Integrated popular reporting as a dialogic tool for measuring value creation or destruction through social impact assessment: The Eurovision Song Contest

Expectations for corporate responsibility are growing. In response to these and other trends, Chevron has developed a standardized process for Environmental Social and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA). The objective of ESHIA is to identify and mitigate the impacts of new projects on the environment and local communities. The process includes a set of basic requirements to foster industry-leading ESHIA performance, including (1) integrating environmental impact assessment (EIA), social impact assessment (SIA) and health impact assessment (HIA) into a single process; (2) initiating ESHIA early in the project development cycle so that environmental, social and health factors can be appropriately considered in business decision-making and engineering design; (3) proactively engaging community and other stakeholders to better understand potential impacts and identify effective mitigation; and (4) developing management plans to ensure effective implementation of mitigation measures during project construction and operations. This paper describes issues Chevron has encountered and solutions it has developed in implementing the social dimension of ESHIA and solutions developed to overcome them. Issues have included: (1) increasing awareness of the business value of SIA and stakeholder engagement; (2) limited experience with SIA principles, procedures and application; and (3) the need for effective integration between functional groups. Solutions have included: (1) compilation of real-world case studies to demonstrate the business value of SIA; (2) delivery of fit-for-purpose SIA training; and (3) development of internal and external networks of ESHIA practitioners to support SIA application. Preliminary results have been promising. SIA training participants have demonstrated improved understanding of SIA principles and procedures. Major capital projects have started to apply SIA. Nevertheless, Chevron is still in the early phases of SIA implementation. Next steps in building SIA organizational capability will include follow-up training with individual business units, project-level support, and formation of a SIA practitioner network to identify common issues and share best practices. Successful implementation of SIA will improve project decision-making; help build long-term, harmonious relationships with community and other key stakeholders; and strengthen overall social performance.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore and analyze effective methods for measuring the impact of social ventures. By examining existing frameworks such as Social Return on Investment (SROI) and Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) and through qualitative case studies of Turkish social ventures, the study aims to identify the limitations and adaptability of these methodologies. The goal is to provide actionable recommendations for social entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders to enhance the accuracy and relevance of impact assessments, thereby contributing to the sustainability and effectiveness of social ventures.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs a qualitative methodology, focusing on in-depth case studies of Turkish social ventures. Data collection involves a combination of direct interviews with social entrepreneurs, analysis of organizational reports, and review of relevant literature. The study examines existing impact assessment frameworks, such as Social Return on Investment (SROI) and Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS), assessing their applicability and limitations within the Turkish context. The research aims to identify context-specific challenges and innovative practices by analysing these case studies, offering insights into more effective and tailored impact assessment methodologies for social ventures.FindingsThe study reveals that while global impact assessment frameworks like Social Return on Investment (SROI) and Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) are helpful, they often require adaptation to fit Turkey’s unique socioeconomic conditions. Key findings highlight the need for context-specific, resource-efficient, and participatory impact assessment tools. The case studies illustrate innovative practices in Turkey, such as integrating local cultural factors and leveraging technology for data collection. These insights underscore the importance of developing tailored methodologies that accurately capture social ventures' diverse impacts on varied regional contexts.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited by its focus on a few case studies, which may not fully represent the diversity of social ventures across Turkey. Additionally, the reliance on qualitative data may introduce subjective biases. The dynamic nature of social issues and the evolving socioeconomic landscape in Turkey further complicate the development of standardized assessment tools. Despite these limitations, the study offers valuable insights into context-specific challenges and innovative practices, highlighting the need for adaptable and responsive impact assessment methodologies. Future research should expand the scope of case studies and explore quantitative approaches to complement the qualitative findings.Practical implicationsThis study provides practical recommendations for social entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders to improve impact assessment practices in Turkey. It offers strategies to tailor global frameworks like SROI and IRIS to local conditions by emphasizing the need for context-specific, resource-efficient, and participatory tools. Social ventures can adopt these insights to enhance the accuracy and relevance of their impact assessments, ultimately improving their effectiveness and sustainability. Policymakers can use these findings to create supportive environments and policies that foster social entrepreneurship. At the same time, investors can better evaluate the social return on their investments by aligning their portfolios with their social objectives.Social implicationsThe study underscores the importance of accurate and context-specific impact assessment in enhancing the effectiveness of social ventures in Turkey. By providing tailored methodologies, social ventures can better address local socioeconomic challenges, leading to more meaningful and sustainable social change. Improved impact assessment practices enable ventures to demonstrate their value more convincingly, attracting better stakeholder support from investors, policymakers, and the community. This can lead to increased funding, better policy support, and more robust community engagement, ultimately fostering a more vibrant and impactful social entrepreneurship ecosystem that drives positive societal transformation.Originality/valueThis paper offers original insights into the challenges and opportunities of measuring the impact of social ventures in Turkey, a context that has received limited attention in the existing literature. By analyzing these case studies, the research highlights innovative, context-specific practices that can be adapted to other regions with similar socioeconomic dynamics. The studys value lies in its practical recommendations for developing resource-efficient and participatory impact assessment tools that address the unique needs of social ventures. These findings contribute to the broader discourse on social impact assessment and offer valuable guidance for social entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors.


