Social Impact Assessment Research Articles

Optimizing SIA: discourses in South African SIA and DRA practice

ABSTRACT Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is recognized as a valuable component of environmental management, yet it has been neglected internationally and in South Africa. Disaster Risk Assessment (DRA), is identified as a complimentary activity to SIA, that due to its shared focus on community wellbeing, has the potential for integration with and enhancement of SIA. The integration of SIA and DRA is a new, but poorly researched trend in South Africa, which is explored in this paper by investigating the current discourses in SIA and DRA practice using questionnaires and interviews with a sample of SIA and DRA experts. Four practical discourses were investigated i.e. specialists’ career experience; obstacles to practice; methodological guidance; and integrated assessments. This was followed by a literature study that demonstrated that these discourses echo broad international trends in SIA and DRA practice. The findings suggest that the integration of SIA and DRA should be pursued to optimize SIA for improved practice, to increase community resilience and to promote sustainable development outcomes.

The Autoethnographer’s Ball, 2040

Patricia A. and Peter Adler’s 1999 article on The Ethnographer’s Ball, a hypothetical geography of the community of ethnographers, launched this exercise in futurist speculation. What will happen to autoethnography in the future? What historical trajectory will it take? The adherents of autoethnography—now in its ascendance as a research movement, particularly with the launch of its new journal—will likely follow one or another trajectory that previous intellectual communities have traced. This paper projects five potential scenarios for the future of autoethnography twenty years from now: from universal acceptance, to a narrowly defined community, to being hijacked by a future intellectual movement, to institutionalization within the academy, to complete disappearance. It compares these scenarios to the fates of other scholarly communities such as symbolic interaction, world-systems analysis, and social impact assessment.

The Improvement of Production Process Impact in Furniture Industry Toward Circular Economy

Furniture industry is the industry that processes raw or semifinished material from wood, rattan, or other natural material, into products with higher value added and benefit. Because of a rise in consumer demand each year, the furniture industries should have much attention. High consumer demand may cause production process-related problems that damage the environment. Such environmental damage may be caused by waste, raw materials, or production process. High consumer demand in furniture industry brings negative impacts not only to the environment but also to the society. Social impact assessment is needed to evaluate how a product or a process influences workers, consumers, citizen, and value chain. This study uses life cycle assessment method with the help of SimaPro software to determine the environmental impact, and social-life cycle assessment to determine the social impact. The largest contributor to environmental impact is the use of acrylic varnish. Substitution acrylic varnish with woodstain-water based aims to lead to a circular economy by reducing adverse impacts on the environment. The replacement of acrylic varnish with woodstain water based reduces the environmental impact score by 24.8%. Social impacts score on the workers and local community stakeholder are categorized as poor.

Mining impact on communities’ livelihoods: A case study of Taita Taveta County, Kenya

Mining has been blamed globally for harmful and impoverishing effects. Most countries are rich sources of gemstone, yet there is very little development, since miners, and those around mining sites, still live in abject poverty. This study sought answers on: “how mining activities have affected communities’ livelihoods?”. Data was gathered from, Mwatate Sub-county, Taita Taveta County, Kenya. Structured questionnaires were administered through mobile technology, to randomly selected respondents from 173 out of 990 households, followed by a one-on-one focused discussions with Key Informants. Both groups were purposively selected. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21.0 after it was examined for accuracy by arranging it into manageable units and identifying patterns among variables. The findings were presented on tables for clear understanding. The study found that there is no proper mining regulatory system in Kenya. There is also no control of the intrusive influx of migrants from other counties into the mining areas of Taita or regulations for best mining practices. Mining did not help some of the households, to acquire assets, even though it enhanced ability to meet their day to day needs. Mining pits, poor rehabilitation and large-scale mining have caused a loss of agricultural land resulting in reduced crop yields and poor living standards. Some established mining companies in the area did not compensate, or share their accrued revenues nor did they support development projects as was expected. Therefore, the improvement brought about by mining was not sustainable to communities’ livelihood. The study recommends diversification of economic activities for livelihood improvement. To reduce poverty, equitable distribution of benefits and costs needs to be considered as essential. Environmental and social impact assessment, as a legal framework to regulate the mining operations, should be enforced in Africa and in Kenya.

