It is important to insert agricultural research in this paper by considering it as a strategic area for providing knowledge and a technological base for agricultural production, considering that this sector generates outcomes with respective impacts to rural zones, supply-chain, economy, society and environment, representing a key piece for reaching United Nations objectives of sustainable development to each country and to the planet. Aiming to analyze how agricultural research organizations (as for instance: INRA and CIRAD, from France and EMBRAPA, from Brazil) have driving sustainability impact assessment methodologies and their interaction with transdisciplinary and holistic principles, using as a base innovation concepts. This paper will display an overview on concepts and approaches about sustainability impact assessment, but looking from a transversal perspective, passing by an historical description on impact assessment and on concepts related to sustainable development and sustainability. We will search for unedited models of sustainability impact systems by converging holism, transdisciplinarity and sustainability. There are several methodologies but few demonstrate an integrated view with a transversal perspective. It is also imperceptible any concrete governance-managerial system for sustainability impact assessment, considering every stage of the process, from a strategic to an operational level, including, analyzing environment, economy and society dimensions as one unique perspective. Such as a complex and multidimensional sector of economy, agricultural research requires profiled sustainability impact assessment with an innovative and dynamic approach.

This article is focused on a conceptual model of the innovation impact assessment process, especiallydirected to agricultural research organisations. This research proposes an existing methodology basedon a literature review. The innovative contributions of this article are I. theoretical lines for constructinga model of impact assessment as a base for a future data-based management system; II. a conceptualbase of innovation impact assessment process that considers a cross-cut view of sustainability,integrating the environmental, social, policy, and economic dimensions. This article intends to presenta theoretical model addressed to research and innovation organisations that will contribute tofulfilling the United Nations’ sustainable development goals towards more productive and sustainableagriculture and accomplishing stakeholder challenges and demands.