Iasscore:: Social Impact Assessment

Social Impact Assessment

 SIA seeks to assess, in advance, the social repercussions that are likely to follow from projects undertaken to promote development, such as dams, mines, industries, highways, ports, airports, urban development and power projects. It is a tool that can help decision-makers to foresee the likely negative impacts of their actions so that steps necessary to prevent or at least to contain them could be taken in advance.

The key characteristics and variables that are often correlated with adverse social impacts of development proposals include: 

• Demographic change, e.g. size and composition of resident population, influx of temporary work force or new recreational users (disrupts the cohesion of a small, stable community); 

• Economic change, e.g. new patterns of employment/ income, real estate speculation (marginalises long term, older residents); 

• Environmental change, e.g. alterations to land use, natural habitat and hydrological regime (loss of subsistence or livelihood in resource dependent community); and 

• Institutional change, e.g. in the structure of local government or traditional leadership, zoning by-laws or land tenure (reduced access or loss of control leads to disempowerment or impoverishment of the established population).

Activities Comprising Social impact Assessment

a) Scoping the nature and boundaries of the impact assessment.

b) Profiling current impacts of the activity being examined, including the historical context or current status to establish a baseline level and rate of change for relevant variables related to the activity of interest.

c) Formulating alternatives, in which alternative ‘impact’ scenarios are developed.

d) Projecting and estimating effects of different impact scenarios.

e) Monitoring actual impacts.

f) Mitigation and management of impacts.

g) Evaluation of the impact assessment process. 

Advantages of conducting Social Impact Assessment

The benefits of undertaking a systematic SIA can include: 

a) Reduced impact on communities or individuals – identification of mitigation measures is an integral element of SIA; 

b) Enhanced benefits to those affected – SIA preparation also helps identify measures such as job training packages; 

c) Avoiding delays and obstruction – a well prepared SIA demonstrates that social impacts are taken seriously and helps to gain development approval; 

d) Lowered costs – addressing social impacts and mitigation measures at an early stage helps to avoid costly errors and remedial actions imposed at a later stage by regulatory agencies; 

e) Better community and stakeholder relationships – experience has shown that SIA can help to allay fear and concern and build a basis of trust and cooperation necessary for the proponent to successfully introduce and operate the project; 

f) Improved proposals – an SIA provides information that adds value to existing projects and helps to design future ones.

Social impact assessment is predicated on the notion that decision makers should understand the consequences of their decisions before they act and, that the people affected will not only be apprised of the effects, but have the opportunity to participate in designing their future.