Exploring the place of social impacts in urban transport planning: the case of Casablanca City

ABSTRACT In context of rising acknowledgement of the necessity of implementing sustainable mobility principles, urban transport is becoming a critical concern for Megacities of developing countries. As finding an equilibrium between social, environmental and economic impacts of transport investment is crucial but not necessarily straightforward, this paper focuses on how the social impacts are conceptualized and integrated in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan of Casablanca through its different elaboration stages by conducting context and content analysis. We observe that social impacts are neither meaningfully formulated into specific and clear objectives nor comprehensively included in the assessment process and they have not been object of an appropriate performance measures and indicators. We end the paper by suggesting the formulation of an appraisal framework for transport projects and policies where social impacts should be operationalized based on Social Impact Assessment framework guidelines.

Social stability risk assessment: status, trends and prospects —a case of land acquisition and resettlement in the hydropower sector

ABSTRACT Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is widely used in the field of international evaluation, but its application in China has been limited. Based on the dual requirements of developing the economy and maintaining stability, social stability risk assessment (SSRA) systems have come into being in China at a historic moment. Starting from the similarities and differences between SIA and SSRA, this paper reviews the influencing factors, sources, evaluation methods, existing problems and suggestions of SSRA in major decision-making, policy, reform and construction projects. On this basis, considering Wudongde hydropower station as an example, the social stability risk of land acquisition and resettlement (LAR) is assessed by using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) methods. The research shows that relying solely on SIA or SSRA makes it difficult to meet the social risk management requirements of major matters. SIA should be identified as a necessary link, and SSRA content should be embedded in SIA to achieve effective integration of the two.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Dam Projects: The Perspectives of Resettled and Non-resettled Communities

The research focuses on the perception of the Mucharz reservoir in relation to costs and benefits for two types of communities. The primary aim of the paper is to compare the social impact of dam projects among both resettled and non-resettled local communities. The secondary aim of the paper is to test multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) as a tool to examine the social impact assessment (SIA) of dam projects. The studied dam is located on the Skawa River within the Polish Carpathians. We used in-depth interviews with a non-resettled (N = 96) and resettled (N = 57) local population. To analyse the collected data, we performed multivariate analysis of variance. The main results indicate that the social assessment of dam projects differs significantly depending on whether one belongs to the group of resettled or non-resettled population. MANOVA is an effective tool for the analysis of the social impact assessment (SIA) of dam projects.

Environment and livelihood of the Kouni community of the Kayes sub-prefecture (Bouenza, Congo)

Background : The rainforest is a source of particularly diversified natural goods and services, satisfying at least 80% of the population's needs. Notwithstanding the intimate link between population and biodiversity, anthropogenic pressure and its corollaries, such as global climate change, have led to a specific and genetic erosion of about 30% over the last three decades. The major causes of these are, in the case of the Congo, anarchic urbanization, construction of physical communication infrastructures without an environmental and social impact assessment; and unbridled collection of medicinal plants for commercial purposes. The loss of biodiversity is a clear sign of unsustainable use of natural resources, which the traditional societies depends on for their livelihoods. Methods : Our study conducted at Mvouandzi, sub-prefecture of Kayes (Congo), is based on the ethnobotanical knowledge survey and floristic inventory. The informants, aged between 15 and 50 years or more comprised 25 men and 43 women who possess plant secrets. Prior to fieldwork, we reviewed existing literature that provided information on the status of inventoried species, their phytogeographic distribution, and known uses within their range. The ethnobotanical knowledge survey took place in two phases, namely: work with focus groups and conducting personalized interviews with the informants; and the collection of samples coupled, when possible, to the participatory approach. Results : The floristic inventory lists 81 useful species, corresponding to 72 genera and 43 families. Some species are multi-purpose, and 26 of the 60 medicinal plants inventoried are specifically associated with the traditional pharmacopoeia. 36 species are multi-purpose and the others 15 intervene specially in food, 26 in phytotherapy, and 5 in handicrafts. The high values of the ethnobotanical indices (the ethnobotanical use value (VU), the informant consensus factor (CFI), and the level of fidelity (NF)) show a strong involvement of these taxa in the daily life of this traditional society. Sociological analysis reveals that the level of ethnobotanical knowledge is proportional to the subjects’ age and in this matter, women excel in the exploitation of empirical knowledge. Conclusions : The Kouni community possesses a sophisticated ethnobotanical knowledge, which is a fundamental part of socio-cultural base of the Kouni community and an important cultural asset of Congolese nation. However, the Kouni community is shrinking due to rural exodus. Therefore, documenting the existing traditional knowledge is the first priority to preserve the Kouni cultural diversity. Keywords : Congo, Mvouandzi, ecosystem services, traditional knowledge, phytodiversity.

