Impact Assessment Framework Research Articles

Social sustainability in architectural practice: examining experiences of architectural offices in B-Corp certification in the United Kingdom

PurposeSocial sustainability (SS) is one of the key pillars of sustainability along with environmental and economic sustainability. Several impact assessment frameworks (IAF) exist to evaluate sustainability in the built environment, yet SS is often neglected. This paper is the first to investigate the effectiveness of the B-Corp certification scheme as an IAF to promote SS in architectural practice. With almost 3.5 folds increase in the number of B-Corp-certified UK-based architectural offices, in the last two years, and the neglect of the social dimension of sustainability in IAF application; the key question of this research is “What roles does B-Corp play in architectural practice to promote SS in the UK?”Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on qualitative data collection and thematic analysis. Eight semi-structured online interviews were conducted with B-Corp-certified architectural offices in the UK. The interview questions focused on understanding the offices' B-Corp experiences around three categories: motivations, challenges and changes. Through a coding process, the interviews were analysed to find the similarities and differences between the offices' approaches to SS and their experiences as B-Corps. Keywords were identified and themes with an inductive approach, applying the research question as a lens.FindingsData was analysed to understand how B-Corp and its IAF relate to the architectural offices. The study concluded that B-Corp can make it easier to establish inter-actor relationships and B-Corp’s IAF can provide a holistic approach in which architectural offices can better measure their sustainable values by switching the evaluation scale from “building” to “business” unlike common IFAs in the built environment; with these two roles, it can effectively contribute to social sustainability.Originality/valueIt is the first research to introduce the B-Corp certification to the architectural literature. Even though over 90 publications are covering B-Corp in other domains, there has yet to be any research looking at B-Corp-certified architectural offices, its merits as an IAF and limitations. This paper presents novel contributions to the knowledge concerning the assessment of social sustainability in architecture.

Development of a Flood Impact Assessment Framework Integrating Crowdsourced Data and Geospatial Information for Data Sparse Urban Regions

High spatial heterogeneity of urban floods poses challenges in its modeling and assessment, and a flood database is a basic requirement but it is lacking for many cities. The proposed Twitter-based framework addresses the issues via developing a finer resolution flood database and a product. The framework has multiple components including data quality control, validation of flood database via newspapers and flood impact assessment. Three flood events differing in rainfall characteristics are selected to showcase the utility of the proposed framework for the city of Hyderabad, India. Analysis of tweets highlighted the resourcefulness of video tweets and wide coverage of the study area in terms of flood reporting. Tweets exhibited an association with tweet time and rainfall aspects. Further, tweets based flood locations are found to be in agreement with newspaper based flooding instances. A novel flood impact score (FIS) is developed for each flood location using analytical hierarchy process based weights for five variables (Twitter based attributes, rainfall, elevation), and the use of FIS is demonstrated in identifying flood impact areas. These kinds of databases and products, with a scope to improve further, serve as a potential tool to cater flood preparedness and management thereby making cities flood resilient.

Assessing the potential impacts of floating Offshore Wind Farms on policy-relevant species: A case study in the Gulf of Roses, NW Mediterranean

Our study investigates for the first time how floating Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) technologies could impact policy-relevant Mediterranean species, focusing on planned OWFs in the Cape Creus/Gulf of Roses (Spain, NW Mediterranean). Using the Generalized Impact Assessment framework, we identified pressure on diverse taxonomic groups. Our species selection prioritized species under European policy (Birds and Habitats Directives) and international/local conventions protecting flora and fauna, as they are vital biodiversity indicators. Our analysis identified 135 policy-relevant species susceptible to OWF-induced stressors, notably marine mammals, seabirds, elasmobranchs, and benthic macroinvertebrates at the highest risk. Among the different stressors, noise and vibration, along with habitat loss, pose the greatest potential impacts. While decarbonizing energy production is crucial for addressing climate change, preserving ocean biodiversity is equally vital. Our study pioneers the assessment of emerging OWFs potential impacts on Mediterranean species, offering valuable insights for decision-makers during OWF planning.

