scholarly journals Meaningful Evaluation: a holistic and systemic approach to understanding and assessing outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianni Zappala
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
Long Term Outcomes ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Outcomes Measurement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ethics Program ◽  
Theories Of Change ◽  
Evaluation Approaches

The concept and practice of Social Impact and Social Impact assessment has developed and matured over the last decade. Despite this growth, confusion still exists with respect to definitions of social impact as well as which tools and frameworks are most appropriate. Central to the concept and practice of social impact is a focus on outcomes. This paper argues that a discernible albeit problematic pattern and approach has emerged in outcomes measurement within the social impact field. After briefly reviewing some of the key problems with how outcomes measurement is practised, it presents some recent approaches from the evaluation field that attempt to address some of these concerns before introducing a new approach to understanding and evaluating outcomes – Meaningful Evaluation (ME). A pilot Meaningful Evaluation of volunteer ethics teachers in the Primary Ethics program in NSW is used to illustrate the approach. ME combines the Map of Meaning (MoM) with insights from next generation evaluation approaches to understand and assess outcomes. Informed by appreciative inquiry perspectives, it provides a means to bridge the divide between positivist and interpretivist approaches in evaluation. Key to ME is the assumption that it is more likely that immediate outcomes lead to medium and long-term outcomes (changes in behaviour) that are sustainable and lead to impact if participants experience program interventions as ‘meaningful’. Meaning is an important internal outcome that is essential if longer-term external outcomes are to occur. It also shifts the focus to capture unintended outcomes, key to developing holistic and systemic rather than linear and mechanistic Theories of Change.

scholarly journals Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of Optimized Post-Tensioned Concrete Road Bridges

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicent Penadés-Plà ◽  
David Martínez-Muñoz ◽  
Tatiana García-Segura ◽  
Ignacio J. Navarro ◽  
Víctor Yepes
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Stage ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
Weighting Method ◽  
Ecoinvent Database ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post Tensioned

Most of the definitions of sustainability include three basic pillars: economic, environmental, and social. The economic pillar has always been evaluated but not necessarily in the sense of economic sustainability. On the other hand, the environmental pillar is increasingly being considered, while the social pillar is weakly developed. Focusing on the environmental and social pillars, the use of methodologies to allow a wide assessment of these pillars and the integration of the assessment in a few understandable indicators is crucial. This article is structured into two parts. In the first part, a review of life cycle impact assessment methods, which allow a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and social pillars, is carried out. In the second part, a complete environmental and social sustainability assessment is made using the ecoinvent database and ReCiPe method, for the environmental pillar, and SOCA database and simple Social Impact Weighting method, for the social pillar. This methodology was used to compare three optimized bridges: two box-section post-tensioned concrete road bridges with a variety of initial and maintenance characteristics, and a pre-stressed concrete precast bridge. The results show that there is a high interrelation between the environmental and social impact for each life cycle stage.

scholarly journals Scaffolding: Using Social Impact Assessment to Map Framework for Construction Stakeholders’ Engagement

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 154-165
Author(s):  
Samuel Ekung ◽  
James Effiong
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Monetary Incentives ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
The Social ◽  
Industry Needs

Strategy to construction stakeholders’ engagement in Nigeria is anchored on environmental impact assessment (EIA) law. While EIA is conducted only in large projects, every project continues to witness one form of opposition or another from the community stakeholders. This study examined social impact assessment’s (SIA) procedures as a scaffold to mapping framework for construction stakeholders’ engagement. The objectives were to examine problems associated with the implementation of EIA which hitherto ought to address the social risk triggers in project delivery and to develop a framework embedded in SIA for construction stakeholders’ engagement in Nigeria. The study engaged a sample of 46 respondents comprising project managers, environmental management experts and community stakeholders in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria in a qualitative structured interviewing. Collected data were sorted and analysed. The study reveals extant approach to stakeholders’ management failed as a result of low social context and impact mitigation are based on monetary incentives whereas there are relevant urgent needs to be satisfied. A framework integrating SIA procedures and construction stakeholder engagement strategy was also developed based on the peculiarity of the industry needs. The implication is that construction stakeholders’ management must be structured on satisfying real needs of the citizenry.

scholarly journals A Framework for Assessing the Social and Economic Impact of Sustainable Investments

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Räikkönen ◽  
Susanna Kunttu ◽  
Teuvo Uusitalo ◽  
Josu Takala ◽  
Shah Rukh Shakeel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Construction ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Sustainable Investments

Abstract Investments towards sustainable development are vital for the future and they must be carefully planned to deliver immediate and long-term benefits. Hence, the ability to communicate the forms of impact of sustainable investments to local societies, people, investors and other stakeholders can provide a competitive advantage. However, the assessments are often under pressure to demonstrate short-term effects rather than emphasise the long-term impact. In addition, indirect and intangible forms of impacts should not be measured solely in economic terms. This paper proposes an assessment framework to support the integrated economic and social impact assessment of sustainable investments aimed at improving physical and socio-economic wellbeing. The framework is demonstrated in two case studies: new construction and renovation investments in affordable housing and social impact investment in sustainable development. The investments in the case studies are evaluated, selected and prioritized not only in terms of money but also with regard to sustainability, social acceptability and their overall impact on society, as a whole. The results indicate that a systematic integrated assessment of monetary and non-monetary factors can be successfully combined with the sustainable development decisions.