Social Impact in Product Design, An Exploration of Current Industry Practices

Abstract Though academic research for identifying and considering the social impact of products is emerging, additional insights can be gained from engineers who design products every day. This paper explores current practices in industries used by design engineers to consider the social impact of products. Forty-six individuals from 34 different companies were interviewed to discover what disconnects exist between academia and industry when considering a product’s social impact. These interviews were also used to discover how social impact might be considered in a design setting moving forward. This is not a study to find “the state of the art,” but considers the average engineering professional’s work to design products in various industries. Social impact assessments (SIA) and social life cycle assessments (SLCA) are two of the most common processes discussed in the literature to evaluate social impact, both generally and in products. Interestingly, these processes did not arise in any discussion in interviews, despite respondents affirming that they do consider social impact in the product design. Processes used to predict social impact, rather than simply evaluate, were discussed by the respondents. These tended to be developed within the company and often related to industry imposed government regulations. To build on this study, the findings herein should be further validated for executives, managers, and engineers. A study specific to these roles should be designed to understand the disconnect better. Additionally, processes should be developed to assist engineers in considering the social impact of their products. Work should also be done to help educate engineers and their leaders on the value of considering the social impact in product design.

Limitations of Technical Approaches to Transport Planning Practice in Two Cases: Social Issues as a Critical Component of Urban Projects

ABSTRACT Technical transport models are commonly relied upon in planning practice for the development of urban rail infrastructure projects. By considering the assessment and management of social impacts in the planning and decision-making of two rail megaprojects (the North-South Metro line in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the Parramatta Rail Link in Sydney, Australia), we found that technical approaches continued to overlook social impacts, and had an overemphasis on economic and engineering considerations. We conclude that good practice Social Impact Assessment (SIA) offers opportunities to better consider social issues as a critical component of transport projects.

Social Impact Assessment in La Oroya, Peru Applying the Grey Clustering Method

The social conflict presented in the city of La Oroya, of a national government issue type, is considered by the Ombudsman's Office as a latent social conflict during the month of April 2019; therefore, analyses, agreements, meetings and dialogue tables are presented, which allow subjective evaluations of the problematic reality, complicating the correct decision making. For which, the application of the Grey Clustering method is proposed to quantify the social impact presented in the city of La Oroya; the surveys were conducted on Sunday, June 2, 2019, containing 08 questions (same number of criteria to evaluate) that were answered by 20 settlers, such answers were evaluated with the Grey Clustering method obtaining as a result that the social impact in the city of La Oroya is of normal level.

Impact of Judicial Doctrine and Geo Spatial Technologies in Refinement of Environmental Impact Assessment Laws and Policies in India

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) provides the perspective of strategic rebuilding of environment and sustainable development. The Constitution of India, 1950; Environment Protection Act, 1986 and EIA Notification, 2006 endeavours to protect and improve environment by envisaging environmental clearance of projects on the basis of environmental assessment report (EAR), environmental management plan (EMP), and public hearing. The social and strategic impact assessment (SIA) in EIA law in India is in constant experimentations at judicial, technological and procedural refinements. However the population growth, urbanization and alteration in land use pattern necessitated for application of geospatial technologies viz; remote sensing, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Habitat Suitability (HS) models are employed for EIA process. The paper synthesizes the need for judicial and technological refinements in making EIA laws and governance an effective tool for sustainable development and equity in India.

Forces for change in social impact assessment

ABSTRACT Social impact assessment (SIA) is experiencing both evolutionary and revolutionary forces for change. Using the example of New South Wales, Australia, forces for change include community pressure and shifting expectations, industry desire for clarity and certainty, departmental leadership, a collaborative approach to policy development, and perceived legitimacy of the guideline itself. Inhibiting these forces are general resistance to change, a concern around costs of good SIA, unfamiliarity with social sciences, and insufficient practitioner capacity. The recent Rocky Hill judgement, which highlights concepts such as community cohesion, sense of place, and distributive equity, may accelerate change. However, there is also a need to build capacity among SIA practitioners, and afford sufficient time and budget to meet the standard of leading-practice guidelines. At the same time, unfolding trends such as the climate change and extinction crises, the gendered nature of development, ever-widening inequalities, and ‘post-truth’ discourses may catalyse more revolutionary change in SIA practice – changes that paradoxically may enable SIA to reclaim its social-science principles and the overarching goal of sustainable social development.

