A research framework for studying social impacts: Application to the field of mining

Given the growing amount of attention shown to the social dimension of natural resources and mining governance, there is a need for more informed research-oriented approaches to studying social impacts. This article analyzes the features of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) studies from the academic research perspective and presents a framework for social impact research. By academic research, the article refers to studies on social impacts conducted purely for research purposes, not impact assessment processes.Research is always one aspect of the SIA process. At the same time, there is a lack of general methodological literature offering guidance on how assessing social impacts can contribute to social studies research. The guiding documents on SIA are largely intended for practical-level planning and management processes, which limits their applicability for academic purposes. The proposed framework draws both from traditional social science methods and existing scholarly and guiding literature on SIA. The research framework consists of four interlinked phases: 1) research preparations, 2) background studies (including proposed project, national and local context), 3) fieldwork, and 4) analysis. The framework is designed to direct attention to the relevant aspects of research methods, theory building, fieldwork implementation, and research choices for data analysis. Thus, the framework provides a flexible, but comprehensive, multi-level approach for examining social impacts, which can be adapted for a wide range of social-scientific mining research. The analysis and developed framework will help academic researchers better study the social impacts of mining and make better use of existing SIA studies in academic life.     

Assessment of Mangrove Response to Projected Relative Sea-Level Rise And Recent Historical Reconstruction of Shoreline Position

We predict the decadal change in position of three American Samoa mangroves from analysis of a time series of remotely sensed imagery, a geographic information system, tide gauge data, and projections for change in sea-level relative to the mangrove surface. Accurate predictions of changes to coastal ecosystem boundaries, including in response to projected relative sea-level rise, enable advanced planning to minimize and offset anticipated losses and minimize social disruption and cost of reducing threats to coastal development and human safety. The observed mean landward migration of three mangroves' seaward margins over four decades was 25, 64, and 72mma⁻¹, 12 to 37 times the observed relative sea-level rise rate. Two of the sites had clear trends in reductions in mangrove area, where there was a highly significant correlation between the change in position of the seaward mangrove margin and change in relative sea-level. Here it can be inferred that the force of sea-level rise relative to the mangrove surface is causing landward migration. Shoreline movement was variable at a third site and not significantly correlated with changing sea-level, where it is likely that forces other than change in relative sea-level are predominant. Currently, 16.5%, 23.4%, and 68.0% of the three mangroves' landward margins are obstructed by coastal development from natural landward migration. The three mangroves could experience as high as a 50.0% reduction in area by the year 2100. A 12% reduction in mangrove area by the year 2100 is possible in the Pacific islands region.     

Using causal maps to support ex-post assessment of social impacts of dams

This paper presents the results of an ex-post assessment of two important dams in Brazil. The study follows the principles of Social Impact Management, which offer a suitable framework for analyzing the complex social transformations triggered by hydroelectric dams. In the implementation of this approach, participative causal maps were used to identify the ex-post social impacts of the Porto Primavera and Rosana dams on the community of Porto Rico, located along the High Paraná River. We found that in the operation of dams there are intermediate causes of a political nature, stemming from decisions based on values and interests not determined by neutral, exclusively technical reasons; and this insight opens up an area of action for managing the negative impacts of dams.     

The social impacts of dams: A new framework for scholarly analysis

No commonly used framework exists in the scholarly study of the social impacts of dams. This hinders comparisons of analyses and thus the accumulation of knowledge. The aim of this paper is to unify scholarly understanding of dams' social impacts via the analysis and aggregation of the various frameworks currently used in the scholarly literature. For this purpose, we have systematically analyzed and aggregated 27 frameworks employed by academics analyzing dams' social impacts (found in a set of 217 articles). A key finding of the analysis is that currently used frameworks are often not specific to dams and thus omit key impacts associated with them. The result of our analysis and aggregation is a new framework for scholarly analysis (which we call ‘matrix framework’) specifically on dams' social impacts, with space, time and value as its key dimensions as well as infrastructure, community and livelihood as its key components. Building on the scholarly understanding of this topic enables us to conceptualize the inherently complex and multidimensional issues of dams' social impacts in a holistic manner. If commonly employed in academia (and possibly in practice), this framework would enable more transparent assessment and comparison of projects.     

