International Principles
The process of developing international guidelines and principles however has been difficult. In a truly international context, there are many issues to consider and little can be taken for granted. The regulatory context varies, the cultural/religious context varies, and social and economic priorities for development vary. As the process of developing international guidelines and principles progressed, increasing pressure was placed on the conventional understanding of SIA, and a new concept of what SIA was about emerged. This resulted in a revised definition of SIA.
It also became apparent that a definitive document containing the “International Guidelines and Principles” was a flawed concept. Firstly, because most such documents tend to emphasise guidelines rather than principles. They fail to realise that guidelines need to be deduced from principles, and principles need to be derived from core values. Only by first establishing the core values of the community of practice, then deriving the principles, and only then developing guidelines, can truly appropriate guidelines emerge. The second flaw is that guidelines and principles are often developed in non-participatory processes. Even where participatory processes are involved, too often they do not include the people to whom the guidelines are directed. These are the people who ultimately need to develop 'ownership' of the guidelines if they are to be adopted and utilised.
What are social impacts?
SIA is much more than the prediction step within an environmental assessment framework. Social impacts are much broader than the limited issues often considered in EIAs (such as demographic changes, job issues, financial security, and impacts on family life). A limited view of SIA creates demarcation problems about what are the social impacts to be identified by SIA, versus what is considered by related fields such as health impact assessment, cultural impact assessment, heritage impact assessment, aesthetic impact assessment, or gender impact assessment. The SIA community of practitioners considers that all issues that affect people, directly or indirectly, are pertinent to social impact assessment.
The process of developing international guidelines and principles however has been difficult. In a truly international context, there are many issues to consider and little can be taken for granted. The regulatory context varies, the cultural/religious context varies, and social and economic priorities for development vary. As the process of developing international guidelines and principles progressed, increasing pressure was placed on the conventional understanding of SIA, and a new concept of what SIA was about emerged. This resulted in a revised definition of SIA.
It also became apparent that a definitive document containing the “International Guidelines and Principles” was a flawed concept. Firstly, because most such documents tend to emphasise guidelines rather than principles. They fail to realise that guidelines need to be deduced from principles, and principles need to be derived from core values. Only by first establishing the core values of the community of practice, then deriving the principles, and only then developing guidelines, can truly appropriate guidelines emerge. The second flaw is that guidelines and principles are often developed in non-participatory processes. Even where participatory processes are involved, too often they do not include the people to whom the guidelines are directed. These are the people who ultimately need to develop 'ownership' of the guidelines if they are to be adopted and utilised.
What are social impacts?
SIA is much more than the prediction step within an environmental assessment framework. Social impacts are much broader than the limited issues often considered in EIAs (such as demographic changes, job issues, financial security, and impacts on family life). A limited view of SIA creates demarcation problems about what are the social impacts to be identified by SIA, versus what is considered by related fields such as health impact assessment, cultural impact assessment, heritage impact assessment, aesthetic impact assessment, or gender impact assessment. The SIA community of practitioners considers that all issues that affect people, directly or indirectly, are pertinent to social impact assessment.
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