, Cristiana will be working with Mikkel Minor, head of sustainability at LB Forsikring