SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

AND SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY

EnP Manny Javier
 PRELIMINARY REMARKS
• Social Impact Assessment a study to determine, for a
specific development proposal,
—what kinds of social impacts are likely to occur to
people and their community
—the significance of these impacts; and
—to identify measures that may help to avoid or
minimize potentially adverse effects.

• When governments put in place laws and policies for

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS, they often
define ENVIRONMENT to include the social
environment.

• Social impact assessment (SIA) has become an important

part of project planning and approval processes.
 SOCIAL IMPACTS
• Changes that occur in people's day-to-day life, livelihood,
culture or heritage and community as a result of the
construction or implementation of a project, program,
plan or policy.

• May be necessary or even desired.

• Development proposals are usually planned to meet an

identified need and contribute positively to people's well-
being.

• It is the unintended and undesired effects that are often

the focus of SIA studies, such as those impacts that create
hardships, result in a loss of the use and enjoyment of
home and property, or disrupt the way of life of people or
a community.
 SIA PROCESS
1) Profiling the existing social conditions
2) Identifying the kinds of changes likely to occur as a
result of the proposed development, such as who
will be affected, in what way and for how long
3) Determining the relative importance of the potential
changes
4) Identifying measures to prevent or minimize adverse
effects
5) Evaluating the overall acceptability of the proposed
development given the significance of potential
social impacts.
It is often not possible to predict exactly what will happen to people and their
community as a result of a development project. It is possible to provide an estimate
and understanding of what might happen, why and what could be done to prevent
harm, and to respond to the needs and concerns of those people who might be
affected.
 Patterns of Assessment
• Scoping the problem,
• Identifying the problem,
• Formulating alternatives,
• Profiling the system, 
• Projecting effects,
• Assessing impacts,
• Evaluating outcomes,
• Mitigating adverse impacts,
• Verifying results,
• Specifying who wins and who loses, and
• Designing institutional arrangements and
management.
STYLE OF WORK GENERALLY DESIRABLE
FOR ASSESSMENT PROJECTS

• Interdisciplinary and
I interactive 
• Synthetic, aggregative,
S integrative
• Inclusive (involve users of
I the assessment information
in the process), and
P • Policy relevant.
 TYPES OF DATA
• statistical social data (for example, censuses of
population/housing, traffic counts, vehicle registrations, mortality,
farm size, employment, hospital beds, police cars);

• written social data (for example, letters to editors, novels,*

prepared testimony, historical documents, reports, newspaper
articles);

• observational social data (for example, systematic

observation of relevant events, unobtrusive measures, land
modifications, measured responses to experimental situations); and

• respondent contact social data (for example, polls and

surveys, interviewing, ballots, citizen/expert comment on impacts,
registration applications and other forms (Miller, 1970; Gale 1977b).
 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYTICAL
TECHNIQUES
1. demographic analysis
2. evaluative research
3. community studies
4. institutional analysis
5. causal modeling
6. value analysis
7. social indicators
8. multivariate analysis
9. ethnomethodology
10. social network analysis
11. archival research
12. social forecasting
13. survey research
14. matrix methodologies
 Forest-use social impact
categories, variables and components
CATEGORIES VARIABLES COMPONENTS
Physical cohesion
(barriers)
Demographic cohesion
(class characteristics)
COHESION AND Attitude and value
CONFLICT cohesion
Proposed action activities
cohesion and conflict
Community activities
Actual use compatibility
Suitability
(environmental
carrying capacity)
LAND TENURE AND Land allocation and use Esthetic effects
LAND USE Land use regulation (viewer access)
Conditional use and
building permits
Comprehensive planning
and zoning
 Forest-use social impact
categories, variables and components
CATEGORIES VARIABLES COMPONENTS
Population size (growth, Population size
stability, decline) Perspectives
Population density
POPULATION Displacement of people Population size change
Physical displacement
DYNAMICS Population distribution Use displacement
Population of people Geographical mobility
Population structure
Social mobility
(age and sex)
COMMUNITY Community identity
`Sense of place'
SYMBOLIC Places
MEANING Practices
`Things'
Value orientations
BASIC VALUES Value dimensions
Value rankings
 Types of Methods
1.Scenario or ‘Social forecasting ‘ — involves the analysis of probable social
consequences of current trends and events.

2. Consensus —opinions by themselves; agreement among experts (delphi);

conjecture; brainstorming; heuristic programming; moot courts.

3. Historical extrapolative ―historical determinism based on how

the past was; historical surveys; social trends analysis; monitoring; correlation and
regression; probabilistic analysis; growth metaphors; historical analogies. 

