Monitoring for the adaptive management of social impacts

Abstract

Historically and to the present, Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has had a subordinate relationship to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Burdge, 2002;Hildebrandt & Sandham, 2014;Vanclay, 2020). Consequently, social impacts and the conducting of SIA have not had the same amount of attention as environmental impacts and EIA, which are commonly managed by using environmental management plans and systems (Franks & Vanclay, 2013). However, there has been an increasing focus on the ongoing monitoring, mitigation and management of social impacts, but the study of social monitoring is still in its infancy (Rossouw & Malan, 2007). This chapter conceptualises 'social impact monitoring' as being a process of monitoring the social change processes and social impacts that are identified in the initial SIA and throughout the project lifecycle. Project social impact monitoring is an extension of the SIA process from the pre-consent decision-making stage (where SIA is undertaken) to post-consent stages (especially project implementation, where SIA mitigation, monitoring and management actions are implemented). In this chapter, 'project' refers to large physical footprint developments (such as infrastructure, civil works, agriculture, agroforestry, renewables, mining, oil and gas, etc.) in any part of its lifecycle, including design, construction, development, operation, maintenance, expansion, rehabilitation and decommissioning/closure.Monitoring is the systematic process for the regular measurement, collection, recording and analysis of data relating to the inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts of projects (World Bank, 2004;Glasson et al., 2005). The existence of a monitoring system is essential for evaluation, which is the process of determining the efficacy and efficiency of the design and implementation of projects and the sustainability of results (FORMIN, 2006;ILO, 2015;OECD, 2021). While monitoring and evaluation are synergistic (World Bank, 2004), this chapter focuses exclusively on monitoring.The chapter starts by making the case that a clear ontological and epistemological approach provides an interpretive lens to understanding social impact monitoring. Attention is then given to the development of an iterative and adaptive social impact management framework that serves as a foundation for producing a Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP). FRAMING SOCIAL IMPACT MONITORING Ontological and Epistemological LensesBefore initiating the design of a social impact monitoring programme, it is wise to first consider the ontological and epistemological perspectives that are to define the monitoring