Impact assessment framework of just energy transition: based on the justice principles

Impact assessment framework of just energy transition: based on the justice principles

Health Impact Assessment in Personalized Prevention: three applications on pharmacogenomic testing

Abstract Background In recent years, literature on the efficacy of genetic and genomic tests has expanded, yet the impact of personalized prevention programs that include such tests remains understudied. Our study aims to test the use of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) framework, traditionally applied in non-health policy evaluation, to assess the impacts of personalized prevention policies. Methods We selected a policy mandating dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD) genetic test use before prescribing fluoropyrimidine for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Three HIAs are being conducted in Italy, Portugal, and Finland to assess the applicability across different contexts. The assessment involves literature review, comparative risk modeling, and stakeholder interviews. Three national steering committees, comprising representatives from key interest groups and experts, will evaluate evidence to gauge policy impacts and offer recommendations. Results The potential impacts identified include CRC patients’ outcomes, economic, organizational, patient experience, clinician workload, and equity. Preliminary results show a consensus in literature and national guidelines on the ability of the DPYD test to reduce adverse events and enhance the quality of life of CRC patients. However, the assessment reveals context-specific effects regarding equity, influenced by the prevalence of ethnic groups and variations in access to health services across regions. Differences also emerged on organizational aspects like the availability of resources such as laboratories and personnel. A lack of literature was observed on patient acceptability and clinician attitudes towards the test. Conclusions The use of HIA in personalized prevention might assist in identifying policy impacts often overlooked through the involvement of key interest groups in the assessment process. Such effort can further emphasize the significance of evaluating these programs while considering the geographical context. Key messages • Our study innovatively applies the Health Impact Assessment framework to evaluate personalized prevention programs in pharmacogenomic, addressing a critical research gap. • Preliminary findings underscore the importance of considering geographical factors in public health policy evaluation, highlighting nuanced context-specific effects.

Does county urban shrinkage in China affect the concentration of lung-accessible particulate matter? An analysis from spatial effects and EKC perspectives.

The environmental effects of urban shrinkage have gradually attracted academic attention. Based on spatial effects and EKC perspectives, this study constructs an environmental impact assessment framework and examines the impact of urban shrinkage on the concentration of lung-accessible particulate matter at the county level in China from 2013 to 2020. The results show that, from a two-dimensional perspective in space and time, lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations show a decreasing trend in the time series and an obvious autocorrelation feature in space. Urban shrinkage can affect lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations through spatial effects. Through direct effects, urban shrinkage promotes the increase of lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations. Through spillover effects, urban shrinkage suppresses the growth of lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations. The effect of urban shrinkage on lung-accessible particulate matter concentration is nonlinear (EKC). This may be the result of the "siphon effect." Furthermore, in the extended STIRPAT model, it was found that population and economic and technological factors differentially affect lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations in shrinking cities. This study gives a new idea and insight into the changes in environmental pollution in shrinking cities.

Policies, Places and Practices: Why Environmental Law Scholars Should Care About the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023

Abstract The Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 has marked major reforms in how planning law legally conceptualises policies, places and practices. These reforms have an impact not only on the scope of planning law but also on the shape of environmental law in England and Wales. In particular, the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 changes how different forms of national and local policy legally interact, creates new administrative regulation for protected landscapes and establishes a new framework for environmental impact assessment called the Environmental Outcome Reports. This introduction to the legislation illustrates the importance of understanding the planning law reform for environmental law scholarship more generally.

Better conversations with Parkinson’s: co-production of a novel speech and language therapy intervention with people living with Parkinson’s

Effective engagement with stakeholders is key in health-care research and intervention development. There is currently a lack of evidence relating to the involvement of co-producers with Parkinson’s-related communication difficulties. This article provides a critical reflection on co-producing a novel speech and language therapy intervention (Better Conversations with Parkinson’s) with people living with Parkinson’s who have an interest in, or lived experience of, communication difficulties. Evaluation is based on qualitative comments and survey responses from patient and public involvement group members, documentation and outputs from the patient and public involvement group, and reflection using the Public Involvement Impact Assessment Framework. The co-production group, research team and organisation highly valued the expertise and collaboration as equal partners gained through co-production. Key enablers included skilled facilitation and adequate time and funding. Consideration should be given to the format of participation (online or face-to-face), recruitment strategies and the role of patient and public involvement, in order to improve access to underserved groups and strengthen the voice of public and patient involvement members. Co-production with people living with Parkinson’s and communication difficulties allowed the creation of a more credible, relevant intervention which responds to the needs of key stakeholders, and it was a positive experience with personal benefits for those involved. We propose offering a flexible choice of co-production methods to accommodate the differing experiences of patient and public involvement members with Parkinson’s and communication difficulties.