National assessment of sea level rise using topographic and census data for Turkish coastal zone

Turkish coastal zone elevation to sea level rise was illustrated by using digital elevation model and Geographical information systems methods. It was intended to determine several parameters such as population, settlements, land use, wetlands, contribution to national agricultural production and taxes at risk by using high resolution SRTM topographic, orthorectified Landsat Thematic Mapper Mosaics and census data with GIS methods within 0-10 m elevation of national level. All parameters were examined for coastal cities, coastal districts, settlements and villages' status. As a result of the analysis of data set, it was found that approximately 7,319 km(2) of land area lies below 10 m contour line in Turkey, and is hence highly vulnerable to sea-level rise. 28 coastal cities, 191 districts and 181 villages or towns are located below 10 m contour line in study area. In the short term, for the struggle of negative impact of sea level rise, the findings suggest that the Ministry of Environment should declare new areas as protection areas and develop special environmental programs for national level.     

The community cost of consultation: Characterising the qualitative social impacts of a wind energy development that failed to proceed in Tasmania,Australia

Energy developments affect communities in a range of ways. Impacts on communities can be caused by changes to landscape amenity and access, disruptions to community cohesion, increased or decreased income streams, effects on property values, and population changes. These changes are ideally captured in the social impact assessment (SIA) process, where proponents outline in a formal statement the balance of benefits and burdens on local communities, and measures that will be taken to minimise negative outcomes for the community. In SIA practice there is a tendency toward quantitative socio-economic impacts, such as changes to demographics, income, and land values, with some qualitative assessment of amenity impacts. While the academic literature promotes inclusion of changes to the community itself, such as impacts on community cohesion and social capital, these qualitative changes are not consistently evident in SIA practice. Additionally, SIA practice assesses the impacts of the project, i.e. how the development of wind turbines or other energy infrastructure will affect the community. Because the consultation process around a proposed project typically commences prior to the characterisation and assessment of any associated social impacts and the finalisation of the SIA process, the potential impacts of this consultation are rarely, if ever, evaluated. Here, we examine a case study of an Australian wind energy project that did not proceed to implementation. Through this case study we are able to analyse the anticipatory impacts of the proposal; those stemming from the consultative process rather than the development of the project itself. We present these qualitative social changes, and outline the pathways through which the social changes manifest in two overarching social impacts: a divided community and future development capacity. We discuss the implications of this analysis in the context of good engagement practice and energy governance.     

Mean sea-level rise impacts on Santos Bay, Southeastern Brazil – physical modelling study

The greenhouse effect and resulting increase in the Earth’s temperature may accelerate the mean sea-level rise. The natural response of bays and estuaries to this rise, such as this case study of Santos Bay (Brazil), will include change in shoreline position, land flooding and wetlands impacts. The main impacts of this scenario were studied in a physical model built in the Coastal and Harbour Division of Hydraulic Laboratory, University of São Paulo, and the main conclusions are presented in this paper. The model reproduces near 1,000 km² of the study area, including Santos, São Vicente, Praia Grande, Cubatão, Guarujá and Bertioga cities.     

Adapting social impact assessment to address a project's human rights impacts and risks

We address the weaknesses inherent in the social risk assessments undertaken for business, especially in the extractive industries. In contrast to the conventional approach that considers consequence to the company rather than to impacted communities, conformance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights requires that consequence to affected communities has precedence. In order for social risks to be properly assessed, we consider that: companies need to know and understand the human rights impacts of their activities; contemporary approaches to project impact and risk assessment need to be adapted to consider human rights; and environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) methods need to be adapted to give greater attention to impacts on human rights. Using an example from the mining, oil and gas sector, we provide a method that differentiates social risks from business risks, and we position impact assessment as an instrument that actively facilitates the improved identification, analysis and management of social risks. Practical adaptations to SIA activities and risk assessment processes are provided. Taking human rights impacts into account and using the dimensions of gravity, extent, vulnerability and remediability, we nominate criteria to assess the significance of negative social impacts.     