 
 
 Abstract
 Sustainable social entrepreneurship (SSE) is a kind of entrepreneurship that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability, efficiency and values of future generations to meet their own needs. SSE leads to sustainable development. Social entrepreneurs were developed through well-conceived and well directed training programmes around thrust areas, thus advancing the frontiers of theories and practice SSE. The concept of SSE challenges that fosters long-term protection of the society, environment and its habitants as the technological or engineering developments are guided by efficiency, productivity, profitability, health and environmental impacts, resource and energy conservation, waste management, and social impacts such as public convenience, unemployment and crime. The specific objectives of this research were: (i) To formulate and appraise forty-three number of detailed project reports (DPRs) of Diploma in Entrepreneurship and Business Management (DEBM ) course extension learners in eleven batches attached with the DEBM Counsellor and Co- ordinator of Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India -Ahmedabad (EDI),India as well author of this research during the research year (RY) 2007-2014 , (ii) To conduct social impact assessment and environmental health impact assessment (EHIA) for projects , (iii) To design and develop a comprehensive and green economic system modelling and (iv) To promote sustainable socio- economic policies of SIA process for an efficient socio- economic transformation development based on social entrepreneurial research conducted in South India . The design of the study is cross sectional. SIA is defined as the systematic identification and evaluation of the potential social impacts of proposed projects, plans, programs, policies or legislative actions relative to the socio- economic components of the society and total environment. Social factor has been considered in project planning and decision-making process in order to arrive at action which should be socio-economically compatible. Environmental health impact assessment process has been conducted in order to mitigate the environmental health impacts. Socio-economic environment is a man-made environment related to a set of considerations such as demographical study including population trends and population distribution , population interaction and interrelation to the social problem and solution, economic indicators of human welfare services, educational systems, transportation systems, environmental protective infrastructural facilities such as water supply system, waste water treatment system, solid and hazardous waste management, resource conservation and recovery process, environmental public health services and medical facilities. Social impact assessment process should be enacted as social policy act in order to encourage the considerations of human society in project planning and decision making process . Extension learners were equipped with the knowledge, skills and motivation to set up their sustainable social enterprises and function dynamically and manage successfully. DPRs proposed by learners have been investigated as per guidelines provided by EDI. Entrepreneurial business planning assessment regimes (EBPARs) have been accomplished for their credibility and communicability. DEBM projects were screened for the seven fatal flaws viz., (i) Scientific feasibility, (ii) technical feasibility, (iii) economic feasibility, (iv) marketing feasibility, (v) environmental feasibility, (vi) social feasibility and (vii) fundamental legality. Social entrepreneur of an entrepreneurial team should need skills in ethics, accounting, law, finance, team creation and marketing aspects in order to avoid failures in the process. The result analysis of forty- three learners has been discussed. Based on comprehensive socio-economic analysis, a green socio-economic system model has been presented. A famous project case of a DPR-I has been presented on unsafe chromium pollution and contamination of about 18 000 to 30 000 mg/kg from Indian cotton roller ginneries and development of green design roller gin rollers for cotton gins duly investigated in a ginning factory. Such low-carbon and energy-efficient agricultural technologies of agricultural hi-tech industries have made important contributions to mitigating the impacts of economic growth on global warming. Hitherto state-of-the- art literatures, market effects have been considered. It is reported that non-market impacts such as social and environmental impact assessment should be considered for proposed projects, plans, programs, policies and legislative action. It is concluded that this action-based and extension learning field study on SSE shall promote sustainable socio-economic policies for sustainable development and poverty alleviation.
 
 
 
 Keywords: action, efficient, entrepreneurship, environmental impact assessment process, project, social impact assessment (SIA) process, transformation.
 