Assessing the spatiotemporal impacts of land use change on ecological environmental quality using a regionalized territorial impact assessment framework

Integrating ecosystem services into development assessments is crucial for sustainable urban and societal development. This requires a detailed examination of how land use change affects the spatial and temporal dynamics of ecological environmental quality (EEQ), considering regional variations. This study investigates the intricate relationship between land use change and EEQ by referring to the Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) framework and introducing a novel concept of regional sensitivity. Focusing on Guangdong Province, China, from 2000 to 2020, the study analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution of EEQ at the county level in response to land use change. The findings show an initial decline in EEQ followed by a recovery, with an overall slight upward trend, evident in the Pearl River Delta and northern regions. The study also identifies areas encompassing nearly half the province's total area that experienced EEQ degradation during the study period. By applying the TIA framework with regional sensitivity indicators, this research not only contributes to improved EEQ change assessment methodologies but also informs the development of more regionally-specific sustainable land use and urban development policies. Ultimately, this study provides scientific support for navigating the challenges of achieving sustainable urban development in the face of evolving environmental conditions.

Different pathways toward net-zero emissions imply diverging health impacts: a health impact assessment study for France

In the transport sector, efforts to achieve carbon neutrality may generate public health co-benefits by promoting physical activity. This study aims to quantify the health impacts related to active transport based on four different scenarios leading France toward carbon neutrality in 2050. The French Agency for Ecological Transition developed four consistent and contrasting scenarios (S1 to S4) achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 as well as a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario that extends our current lifestyles until 2050, without reaching net-zero. For each of these Transitions2050 scenarios, we distributed the mobility demand for walking, cycling and e-cycling across age groups. Relying on the health impact assessment framework, we quantified the impacts of the corresponding physical activity on all-cause mortality. The impact of each of the carbon neutrality scenarios was determined by comparison with estimates from the BAU scenario. In S1 and S2 scenarios, volumes of active transport are projected to increase to fulfill the World Health Organizations (WHO) recommendations by 2050, while they increase slightly in S3 and decrease in S4. S2 scenario reaches the highest levels of health co-benefits, with 494 000 deaths prevented between 2021 and 2050. This would translate into a life expectancy gain of 3.0 months for the general population in 2050, mainly driven by e-bikes. S1 would provide smaller but important health benefits, while these benefits would be modest for S3. On the contrary, S4 implies 52 000 additional deaths as compared to the BAU scenario and a loss of 0.2 month in life expectancy. Different ways to decarbonize mobility in a net-zero perspective may achieve very contrasting public health co-benefits. This study illustrates how the public health dimension may provide a relevant insight in choices of collective transformation toward net-zero societies.

TOWARDS AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF CULTURE-DRIVEN INTERVENTIONS ON INTEGRATED LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING: INSIGHTS FROM THE CASE STUDY OF PIRAEUS AVENUE IN ATHENS, GREECE

In recent years, culture has been addressed as a key component of integrated approaches to local development planning. In this context, it has been systematically combined with institutional and social aspects of local planning strategies and in support of local innovation/creativity systems. However, the articulation of these integrated approaches inhibits a wide typology of context-specific actions in European cities adopting different patterns of promoting culture as an innovative dimension of spatial planning. At the same time, recent discussion in the field suggests the adoption of more holistic frameworks that equally address the role of culture with differentiated aspects such as physical renewal, social relations and governance networks, hence recognising the integrated character of culture-driven interventions and explaining hindering development factors. The present paper aims to elaborate on the importance of such a holistic framework by testing its aspects in the context of the Piraeus Avenue area in Athens (Greece) and the (short-term and fragmented) emanating of developmental policies in support of the creativity and innovation that exist in this locality. The research focuses on the impact of cultural interventions in the Piraeus Avenue area in terms of the building of territorial efficiency, territorial quality, territorial identity and territorial capacity. In parallel, the research addresses the role of demographic and socio-economic parameters in this regard. To address these research aim issues, desktop research together with ten (10) semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders were conducted. Results indicate several positive impacts in the area mostly regarding spatial quality. However, in relation to territorial capacity building, a key finding is the need for activation towards building complementary uses and activities with other types of local stakeholders with accentuated decision-making powers. The research findings can serve to inform policy-making by identifying best practices and key challenges in the formulation of a holistic impact assessment framework towards culture-based spatial development planning in the European space.

Expanding supporting land to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farms: Case studies in northern China

Livestock farms in China are equipped with supporting land, which is a key factor in promoting the optimal combination of crop and livestock systems to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural production. However, there is still a research gap on the process of carbon flow at the farm scale in China and the mechanisms by which supporting land affects GHG emissions. In this study, we used an agri-environmental impact assessment framework created through an extensive farm survey based on a localized database. GHG emissions from livestock production were accounted for on a farm-by-farm basis. The impact pathways of GHGs were also analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that the completed coupling farms (consuming agricultural waste and supplying fodder) were 2840 kg CO2e/$1000 USD, which was approximately 13.1% lower than those from incomplete coupling farms (consuming agricultural waste or supplying fodder) and 20.2% lower than those from non-coupling farms. GHG emissions are positively correlated with the pig–land ratio (R2 = 0.62, p < 0.001). Assuming that China's farms could be fully integrated by 2030, it could reduce GHG emissions by 12–22% of current levels, or about 45.5–84.5 million tons CO2e. Our findings provide new insights about expanding land to improve manure and feed management, which can help stakeholders develop strategies to reduce GHG emissions from livestock production, contributing to the achievement of sustainable agricultural development across China and globally.