Artificial Sampling Units: A Tool for Increasing the Sensitivity of Tests for Impact in Soft Sediments

The distribution of benthic organisms in soft sediments is patchy in time and space on many scales. Such variability makes assessment of ecological impacts difficult. Sediment-related variables, such as grain-size and organic content, which can affect colonization by infauna, vary over similar scales. Variations in characteristics of the sediment may contribute to spatial variability in infaunal assemblages, making it difficult to detect the putative impacts of disturbances, such as the production of boat-generated waves (wash), on these organisms. Here, the hypothesis that infaunal assemblages colonizing containers of homogeneous sedimentwould be less spatially variable than those colonizing natural sediment was tested. Containers were deployed at mudflats differing in exposure to wash. If wash does affect colonization, a reduction in variability among sites of similar exposure should enable stronger differences to be seen between wash and no-wash zones. Assemblages colonizing homogeneous sediment were less variable than those colonizing site-specific sediment. No difference in colonization was, however, seen between places differing in their exposure to wash. Nevertheless, this method is of use in the assessment of ecological impacts in sedimentary environments, where it is difficult to detect putative impacts above the great natural variability in assemblages.     

Quantifying coastal inundation vulnerability of Turkey to sea-level rise

The vulnerability of low-lying coastal areas in Turkey to inundation was quantified based on the sea-level rise scenarios of 1, 2, and 3 m by 2205. Through digital elevation model (DEM) acquired by the shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM), the extent and distribution of the high to low-risk coastal plains were identified. The spatio-temporal analysis revealed the inundated coastal areas of 545, 1,286, and 2,125 km² at average rates of 5, 10, and 15 mm yr⁻¹ for 200 years, respectively. This is equivalent to minimum and maximum land losses by 2205 of 0.1–0.3% of the total area and of 1.3–5.2% of the coastal areas with elevations of less than 100 m in the country, respectively. This study provides an initial assessment of vulnerability to sea-level rise to help decision-makers, and other concerned stakeholders to develop appropriate public policies and land-use planning measures.     

A more comprehensive and quantitative approach to corporate sustainability

This study proposes a new quantitative methodology and extendable framework to assess corporate sustainability more comprehensively and to capture interrelationships across the multiple domains of sustainability. A case study from the mining industry is presented to demonstrate the application of this new approach and its ability to extract meaningful insights regarding the company's progress towards sustainability. The comprehensive sustainability target method (CSTM) is a novel extension to an existing environmental burden sustainability assessment technique with additional focus on impacts within and across the societal and social justice domain. CSTM extends sustainability assessment recognizing planetary limits from human activity and relevant societal and community-based targets by formalizing assessment to include social and environmental beneficial impacts, as well as the interdependencies between the economic, environmental and societal domains. Outcomes from the mining industry case study reveal new insights into the sustainability of corporate operations as the comprehensive assessment framework provides a deeper and more extensive evaluation as compared to traditional sustainability assessments and corporate disclosures. In addition to maximal earth carrying capacity estimates for environmental burden targets, this study proposes that companies should assess sustainability for minimal limits applying to social beneficial impacts and maximal limits for social burden impacts. The overall theoretical construct and framework are presented to illustrate the robustness and extendibility of the technique to broadly incorporate various sustainability domains, assessment boundaries, and temporal considerations.     

Evolution of online public opinions on social impact induced by NIMBY facility

Public opinions play a pivotal role in public participation and decision-making in mega construction projects. The rise of technology and social media has facilitated the online public debate on social impacts derived from mega construction projects. This study presents a novel approach to analyze the evolution of public opinions through social media. This analysis framework covers: the temporal patterns of online messages, evolution of frames, and evolution of users. Such novel approach is employed to analyze the evolution of online public opinions on a mega construction project. Content analysis and a number of curve fitting methods were innovatively combined. Results show that social event had dual diffusion cycles while the formation mechanism of each cycle was completely different. The key parameters of Bimodal Gaussian model can depict the characteristics of online diffusion of public opinions. Elites and media organizations form the crucial nodes in the online diffusion process. The sequence of each frame and their share in the total number of frames are determined by preference of elites and media organizations. These findings are useful to develop effective strategy for public engagement, and to prevent and intervene the social conflicts.     

