Engaging Communities with Social Impact Assessment: SIA as a Social Quality Assurance Process

Vanclay FM¹*

1. Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been a technocratic expert-driven process which sought to identify the social impacts that might be anticipated from the implementation of projects or policy. Although intended to be in the community interest, such a model of SIA has not always engaged the community. Some sections of the community have critiqued SIA, seeing it as inherently linked to the corporatist agenda and nothing more than legitimation of (bad) development.

New understandings of SIA, such as espoused in the “International Principles for SIA”, see SIA differently. The International Principles advocate SIA take a proactive stance for social development rather than be limited to the identification and amelioration of negative outcomes. The new model considers that assisting communities to identify development goals and maximizing positive outcomes is more important than minimizing harm from negative impacts. SIA should be part of the adaptive management of policies and projects. SIA also needs to assist communities to cope with change.

Such a multifaceted understanding is not consistent with the current regulatory agency process typically associated with SIA/EIA. A different model is required. This paper speculates on the potential of a Quality Assurance process similar to an Environmental Management System (ISO 14000) to address social issues in the operations of corporations, government agencies and other organizations. The tentative hypothesis is that SIA would be more effective in achieving its goals if it seen as a quality assurance process rather than being a point-in-time assessment of potential impacts.

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