Water scarcity footprint and water saving potential for large-scale green hydrogen generation: Evidence from coal-to-hydrogen substitution in China

Green hydrogen generated via water electrolysis using photovoltaics or wind has begun to scale up in the process of achieving the global net-zero goal, but there is a lack of research on its impact on the scarcity of water resources and water saving potential. A water resources impact assessment framework for green hydrogen scale-up development is established, integrating the product water footprint and regional water footprint scarcity impacts and advancing the study of the water resources impacts on green hydrogen from water conservation as well as from a sustainable context. The research framework specifies the cradle-to-gate life cycle water consumption of hydrogen production, establishes the water scarcity footprint based on the available water remaining (AWARE) model, quantifies the water saving intensity and potential of the green hydrogen alternative to traditional hydrogen production, and proposes quantitative indicators of the water saving benefit. Taking the regions of 31 provinces in China as a case study, the wind-to‑hydrogen scenario and the solar-to‑hydrogen scenario will generate approximately 68.86×108 m3 and 126.10×108 m3 water scarcity footprints, respectively. Under the coal-to‑hydrogen baseline scenario, approximately 1.68×108 m3 and - 0.57×108 m3 of water saving potential will be generated. In addition, the water saving intensity decreases from west to east. According to the adjusted quantitative indicators of water saving benefits, the wind-to‑hydrogen scenario in China can reach 40.22×108 m3eq and the water saving benefit is more obvious in northern regions such as Hebei, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. The methodological framework can be applied to other countries or regions to assess the sustainable impacts of green hydrogen production on water resources in a given region.

ANN and regression based quantification framework for climate change impact assessment on a weak transmission grid of a developing country across Horizon 2050 plus

ANN and regression based quantification framework for climate change impact assessment on a weak transmission grid of a developing country across Horizon 2050 plus

Integrated survey methodologies provide process-driven framework for marine renewable energy environmental impact assessment

Environmental interactions of marine renewable energy developments vary from fine-scale direct (e.g. potential collision) to indirect wide-scale hydrodynamic changes altering oceanographic features. Current UK Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and associated Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) guidelines have limited focus on underlying processes affecting distribution and movements (hence vulnerability) of top predators. This study integrates multi-trophic ship survey (active acoustics and observer data) with an upward-facing seabed platform and 3-dimensional hydrodynamic model as a process-driven framework to investigate predator-prey linkages between seabirds and fish schools. Observer-only data highlighted the need to measure physical drivers of variance in species abundances and distributions. Active acoustics indicated that in situ (preferable to modelled) data were needed to identify temporal changes in hydrodynamics to predict prey and consequently top predator presence. Revising methods to identify key habitats and environmental covariates within current regulatory frameworks will enable more robust and transferable EIA and HRA processes and outputs, and at larger scales for cumulative and strategic-level assessments, enabling future modelling of ecosystem impacts from both climate change and renewable energy extraction.

An enhanced framework for data-based environmental impact assessment in reflection of public input

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a globally recognized tool for proactively managing dynamic development projects by identifying, predicting, and analyzing their environmental impact and proposing preventative measures. However, public participation in EIA often remains one-directional and limited to procedural hearings. To address this, a technology-driven framework enhances public involvement in EIA procedures. EIA-related newspaper articles from 1990 to 2022 were systematically collected and reviewed via web crawling. This resulted in a comprehensive list of novel data demands for future project assessments, confirmed through a meticulous examination of regulatory amendments since inception. This innovative framework transcends traditional public engagement, connecting past, present, and future EIA stakeholders. Advocacy is made for integrating these complaint-derived data demands into the national EIA database, elevating both qualitative and quantitative project assessments, and curtailing environmental impacts and social disputes. While focusing on South Korea, the framework’s principles hold global potential to enhance EIA practices.