Economic, Social, and Environmental Impact of a Sustainable Fisheries Model in Spain

In recent decades, fishing sustainability has been subject to intense international debate. Overfishing and contamination of the marine environment are elements that contribute to a reduction in fish stock and catches, often leading to declining income and employment, especially in rural areas. We present a sustainable fisheries model that promotes artisanal fishing while incorporating replacement rates of fish stock and actions that benefit the fishing industry. First, the sustainable fisheries model defines the guidelines and actions that may apply either together or independently, sequentially, or simultaneously, according to a defined budget. These concrete actions are quantified and incorporated into an environmentally extended input-output model to evaluate the economic impact on the Spanish fishing industry. The impact is complemented with an assessment of social impact (employment) and environmental impact (estimated reduction of CO2 emissions).

Different paths in social life cycle impact assessment (S-LCIA)—a classification of type II impact pathway approaches

In social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), we can distinguish two main types of impact assessment (LCIA): type I can be seen as a reporting approach with the use of performance reference points and type II aims at including cause-effect chains or impact pathways in the analysis. Given the heterogeneity of those type II approaches, this review provides a classification of existing type II approaches. We reviewed a total of 28 articles against the background of their main purpose, the method used, the issues covered and the origin of data (observation/characterization/ measurement). We checked the articles against (i) the reflection of an impact pathway, (ii) the availability of so-called inventory and impact indicators, and (iii) the presence of characterization models or factors translating correlations or causality. The analysis reveals three main paths to include impact pathways in S-LCA, which differ in authors’ intentions: (1) some studies identify and propose variables composing impact pathways, or frameworks gathering several pathways; (2) other studies investigate or test known pathways empirically, and until now seek mainly to link income data with health impacts at a macro scale, and (3) a last batch applies known and already quantified characterization models or factors from other research works in case studies. Until now, these case studies focus mainly on income-related social effects or on health impacts. Further, each path is further characterized and classified under nine approaches. Our findings highlight not only the heterogeneous nature of approaches, but also their common denominator which is to not consider phenomena or impacts in isolation but to consider them in relation to their sources or further impacts. It should be noted that type II studies are not only limited to quantitative approaches and variables, but can also use more qualitative variables and methods. The presented classification may be used as a guidance tool for authors to make their methodological choices. Also, our findings indicate the opportunity of extending future type II S-LCA research to variables tackled in type I studies (e.g., safe and fair employment and working conditions), beyond pathways including incomes and health impacts. This can be done by using theories from social sciences for the identification of impact pathways. Those could then further be investigated through statistical approaches or in the framework of S-LCA case studies, with specific data and potentially more qualitative methods to analyze causality or social mechanisms.

Critiquing social impact assessments: Ornamentation or reality in the Bangladeshi electricity infrastructure sector?

Sustainability includes three elements: social, economic, and environmental factors. The latter two dominate any project planning, whereas the former is often overlooked. Social sustainability deals with social factors that are essential for achieving long-term, sustainable social wellbeing. For a new project to be socially sustainable, maximum positive and minimum negative impacts are essential. Social impact assessment (SIA) provides a holistic view of all impacts that might occur in a new project. Bangladesh, a least developed country has developed its long-term power generation plan up to 2041 which includes the construction of new power generation plants of different types such as coal, gas, and oil-fired. Thus, it would be a challenge for the country to maintain its power sector's sustainability, if appropriate impact assessments are not conducted properly including SIA. In this article, the present status of SIA in the power sector of Bangladesh is analyzed. The results revealed that the SIAs were limited in scale and not up to standard, and thus mostly not helpful in achieving social sustainability. Lack of separate rules and regulations for SIA and inappropriate methodological approaches used to conduct SIA were the two main reasons.

Health in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Gaining strength from the ‘Family of health assessments’ approach