4. Problem structuring
—Modeling: identify a set of elements, concepts, etc., explore their relationships
within a situation and generate a graphical representation of structural relations.
Models are partial representations that organize elements in time and space.
—Cross-impact matrix: relates elements to each other based on expert judgment.
—Other: simulation, iterative system projection, systems analysis, input-output
analysis.

5. Decision methods determine a goal, then `backcast' to analyze what

should be done now to get there; includes forecasting and casting around, using
morphological analysis, contextual mapping, objective trees, relevance trees,
judgment theory.
Example
Example
Example
SIGNIFICANCE TABLE FOR SOCIAL IMPACTS
 STAGES IN THE INSTRUMENTS FOR
DEVELOPMENT HIERARCHY ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT

Policy
Plans SIA
Programs

Projects Project EIA

Implementation EMP (Environmental

and Monitoring Management Plan)
 Social Impact Assessment
 estimate, in advance, the
social consequences that POLICY ACTION
are likely to follow specific
policy actions (including
programs and the
adoption of new policies), Social impacts are
and specific government changes that occur in
actions. people's day-to-day life,
livelihood, culture or
 assess the significance of heritage and community
these impacts; and
 to identify measures
that may help to RESPONSE
avoid or minimize TO IMPACT
potentially adverse effects.
 Social Acceptability
 Results from a judgment process by which individuals
1) compare the perceived reality with its known
alternatives and
2) decide whether the “real” condition is superior or
sufficiently similar to the most favourable
alternative condition.
 acceptability is a function of the perceived desirability,
equitability, and feasibility of those alternatives as well
as the perceived risk associated with a condition or
practice.
 Acceptability is judged within a geographic context
reflecting technical knowledge, biophysical
consequences, economic constraints, and political
interests (Stankey et el 1996)
 DESCRIBING IMPACTS

• Desirability: desirable to adverse

• Scale: down to up scale

• Duration: quick to long term

• Intensity or severity

• Degree: cumulative to counter-balancing

 SOCIAL IMPACTS AND
PROJECT STAGES
PROJECT/POLICY DEV STAGES

1. Planning/Policy
Development
2. Construction/
Implementation SOCIAL
3. Operation/
Maintenance IMPACTS
4. Abandonment/De-
commissioning
 Identify Social Impact Assessment
Variables
1. Population Characteristics (population and expected change, ethnic
and racial diversity, and influxes and outflows of temporary residents as well as the arrival of
seasonal or leisure residents)

2. Community and Institutional Structures (the size,

structure, and level of organization of local government including linkages to the larger political
systems; historical and present patterns of employment and industrial diversification, the size and
level of activity of voluntary associations, religious organizations and interests groups, and finally,
how these institutions relate to each other.)

3. Political and Social Resources (the distribution of power

authority, the interested and affected publics, and the leadership capability and capacity within the
community or region.)

4. Individual and Family Changes (refer to factors which influence

the daily life of the individuals and families, including attitudes, perceptions, family characteristics
and friend-ship networks. These changes range from attitudes toward the policy to an alteration in
family and friendship networks to perceptions of risk, health, and safety.)

5. Community Resources (patterns of natural resource and land use; the

availability of housing and community services to include health, police and fire protection and
sanitation facilities; historical and cultural resources; possible changes for indigenous people and
religious sub-cultures.
 EM
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CONTEXT
Stages in Social Impact Assessment
Describe the relevant
Develop an effective
human environment/area
public plan to involve all
of influence and baseline
potentially affected public
conditions

Describe the proposed

action or policy change
and reasonable
alternatives

Scoping to identify the full

Screening to determine the
range of probable social
boundaries of the SIA
impacts

Predicting Responses to
Impacts

Develop Monitoring Plan &

Mitigation Measures
 Stages in Social Impact Assessment
Step 1: Baseline Step 2: Public
Conditions Involvement

Step 3: Project
Description &
Alternatives

Step 5: Scoping Step 4: Screening

Step 6: Predicting
Responses

Step 7: Management
& Monitoring
 Step 1: Baseline Conditions

The generic set of dimensions for

investigation should include:
(a) population characteristics
(b) community and institutional
structures
(c) political and social resources
(d) individual and family changes
(e) community resources.
 Step 2: Public Involvement
• identifying and working with all potentially affected
groups :
– those who live nearby
– those who will be affected by the development intervention
– those who are forced to relocate because of a project
– those who have interest in a new project or policy change but may not live in
proximity.
– Those who might normally use the land on which the project is located (such as
farmers who have to plough along a transmission line)
– those affected by the influx of seasonal residents who may have to pay higher prices
for food or rent, or pay higher taxes to cover the cost of expanded community
services.