Modeling the impact of extreme summer drought on conventional and renewable generation capacity: Methods and a case study on the Eastern U.S. power system

Across recent years, there has been a growing prevalence of extreme weather events throughout the United States, posing significant challenges to the reliable and resilient operation of power systems. Specifically, summer droughts threaten to severely reduce available generation capacity to meet regional electricity demand, potentially leading to power outages. This underscores the importance of accurate resource adequacy (RA) assessment to ensure the reliable operation of the nation’s energy infrastructure. Accurately evaluating the usable capacity of regional generation fleets is a challenging undertaking due to the intricate interactions between power systems and hydro-climatic systems. This paper proposes a systematic and analytical framework to evaluate the impacts of extreme summer drought events on the available capacity of various generating technologies, incorporating both meteorological and hydrologic factors. The framework provides detailed plant-level capacity derating models for hydroelectric, thermoelectric, and renewable power plants, facilitating evaluations with high temporal and spatial resolution. The application of the proposed impact assessment framework to the 2025 generation fleet of the real-world power system within the PJM and SERC regions of the United States yields insightful results. By analyzing the daily usable capacity of 6,055 at-risk generators across the study region, it shows that the summer capacity deration is most significant for hydroelectric and once-through thermal power plants, followed by recirculating thermal power plants and combustion turbines. In the event of the recurrence of the 2007 southeastern summer drought event in the near future, the generation fleet could experience a substantial reduction in available capacity, estimated at approximately 8.5 GW, compared to typical summer conditions. The sensitivity analysis reveals that the usable capacity of the generation fleet would suffer an even more significant decrease under conditions of increasingly severe summer droughts. The proposed approach and the findings of this study provide valuable methodologies and insights, empowering stakeholders to bolster the resilience of power systems against the potentially devastating effects of future extreme drought events.

A novel framework for assessment of human impact of floods: Demonstrated for the Indian subcontinent

Flood damages are a result of mutual interaction between flood hazard and socio-economic factors. The increase in flood damages over time can be attributed to various enhancements in the magnitude and frequency of floods as well as socio-economic development in the floodplains. The quantification and analysis of the human dimensions of flood damages is challenged due to irreversibility and lack of understanding of complex-human flood interactions, especially in less developed regions. Since flood damage assessments play a critical role in designing effective flood preparedness plans, we suggest including the human dimension in evaluating damages. We present a framework for the assessment of the human impact of floods by incorporating statistics on the number of people exposed, displaced, and fatalities recorded for each flood event. The framework involves categorizing human impact, identifying spatial clusters of different categories, and exploring the role of various hazard and socio-economic characteristics in determining impact. While categorizing and clustering of impact helps to distinguish between regions prone to different impact, understanding the role of socio-economic and demographic factors is expected to help in developing tailor-made strategies to mitigate flood disasters. The methodology broadly consists of categorization using unsupervised learning, spatial clustering using Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA), and spatial regression. The results indicate that the impact varies from one region to another and so does the role of hazard and socio-demographic variables in determining impact. Moreover, the framework developed may be used to study the relevance of various socio-hydrological theories and their role in determining the human impact of floods.

Startups’ contribution to SDGs: A tailored framework for assessing social impact

Abstract Startups play a crucial role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their innovative solutions that increasingly focus on sustainability. However, they face significant challenges in effectively assessing their contribution to the SDGs. In our study, by adopting an action-research methodology, we develop and introduce Prosper, i.e., a tailored social impact assessment (SIA) framework for startups. First, we conducted a comprehensive review of existing methods and standards for assessing social impact to establish an initial foundation of Prosper. Second, we refined Prosper based on an empirical validation on five startups. By embracing action research, we aim to empower startups with a robust and user-friendly tool, which facilitates SIA and representation. We also contribute to the literature aimed at overcoming the existing sustainability barriers for startups and to respond to the call for assisting them in reporting about SDGs. We also discuss practical implications and future research avenues.

Effective mission-oriented research: A new framework for systemic research impact assessment

Abstract Mission-oriented research combines a wide array of natural and social science disciplines to offer solutions for complex and multi-dimensional challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and scarcity of natural resources. The utilization of the outputs of mission-oriented research aims for changes in behavior, policy and practice resulting in real world impacts. Systematically assessing such research impacts and impact-generating processes is novel and offers great potential to plan for impactful research. This article develops a framework for systemic research impact assessment (RIA) on the basis of a literature review taking natural resource management (NRM) research as an example. The review compiles and analyzes 70 relevant RIA approaches. The resulting framework combines four components for improving societal impacts (1) an integrated component enabling reflection of impacts on all sustainability dimensions, (2) a missions component orienting toward societal goals to ensure societal relevance, (3) an inclusive component enabling wide participation to ensure legitimacy of research and its impact, and (4) a strategic component to choose appropriate assessment scales and time dimensions to ensure effectiveness. We provide suitable examples for the framework and we conclude with a call for an increased use of systemic and formative RIA that incorporate participatory strategies for research priority setting as well as socially deliberated target systems (e.g. SDGs), to plan for impactful mission-oriented research.