Innovation is considered an important competitiveness factor for firms and a source of wealth for economies. Innovationappears as a positive value and as a solution to solve social problems and firm''s competitiveness. Therefore it is an importantsubject of policy intervention and territory development, so organizations are encouraged to adopt innovative practicesthrough incentives and innovation policies. This paper aims to propose a new methodological approach for public policysupporting innovation evaluation in a territorial-based analysis. A new methodology which intended to contribute tostrengthen and reinforce the innovation effectiveness in firms and territory development resulting from support of publicmechanisms. Some economic and sociological studies had showed that Portuguese firms adopt more easily technologicalinnovations (with short-term effects) than organizational and social innovations. In this sense, we will consider innovationpublic policies effects at firms and how they take available opportunities for innovation. The aim is to know if the concept ofinnovation spread by these policies is multidimensional (e.g., social, economic and technological) or restricted. We propose tostudy the factors (internal and external) that affect innovation processes in firms through case studies methodology. Thisresearch strategy will show the processes of innovation from within the organizations and analyze the socio-economiccontext in which organizations operate.