 
 
 
 

The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment: a further step towards an integrated assessment process

Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessments (ESHIA) seek to identify and assess potential project impacts in a formal and structured manner. The ESHIA process not only helps to meet regulatory requirements, it also helps manage risk and increase transparency in the development of new projects for the local community, which can in the community and can be inbe integral to the success of major capital projects. Community engagement (CE) is essential to the ESHIA process, particularly Social Impact Assessment (SIA), as it allows potentially affected community members to participate and address local concerns, instead of relying solely on experts’ views. By engaging key stakeholders, CE can help better identify and support the social and economic interests well-being of communities where we operate, while supporting local business needs. Adequately mapping and linking relationships between the environmental, social and health components is necessary to identify important potential impacts that may be missed when these components are assessed in isolation. In this respect, the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) plays a unique role in the integration of environmental, social and health impact assessments –which add value not only for communities but companies as well.. Integration of ‘public health’ is the last component necessary to comprehensively assess potential impacts from major capital projects. This paper discusses: 1) the societal and business value of integrating ‘public health’ into the impact assessment process; 2) the components of an integrated ESHIA and the role HIA plays within the process; 3) the rationale for conducting integrated ESHIAs; and 4) how ESHIA can help companies fulfill their corporate level social responsibility commitments. To illustrate the importance of using an integrated approach and the limitations of using an isolated approach, we provide specific examples and present two original case studies of the integrated applications of ESHIA and HIA impact assessments. The application of the information provided in this paper will be of broad interest to companies and impact assessment practitioners involved in the development and assessment of Greenfield projects and enhancement of existing operations where there are potential environmental, social and health impacts.

Impact assessment as a discipline continues to evolve and search for ways to address challenges that are wicked, systemic, and unconventional. More guidance however is required on integrating multi-disciplinary and novel approaches without losing the richness of impact assessments. This paper explores integrating the causal network approach, underpinned by a community well-being framework, into environmental and social impact assessments. We do this by using a hypothetical scenario of large-scale green hydrogen industry in Australia and engage an interdisciplinary team of experts representing a broad experience across the social, economic, and environmental sectors, via interviews and a workshop. The result is a complex detailed causal network, depicting both environmental and social risks and opportunities associated with the hydrogen industry. We discuss using simple and complex versions of causal networks as both are needed to when communicatng with all relevant stakeholders. We found that the causal network approach is useful for the initial scoping of potential social and environmental impacts, especially for a multi-disciplinary team. Three areas were identified to further strengthen such an approach to facilitate a fully-fledged impact assessment in a real case. First, causal relationships need to be evaluated to assess the magnitude of the impacts and identify mitigation measures and incentives. Second, stakeholders, including local communities, should be involved throughout the assessment process, beginning from the conceptualisation of such assessments. Third, the causal network approach presented in this paper is likely to benefit from incorporating ecological frameworks (or similar) to expand environmental pathways in the network.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of social impact assessment (SIA) principles to evaluate the contribution of cultural heritage to social sustainability, supporting both a people-centered and socially responsible approach to heritage management. Design/methodology/approach Specifically, the paper explores SIA as a methodological tool for post-project evaluation, used to define projects’ contributions to aspects of social sustainability through analyzing impacts of participation in a rural context case study, that of the Scapa Flow landscape heritage scheme in Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK. Findings Based on research findings from the thematic analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews on impacts (with heritage managers, planners and participants in the scheme), the paper proposes a combination of heritage value assessment process with social impact identification to achieve a context-relevant assessment of social sustainability. Existing research around social capital and sense of place supports the analysis of relevant impacts and heritage values. Findings support overlaps between socio-environmental impacts, when looking at the role of heritage for community well-being in rural contexts. Research limitations/implications The qualitative approach allows for a context-relevant, bottom up impact assessment and allows for multiple stakeholders perceptions to be included. Practical implications The proposed methodological approach has greater implications for the work of institutions and professionals involved in project evaluations that can inform participatory heritage project planning, ensuring high social relevance. Social implications Application of SIA principles in heritage sector can increase social benefits of heritage projects and enable wider community participation in processes of heritage management. Originality/value Through this case study, the effectiveness of SIA principles when applied in cultural heritage project evaluation is discussed, reflecting on a novel methodology for impact assessment in heritage.

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) comprises the processes of analyzing, monitoring, and managing the social consequences of planned interventions (Vanclay 2003; Esteves et al. 2012). Planned interventions can be projects, plans, programs, or policies. SIA arose alongside Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the early 1970s to be a form of impact assessment focusing on the social (rather than biophysical environmental) impacts (Vanclay 2014). However, whereas EIA is required by law in most countries, relatively a few countries specifically require SIA although some include the assessment of social impacts within EIA. In the commercial world, social impacts are often assessed within an integrated environmental, social, and health impact assessment (ESHIA).