Modeling the environmental sustainability of timber structures: A case study

A revival in timber buildings and the appreciation of their positive physical and mechanical properties can be explained by the unique environmental credentials of timber products and their versatility. Heightened public awareness of sustainability in the construction sector places timber among the most preferential sustainable materials. There is plenty of previous research on sustainability assessments for complete buildings, although far less on the sustainability assessment of specific parts of the buildings, such as the case of timber structures. The objective of this study is to present an evaluation model, based on MIVES methodology, specifically designed for timber structures, which can be used to enhance the environmental sustainability and to reduce the impacts that are generated, in those areas where it has been awarded a lower score. The application of the model to the largest multi-storey residential timber building in south-western Europe clearly shows that changes to the material, such as its background and environmental certification, generate significant changes to the overall results of the assessment. A sensitivity analysis is then used to verify the analysis of the results and both the validity and the stability of the proposed model.     

Distributed process modeling for regional assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise

Sea-level rise involves increases in the coastal processes of inundation and erosion which are affected by a complex interplay of physical environmental parameters at the coast. Many assessments of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise have been detailed and localised in extent. There is a need for regional assessment techniques which identify areas vulnerable to sea-level rise. Four physical environmental parameters – elevation, exposure, aspect and slope, are modeled on a regional scale for the Northern Spencer Gulf (NSG) study area using commonly available low-resolution elevation data of 10 m contour interval and GIS-based spatial modeling techniques. For comparison, the same parameters are modeled on a fine-scale for the False Bay area within the NSG using high-resolution elevation data. Physical environmental parameters on the two scales are statistically compared to coastal vulnerability classes as identified by Harvey et al. [1] using the Spearman rank-correlation test and stepwise linear regression. Coastal vulnerability is strongly correlated with elevation and exposure at both scales and this relationship is only slightly stronger for the high resolution False Bay data. The results of this study suggest that regional scale distributed coastal process modeling may be suitable as a first cut in assessing coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise in tide-dominated, sedimentary coastal regions. Distributed coastal process modeling provides a suitable basis for the assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise of sufficient accuracy for on-ground management and priority-setting on a regional scale.     

Social sensitivity analysis in conflictive environmental governance: A case of forest planning

In environmental governance, there is a need to include tools that analyze the robustness of the assessment processes, as well as the validity of policies and measures. This requires a methodological framework that integrates formal techniques such as sensitivity analysis with what the authors have called social sensitivity analysis. The latter consists of participatory processes in which stakeholders analyze the robustness of the assessment process used as well as the validity of the results of such assessments. This methodology was applied to a procedure for assessing planning alternatives for forest tracks. Sensitivity analysis studies the technical robustness of the results of the assessment, as well as exploring the social validity of these results, thus facilitating processes of dialogue and consensus needed in decision-making in conflictive situations. These results are considered interesting, not only from the perspective of implanting polices, but also as a reference for other places with similar situations.     

Cleaning up the big muddy: A meta-synthesis of the research on the social impact of dams

Scholars have been exploring the social impacts of dams for over 50 years, but a lack of systematic approaches has resulted in many research gaps remaining. This paper presents the first systematic review of the literature on the social impacts of dams. For this purpose, we built a sample of 217 articles published in the past 25 years via key word searches, expert consultations and bibliography reviews. All articles were assessed against an aggregate matrix framework on the social impact of dams, which combines 27 existing frameworks. We find that existing literature is highly biased with regard to: perspective (45% negative versus 5% positive); dam size (large dams are overrepresented); spatial focus (on the resettlement area); and temporal focus (5–10 years ex-post resettlement). Additionally, there is bias in terms of whose views are included, with those of dam developers rarely examined by scholars. These gaps need to be addressed in future research to advance our knowledge on the social impact of dams to support more transparency in the trade-offs being made in dam development decisions.     

A framework for adaptive monitoring of the cumulative effects of human footprint on biodiversity

Effective ecological monitoring is imperative in a human-dominated world, as our ability to manage functioning ecosystems will depend on understanding biodiversity responses to anthropogenic impacts. Yet, most monitoring efforts have either been narrowly focused on particular sites, species and stressors — thus inadequately considering the cumulative effects of multiple, interacting impacts at scales of management relevance — or too unfocused to provide specific guidance. We propose a cumulative effects monitoring framework that integrates multi-scaled surveillance of trends in biodiversity and land cover with targeted evaluation of hypothesized drivers of change. The framework is grounded in a flexible conceptual model and uses monitoring to generate and test empirical models that relate the status of diverse taxonomic groups to the nature and extent of human “footprint” and other landscape attributes. An adaptive cycle of standardized sampling, model development, and model evaluation provides a means to learn about the system and guide management. Additional benefits of the framework include standardized data on status and trend for a wide variety of biodiversity elements, spatially explicit models for regional planning and scenario evaluation, and identification of knowledge gaps for complementary research. We describe efforts to implement the framework in Alberta, Canada, through the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, and identify key challenges to be addressed.     