Abstract Background For connecting health-related “scientific knowledge” and “policy-making” with each other, there is a range of approaches, including health reporting, health needs / impact / technology / systems performance assessment as well as evaluative activities. The improved understanding of their communalities and differences provides opportunities for mutual learning and synergetic practice. Goal and method The goal is to strengthen the coverage of health within EIAs. We apply the “Family of health assessments” approach, as worked out by the EUPHA “health assessments” working group (EJPH 2017, pp.609-16), for connecting EIA to other approaches used to support decision-making. Results Applying this “family” approach leads to various insights, including the following: (i) Existing local health (or environmental) reports provide baseline information, as required in impact assessments. (ii) An existing Health Needs Assessment (HNA) can point to vulnerable populations, Health Systems Performance Assessment (HSPA) to specific weaknesses of local health care, potentially relevant for expected impacts. (iii) Where other impact assessments beyond EIA, e.g. Social Impact Assessment (SIA), are conducted, assessors need to be aware of potential overlap or even contradictions which could irritate decision-makers and the public. (iv) Ex-post evaluations of similar projects can inform prospective EIA. (v) The competencies required for assessing human health in EIA overlap with those required for other types of health assessments, e.g., health reporting or evaluation. Therefore, teaching modules might jointly be developed. Lessons The “family” perspective helps to make best use of existing (local) knowledge (which is often embedded in diverse forms of health assessments); and to assure consistent practice across assessments. The inter-relationship of health assessments is a reason to reconsider training courses and to develop more integrated approaches.

Exploring the Social Impacts of Wildlife Conservation in Ethiopia: Past Experiences and Future Directions

Establishing protected areas is a predominant wildlife conservation effort across Africa. Such strategy, however, has inevitable social and economic impacts to the local people. Social impacts and conservation require equal attention because it is the foundations for alliances with social groups to address common concerns. This makes social impact assessment a very crucial tool to understand the long run impacts of wildlife conservation on local people. Surprisingly, such analysis is insufficient and seemingly uncommon practices in Ethiopia. This short review examines scarcely available literatures on these matters and suggests the ways to maximize the positive and minimize the negative impacts of the sector. It is hard to understand the policies and positions of conservation sectors of Ethiopia on social impacts of conservation. Positive social impacts of conservation range from employment opportunities, improved infrastructural development to monetary gains. Negative social impacts include human displacement, lack of resource access, conflicts arising from enforcement activities, and human-wildlife conflicts. Several studies from different parts of Ethiopia have indicated the alienation of the local community and their subsequent antagonistic responses towards conservation efforts. Integrating conservation programs and local community minimizes the costs and increases the benefits of the local people. These in turn raise the social acceptance and success of the program. Wildlife conservation in Ethiopia still requires a detailed studies and practical improvements to equally address the social and biological needs of the sector. Keywords: Costs of wildlife conservation, Ethiopia, Human displacement, Human-wildlife conflicts, Local community, Wildlife conservation DOI : 10.7176/JRDM/61-03 Publication date: November 30 th 2019

Reflections on Social Impact Assessment in the 21st century

ABSTRACTSocial impact assessment (SIA) is a field of research and practice that addresses everything associated with managing social issues throughout the project lifecycle (pre-conception to post-closure). SIA has transformed from a regulatory tool to being the process of managing a project’s social issues used by developers, financiers, affected communities and environmental licencing agencies. SIA considers: benefit sharing, boom-and-bust cycles, community development, community engagement, community resilience, cultural heritage, due diligence, empowerment, gender issues, grievance redress mechanisms, human rights, Impacts and Benefits Agreements, Indigenous peoples, in-migration (influx, honeypot), livelihood restoration, local content, local procurement, project induced displacement and resettlement, psycho-social impacts, social closure, social function, Social Impact Management Plans, social inclusion, social investment, social licence to operate, social performance, stakeholder engagement, vulnerable groups, and traditional issues such as identifying social impacts and designing mitigation. SIA has learnt much over 50 years, however complex issues remain including involuntary resettlement, restoring livelihoods, place attachment, sense of place, maintaining intangible cultural heritage, and finding replacement land. Corruption, rent seeking, elite capture, speculation and opportunist behaviour are also problematic.

Enhancement of Application Model for Substation Site Selection

The existing ESASIRF program (Transmission Line Route Selection Application Model and Development of Environmental Sensitive Area (ESA) Safe and Intelligent Route Finder (ESASIRF) and integration with PLS-CAD) does not cover substation selection and environmental protection. It focuses only on an assessment of the risk of landslides concerning the proposed route of transmission. This study presents the potential of an integrated system using the Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques in substation selection to develop an automatic and intelligence method for substation planning in this specific delicate area of the environment. During the selection of the proposed substation, a social impact assessment was also included in this research by defining requirements, problems as well as suitable mitigation measures. With this research, all spatial data for South Putrajaya is acquired and the previous system can be fully utilized. Spatial data from this research were also used to define soil type and flood-prone areas. Finally, this system will be used to assist TNBs in gazetting by applying sustainable concepts in their Transmission Route and Corridor by following Section 21 and Section 22 ACT 172 1973.