• each group should be systematically interviewed

to determine

–potential areas of concern/impact

–ways each representative might be involved in the planning decision
process
–public perceptions
Step 3: Project Description & Alternatives
This project description should include:
1. Location;
2. Land requirements;
3. Needs for ancillary facilities (roads,
transmission lines, sewer and water
lines);
4.Construction schedule;
5.Size of the workforce (construction
and operation, by year or month);
6.Facility size and shape;
7.Need for a local workforce;
8. Institutional resources.

It is equally important to identify feasible alternatives for

proposed actions within the ambit of the project.
 Step 4: Screening
 Purposes:
• To determine the boundaries of SIA.
• To select ‘developments’ that require
assessment and avoid ‘developments’ that
do not require one.
• To make a proposal on the ‘developments’ in
terms of its impact on people and of its
relative significance.

 Screening procedures employed can be based

on the already existing legal frameworks.
 Step 5: Scoping
Ideally, all affected people or groups contribute to the
selection of the variables assessed through either a
participatory process or by review made by responsible
officials.
Relevant criteria for selecting significant impacts include the
1.Probability of the event occurring;
2.Number of people including indigenous populations that will be
affected;
3.Duration of impacts (long‐term vs short‐term);
4.Value of benefits and costs to impacted groups (intensity of
impacts);
5.Extent to which the impact is reversible or can be mitigated;
6.Likelihood of causing subsequent impacts;
7.Relevance to present and future policy decision;
8.Uncertainty over possible effects;
9.Presence or absence of controversy over the issue.
 Step 6: Predicting Responses

Public/private
Action (Project) “Social impacts”
•Consequences on human
adoption and population ... alter the ways in which people
live, work, play, relate to one another, organize to
response of meet their needs and generally cope as members of
society.
affected •cultural changes to the norms,
parties values, and beliefs, perceptions, significance
that guide and rationalize their cognition of
themselves and their society.
attitudes and • Adverse social impacts
actions 1. Loss of Structures
2. Loss of Livelihood
Influence of Social acceptability 3. Loss of crops/trees
local leadership 5. Loss of access to community
Satisfaction/
infrastructure/ public utility lines
disatisfaction
Reactions to failure to
meet expectations.
 Step 7: Management & Monitoring

 SIA is not just to forecast impacts but should

identify mitigation measures for adverse
impacts in the form:
• Modification of the specific event in the project
• Operation and redesign of the project or policy
• Compensation for the impact by providing substitute
facilities, resources and opportunities
 reparation of a Social Management Plan
1. Enumeration of the Project Affected Persons/Families;
2. Measures to Minimize Resettlement;
3. Consultation and involvement of PAPs;
4. Entitlement Framework;
5. Institutional Arrangements.
 A monitoring programme to identify
• deviations from the proposed action
• any important unanticipated impacts.
 Steps in the Social Impact
Assessment Process Steps in
the Social Impact Assessment
Process
 1. Public Involvement
- Develop an effective public plan to involve all
potentially affected publics.

• identifying and working with all potentially

affected groups identifying and working
with all potentially affected groups

• representative from each group should be

systematically interviewed to determine
potential areas of concern/impact, and
ways each representative might be involved
in the planning decision process.
 2. Identification of Alternatives
- Describe the proposed action or policy
change and reasonable alternatives

• identify the data requirements needed

• Minimum data:
– Locations
– Land requirements
– Needs for ancillary facilities (roads, transmission lines,
sewer and water lines)
– Construction schedule
– Size of the work force (construction and operation, by
year or month)
– Facility size and shape
– Need for a local work force
– Institutional resources
 3. Baseline Conditions
- Describe the relevant human
environment/area of influence and baseline
conditions.
• existing conditions and past trends associated
with the human environment (collection of
interested and affected publics, interest groups,
organizations, and institutions)
• Relationships with the biophysical
environment
• Historical background
• Political and social resources
• Culture, attitudes and social-psychological
conditions
• Population characteristics
 4. Scoping –
After obtaining a technical under-standing of the proposal,
identify the full range of probable social impacts that will be
addressed based on discussion or interviews with numbers of
all potentially affected.