Social impact assessment (SIA) is a tool for doing development better. Impact assessment methodologies have now emerged that can predict negative project impacts, enabling the planners to put in place the plans to mitigate their adverse social consequences taking into consideration the fact that displacement impacts affect different groups differently, with poorer groups bearing the most brunt. Impacts also differ from one project type to another. Impacts from mining projects occur over time in stages, not all impacts at one time. Dam impacts, on the other hand, affect an extensive area all at once. This chapter provides a brief history of SIA; describes steps involved in conducting SIA using participatory social research methodology; spells out elements that need to become part of SIA standard practice, if SIA is to contribute to better development outcomes; and then finally suggests a format for preparing a report on SIA for its submission to the sponsoring agency.

The Chevron International Exploration & Production's (CIEP's) integrated Environmental, Social, and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) process is described together with the results of its implementation. The value added by an integrated approach to environmental, social, and health impact assessments is discussed. The key features of the process are the requirement for projects to be screened early in project development, stakeholder engagement to be conducted, and management plans to be developed for the construction and operations phases. The details of the process and its governance are addressed. ESHIA requires multi-disciplinary teams to evaluate environmental, social, and health impacts and risks. The clear expectations on social impact assessment and stakeholder engagement have generated high value cooperation between HES and public affairs specialists. The early identification of potential impacts has greatly improved the quality of project decision-making. ESHIA is critical to oil and gas companies who wish to access new opportunities, obtain external financing, acquire licenses to operate, deliver sustainable development, and enhance company reputation. In many areas of the world, there is little regulatory or cultural distinction between environmental, social, and health impacts. Stakeholder engagement is an increasingly important project requirement with increased expectations from governments and lending institutions. The integration of these factors into project decision-making is a key success factor to the delivery of long term project value.

Social enterprises from government, society, and financiers are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their social impact. To do this, social enterprises need to implement social impact assessments in their organizations. It is noteworthy that there are many different methods and tools for impact assessment and measurement, which often make it unclear to social enterprise managers what is best for their enterprise. Also, many social impact assessment and measurement methodologies are complex enough and require specific competencies, time, and other extra costs. However, social impact assessment is an essential process, as it helps to build trust in these organizations by the public, state institutions and investors, to ensure the transparency of their activities and to meet their goals. Social enterprises are a new phenomenon in the Baltic States, so it is essential to clarify the attitude of the leaders of the organization to the social impact assessment and what practices they use in their organizations. Aim of the research: to explore the existing practice of social impact assessment of social enterprises in the Baltic states. The methodology of research: 20 in depth interviews with the jure and the facto WISE´s managers in the Baltic states were conducted.

This article examines methodologies for human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) of trade agreements through a discussion of a recent assessment of the impact of the United States–Dominican Republic–Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on access to medicines in Costa Rica. The article identifies the methodology for undertaking the assessment and discusses the ways in which adopting a human rights framework for impact assessment requires certain modifications to existing impact assessment methodologies. The article then examines some of the benefits in adopting such a framework as a means of analysing the impact of trade agreements as well as some of the political and technical challenges facing HRIAs. The article concludes with a call for more professional attention to HRIAs of trade agreements through the development of guiding principles, and for the commission of more HRIAs. The article also suggests that the mainstreaming of human rights in other impact assessment methodologies such as social impact assessments (SIAs) might also be considered.

An environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) is typically a regulatory, and often internal company, requirement for global oil and gas (O&G) new major capital project (MCP). Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is generally less understood, yet is also becoming a common requirement for global O&G MCPs. A common acronym now is environmental, social and health impact assessment (ESHIA). HIA generally refers to potential health impacts to nearby local communities (e.g., refer to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards). Worker ("inside the fence") health and safety if typically not a part of the ESHIA process, and is addressed under separate processes. That said, there are great differences between HIAs in developed versus undeveloped regions of the world. In developed regions of the world, ESHIAs for unconventional O&G are typically focused on characterization of preexisting baseline conditions and continued monitoring of those conditions during and after O&G operations. For example, many regions now have groundwater baseline and monitoring requirements for unconventional and conventional O&G developments. In contrast, global O&G developments often occur in remote, undeveloped regions. Here, the focus for the social and health impact assessment is typically on impacts to the nearby communities, potentially sensitive populations, and particularly aboriginal groups. An example would be the influx of thousands of workers during construction phase and the potential introduction of communicable diseases into the local communities. Hypothetical case studies will be presented to further explore these topics.

Evaluating Environmental and Social Impact Assessment in Developing Countries

Social Impact Assessment: A Literature Review