In the last twenty years, both the increase in academic production and the expansion of professional involvement in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) have evidenced growing scientific and business interest in risk and impact analysis. However, this growth has not brought with it parallel progress in addressing the main shortcomings of EIA/SIA, i.e. insufficient integration of environmental and social factors into development project analyses and, in cases where the social aspects are considered, technical-methodological failings in their analysis and assessment. It is clear that these weaknesses carry with them substantial threats to the sustainability (social, environmental and economic) of projects which impact on the environment, and consequently to the local contexts where they are carried out and to the delicate balance of the global ecosystem. This paper argues that, in a sociological context of complexity and dynamism, four conceptual elements should underpin approaches to socio-environmental risk and impact assessment in development projects: a theoretical base in actor-network theory; an ethical grounding in values which are internationally recognized (though not always fulfilled in practice); a (new) epistemological-scientific base; and a methodological foundation in social participation.
The literature specialized in Social Impact Assessment (SIA) concurs that there is still much work to do in the discussion and thorough grounding of its theories and conceptual bases. The authors of this paper consider that the understanding of SIA as a paradigm may prove useful as a foundation on which more robust and better grounded SIA knowledge production may be built. Further, we suggest that the application of the concept of the paradigm in the terms expressed here may offer a comprehensive guide to practice in SIA studies. The paradigmatic approach to SIA is based on six basic, consecutive questions, related to each other and independent at the same time: questions in the axiological, ontological, epistemological, methodological and theoretical fields, in addition to one on governance in SIA (and in the specific project analysed). Below we explain how the two currently predominant SIA paradigms (which we have named technocratic and constructivist, following the commonly accepted terms) answer these questions. Finally, the variability of the different answer options may involve intermediate positions between the two paradigms which may also involve comprehensive ways of defining and grounding practice.Introduction and objectives: why the concept of the paradigm is used here as a theoretical foundation and methodological guide.
Environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) can be an extremely useful tool for identifying and evaluating the repercussions of a wide range of initiatives. Typically when the project and its impacts are highly complex, an ESIA can detect a large number of issues that need to be prioritized so that they can be effectively and efficiently addressed. This article presents a mixed-methodology proposal for impact prioritization in ESIA, divided into four phases: (1) creation of the stakeholders' platform; (2) identification and assessment of impacts; (3) impact categorization; and (4) impact assessment and prioritization using multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). This procedure was applied as an ex-post evaluation of a golf-based tourism project in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Huelva, Spain), but can also potentially be used to conduct ex-ante assessments. The main contribution of the study is in the design and testing of a parsimonious procedure, which condenses a large amount of qualitative information into relatively simple operations using MCDA. The process is grounded in the constructivist social impact assessment (SIA) paradigm through stakeholder evaluation of impacts and criteria.
PurposeThis study aims to explore how responsible corporate behaviour, specifically self-imposed financial regulatory control, might subsequently be reflected in the financial performance of companies subject to such regulation.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors aim to explore how financial compliance in the form of the Economic Control Regulation (ECR) has impacted on the financial performance of professional football clubs in Spain. To this purpose, the authors adopted a quasi-experimental before and after study design. This type of design assesses the object of study before and after a specific event in order to determine whether this event has had any effects on the object. In this case, the event was the coming into effect of the ECR in the fiscal year of 2012, and the object hypothetically affected was the clubs’ economic performance.FindingsThe authors can confirm that in general terms and for the whole set of clubs analysed, the ECR has had a strong and positive effect on financial performance.Research limitations/implicationsIn this study, the authors wish to establish a link between the idea of “compliance” and that of “responsible corporate management practice”. It is not just a matter of compliance with the law. The fact of complying with certain laws could, in general terms, or from the point of view of common sense, be qualified as “responsible behaviour”. However, under the contemporary concept of corporate responsibility, compliance with the law is a behaviour that must be taken for granted. Responsibility, therefore, would entail going beyond such expected behaviour to one that exceeds the environment's expectation of the corporate actor.Practical implicationsWhat extent improvements in financial performance have also boosted social performance. Confirming such a positive effect endorses the argument that ethical improvements in corporate culture have a general effect on business sustainability in its different aspects: economic, social, environmental and in governance.Social implicationsThe authors may foresee that the culture of compliance will spread from the finance departments to other management areas. Its connection with ethical business practice is directly linked to the more complex concept of the “citizen company”. There are suggest interesting bases on which professional football clubs might move from a traditional profit-oriented company model towards a more contemporary one oriented towards relationships of integrity with the sport's environment. This study shows that the ECR has been a starting point for the development of Spanish professional football clubs towards this type of “citizen company”.Originality/valueIt was a single-sector study whose principal value lies in the verification of whether responsible economic management (the main consequence of applying the ECR) had any effects on company profits, financial results and other important indicators. In addition to fostering responsibility, this new management model involves a special innovation, as it is based on self-regulation (i.e. on regulations not imposed by national or supranational states), designed and implemented to ensure the sector's viability.
Como citar este artículo / Citation: "Turismo rural y expansion urbanística en areas de interior. Análisis socioespacial de riesgos",
In this paper, we present some results extracted from a social impact study carried out on a golf-based tourism development project (GBP). A phronetic approach is adopted, underpinned by case study methodology. The main objective of the article is to shed some light on the debate over the profitability of GBPs. To this end, firstly, we define GBP and briefly set out the sociological and economic reasons for their growth. Secondly, we describe the specific case studied and our analytical approach, based on (1) analysis of the financial balance and prospects of the business in question, and (2) qualitative analysis of the views of local stakeholders. Discussion of our data enables us to assess to what extent a GBP can be deemed beneficial or not, highlighting the need for holistic, multidimensional and locally-based analysis to suitably evaluate GBPs as an appropriate model for sustainable development.
The WHO urges countries to consider the link between racial discrimination and health and, in particular, the need for further research to study the links between health outcomes and racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. This article is carried out within the framework of approximation work towards health-related ethnic inequalities among the population of African descent of the Americas. A qualitative methodology was used to conduct 20 in-depth interviews with a group of key informants composed of leaders of African descent, officials from the ministries of health, international health agencies, and international technicians specialised in African descent health and interculturality from six different countries. The extracted data were categorised and encoded, generating quotations and concept maps with Atlas.ti v.8.2. The concurrency coefficients made it possible to link the codes of each subcategory with the central analytical category. The racial discrimination experienced by people of African descent and the quality of health services received poses a problem. Discrimination is faced in all countries, affecting access to services and the quality of health care, and greater discrimination against women is also detected. This shows the need for an activistpolicy and for the inclusion of specific variables in surveys, censuses, and records in order that they may be researched. Claims are made about the complementary role that traditional medicine may play and the fact that the intercultural approach may be a useful strategy for addressing inequalities. The interviewees agree with the reference theory on the existence of racial discrimination and segregation regarding the African descent population of the Americas and how this translates into ethnic inequities in the field of health. Proposals have been put forward both on how to deepen research and how to contribute to the reduction of ethnic inequalities in health issues.
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