• reviews of the existing social science literature, public

scoping, public surveys, public participation techniques

• Relevant criteria for selecting significant impacts:

– Probability of the event occuring;
– Number of people including indigenous populations that ill be affected;
– Duration of impacts (long-term vs. short-term);
– Value of benefits and costs to impacted groups (intensity of impacts);
– Extent that the impact is reversible or can be mitigated;
– Likelihood of causing subsequent impacts;
– Relevance to present and future policy decisions;
– Uncertainty over possible effects; and
– Presence or absence of controversy over the issue.
 5. Projection of Estimated Effects
- Investigate the probable impacts

Five major sources of information:

1) Data from project proponents;

2) Records of previous experience with similar actions as

represented in reference literature as well as other
EIS's;

3) Census and vital statistics;

4) Documents and secondary sources;

5) Field research, including informant interviews,

hearings, group meeting, and surveys of the general
population.
 Methods of projecting the future
lie at the heart of social assessment
• Comparative method; Straight-line trend projects taking an existing trend
and simply projecting the same rage of change into the fturue);
• Population multiplier methods (each specified increase in population implies
designated multiples of some other variable, e.g. jobs, housing units);
• Scenarios(1) logical-imaginations based on construction of hypothetical
futures through a process of mentally modeling the assumptions about
the variables in question; and (2) fitted empirical-similar past cases used
to analyze the present case with experts adjusting the scenario by taking
into account the unique characteristics of the present case;
• Expert testimony(experts can be asked to present scenarios and assess
their implications);
• Computer modelingmodeling (involving the mathematical formulation of
premises and a process of quantitative weighing of variables);
• Calculation of "future foregone" " (a number of methods have been
formulated to determine what options would be given up irrevocably as a
result of a plan or project, e.g., river recreation and agricultural land use
after the building of a dam).
 ILLUSTRATIVE SOCIAL IMPACTS
BY TYPE OF PROJETC
PROJECT TYPE OF SOCIAL IMPACTS
Expansion of a major 1. Housing required for new employees
airport in a 2. Increased risk of accidents to adjacent
developed urban neighborhoods because of expanded aircraft
areas, where activity
“expansion” means 3. Increase in traffic flow and congestion at and
the addition of new around airport
runways, increased 4. Disruption in area due to construction activities
terminal space and 5. Increased demand for local public transportation
parking; and a services
general increase 6. Increased crowdedness in airport vicinity
inlanding and take- 7. Increase in transient population in the area
off activity. 8. Health and lifestyle impairment because of
noise effects
9. Increase in population of the area
10.Potential displacement of people
11.Potential removal of businesses and/or homes
12.Increase in air transportation service to area
13.Change in overall character of a community
 ILLUSTRATIVE SOCIAL IMPACTS
BY TYPE OF PROJETC
PROJECT TYPE OF SOCIAL IMPACTS
Redevelopment 1. Provision of new housing in the area
of a run-down – in particular for senior citizens
residential area 2. Displacement of existing residents
in the form of 3. Increased demand for local public
replacement of transportation
existing 4. Reduced school requirements
residential 5. Change in neighborhood character
structures with and lifestyle
a senior citizens’ 6. Demand for police and fire
housing project protection services
7. Increased demand for park and
recreational facilities
8. Change in demand for social, health,
and welfare services.
 ILLUSTRATIVE SOCIAL IMPACTS
BY TYPE OF PROJETC
PROJECT TYPE OF SOCIAL IMPACTS
Closing down of 1. Reduction in school requirements
a large military 2. Reduction in local traffic flow and
base in an congestion
established 3. Change in overall character of the
urban area community
4. Change in population in the area
5. Reduction in off-based housing
demand
6. Reduced need for public
transportation
Illustrative Social Impact Measures
for Selected Impact Areas
IMPACT AREA CANDIDATE SOCIAL IMPACT MEASURES
Attractiveness Rating of the physical and visual attractiveness of
the development as determined by local citizens

Percent of people who think the development

improves or lessens overall neighborhood
attractiveness, pleasantness, or uniqueness

Crowdedness Change in percent of people perceiving their

neighborhood as too crowded

Housing Change in number and percent of housing units

that are substandard, and change in number and
percent of people living in such units

Change in number and percent of housing units by

type relative to demand estimates or to number
of families in various income classes in the
community
Illustrative Social Impact Measures
for Selected Impact Areas
IMPACT AREA CANDIDATE SOCIAL IMPACT MEASURES
Recreation Number of people x minutes or y miles closer to
(or farther from) recreational facilities by type of
facility

Change in percent of capacity, waiting times,

number of people turned away, persons per
facility, or citizen perceptions of crowdedness at
recreational facilities

Change in perceived pleasantness of recreational

experiences

Sociability/friendliness Change in frequency of visits to friends in existing

neighborhood and frequency of visits between
people in existing neighborhood and new
development
Property values Change in land values