The carbon footprint of a knowledge organization and emission scenarios for a post-COVID-19 world

The looming climate crisis requires an immediate response, in which organizations, as major contributors, should play a central role. However, these organizations need appropriate tools to measure and mitigate their climate impacts. One commonly applied method is carbon footprint analysis. Carbon footprint analyses have been conducted for various types of organizations, but knowledge organizations, such as universities and research institutes, have received far less attention, because their carbon footprint is often less visible and can be easily underestimated. This study is based on the carbon footprint analysis of one multinational knowledge organization. This analysis then helped identify the major sources of climate impacts in other such knowledge organizations. These are mainly indirect emissions (Scope 3) and to a large extent (79%) travel-related emissions. Based on these findings, three scenarios for a post-COVID-19 world were developed and analyzed. The results from the first two scenarios showed that despite a reduction in business travel and employees working from home, Scope 3 and travel-related emissions would remain the largest contributor. Only in the unlikely case of the third, non-recovery scenario did the share of travel-related emissions drop, turning heating into the largest contributor. In addition to measuring the carbon footprint, the study discusses potential mitigation strategies knowledge organizations could apply to reduce their carbon footprint. The focus is on how to avoid and reduce emissions, but new forms of carbon offsetting are also addressed. Based on the findings, a mitigation policy framework and recommendations for further research are proposed.     

Cost-Benefit Analysis and the environment: The time horizon is of the essence

Cost-Benefit Analysis is a key tool for evaluating welfare gains or losses from an investment. It is now well established that environmental impacts are crucial to consider the full welfare implications of a project. Debate has focussed on approaches to improve the valuation of environmental impacts, and controversy in the discounting of future impacts to present values. The issue of the time horizon of analysis is frequently overlooked. The framing of the time horizon has major implications, as environmental costs and benefits often accrue in the long-term. The technical aspects of setting the time horizon are reviewed, along with updates to practice guidance, noting the longer time horizons now becoming typical. It is demonstrated that the time horizon can have a considerable impact on results, even more substantial than the discount rate. While uncertainty is noted as a technical challenge to longer-term analysis, the use of scenarios and sensitivity testing are noted as an appropriate response. For projects with long-term environmental effects, such as those related to air pollution, climate change and ecosystem damages, it is recommended to use timescales of 100+ years for economic evaluation of the impact. Failing to fully capture these long-term welfare gains and losses will distort analysis with a bias towards those projects that are more carbon-intensive, or environmentally damaging. Such a bias would undermine not only the evaluation, but welfare and sustainable development in general.     

Socially evaluated impacts on a technologically transformed urban river

Urban rivers are natural elements in the urban landscape that are technologically changed to solve flood and pollution problems, and as a result of these interventions in the riverbed, they can be sources of well-being or problems for different segments of a city's population. As such, alternatives for assessment from different temporal and spatial viewpoints are necessary. Here we examine the importance of an urban river which has been technologically transformed over time, through the perception of families who live alongside it. Historical background was initially used to provide context, followed by binary logistic regression to analyze survey data (stratified sample of 710 inhabitants, significance level = 0.05). The results show that perceptions varied by the type of riverbed where each respondent lived (straightened, natural, or underground) and how long residents had lived near the river, and that the technologies used influence perceptions of impacts on the quality of life in riverside populations. The findings of this study provide possibilities for evaluating urban rivers as assets that generate diffuse effects capable of intensively impacting the quality of life of various residents in different ways, with intensities moderated by the nature of the corrective technologies used in each segment of the river, as well as priorities for conservation policies developed in each community or riverside micro-society. The conclusion is that high-impact technological solutions tended to be highly effective, and despite the ongoing deterioration of water quality and escalating risk, part of the population continues to value the river as a public natural resource and believes that solutions should come from government efforts.