Post-absolutist Transformations in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

2019 ◽  
pp. 243-257
Author(s):  
Raj Kollmorgen
Keyword(s):  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Long Term Outcomes ◽  
Social Models ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Societal Context ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Key Dimensions

Post-absolutist transformations are disruptive, accelerated, radical, and politically controlled modernization projects in Asian and Eastern European societies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with reference to successful social models in the context of global hegemonies. After delineating the world-societal context, this chapter deals with the so-called Meiji Ishin, i.e., the social restoration and renewal under Emperor Mutsuhito in Japan (1868–1912), that represents the earliest and in a way paradigmatic case of this historical wave and subtype of imitative societal transformations. Then four further post-absolutist transformation ventures are briefly described and discussed: the Iranian case (1907–41), the Russian Revolution (1905–7), the Turkish transformation (1908–38/46), and the short Chinese upheaval (1911–12). The chapter concludes with a comparative and typological summary discussing key dimensions and factors in shaping post-absolutist transformations and their long-term outcomes.

scholarly journals More Education, Better Jobs? A Critical Review of CCTs and Brazil's Bolsa Família Programme for Long-Term Poverty Reduction

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Jones
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
Long Term Outcomes ◽  
Life Trajectories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
Human Capital Investments ◽  
Intergenerational Cycle ◽  
Cycle Of Poverty

Conditional cash transfers have come to play a prominent role in the social policy landscape in Latin America and especially in Brazil in recent years. Evaluations of their impacts, however, have focused on limited short-term outcomes, particularly consumption and school enrolment and attendance rates. Long-term outcomes have received comparatively little attention. This article reviews the existing evidence on the long-term impacts of CCTs, focusing on the underlying assumptions in the CCT model for intergenerational poverty reduction. In doing so, it questions the notion that CCTs can indeed interrupt the intergenerational cycle of poverty through human capital investments that are thought to lead to expanded opportunities in the labour market. Moreover, it highlights the need for more research on the social processes that may influence young beneficiaries’ life trajectories and experiences in poverty.

Balancing De Jure and De Facto Arctic Environmental Law Applied to the Oil and Gas Industry: Linking Indigenous Rights, Social Impact Assessment and Business in Greenland

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Cassotta ◽  
Mauro Mazza
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
The Social

What will take place in the Arctic in the next decade will have consequences for us all, as the changing of the “Albedo effect” is altering the global climate, disrupting many equilibria both in the ecosystem and in the social sphere. Changes in the Arctic will not stay in the Arctic, but will affect the rest of the planet. The need to exploit resources, the emergence of new actors in the Arctic and the discovery of abundant oil, gas, mineral and renewable energy resources mean that we have to literally rethink and reconstruct the “Arctic” as a concept. Huge promises are made, but big questions are also raised about how we are to rethink and regulate our “blue planet.” A new regulatory framework is thus inevitable. This article deals with the social aspects of the climate change’s effects and the understanding of human adaptation to climate change by explaining how the problem of exploration and exploitation of oil and gas and their use by indigenous people are strictly interconnected with Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and environmental protection. The article focuses on the social dimension of climate change coupled with business development of oil and gas firms in the Arctic with Greenland as a case study to illustrate opportunities and tensions affecting the indigenous Greenlandic people. Some conclusions are drawn with the formulation of recommendations on the urgent need for direct participation of Arctic indigenous people in the decision-making policy creation on environmental protection measures and culture and advice on how to implement such recommendations. A solution to implement such recommendation would be to develop an interdisciplinary research programme to be implemented through an interdisciplinary research centre susceptible to be turned into an international organization after a certain period of working activity at the academic level.

scholarly journals Social impact assessment in the mining industry

2022 ◽  
Vol 354 ◽  
pp. 00023
Author(s):  
Ciprian Trocan ◽  
Marian Mocan ◽  
Ben-Oni Ardelean ◽  
Larisa Ivascu
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Negative Factors

Social responsibility for sustainability has become an important dimension in the current context. More and more industries are evaluating this responsibility and are actively involved in addressing human resources to increase motivation, communication and reduce negative factors. The mining industry is important, especially from the perspective of sustainability. For these reasons, this paper reviews the social impact in the mining industry and provides a framework of social indicators for this industry. The methodology used is based on a qualitative assessment of the importance of indicators for industry. This framework is developed based on various social impact reporting tools. This approach can be extended to other fields of activity following the adaptation of its applicability. The main conclusions show that social responsibility is important for the mining industry.

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