Sociale Impact Assessments 

Social Impact Assessments (SIA) are a management tool. They provide the investor/ developer/planner with socio-cultural data about a particular area or community that will be affected by their development plans and can predict the likely impact of the development on the area or community. In today’s world, there is a growing demand from consumers for an ethical and socially responsible form of development.

Perhaps more importantly, organizations such as the World Bank, EU and national governments are placing more emphasis on sustainable development. Consequently, developers must be seen to consider these key issues in their strategies.

Social Impact Assessments are conducted before a project is built or expanded. Many investors, planners and developers do not want local communities to know about the development plans until the project is actually developed in order to reduce the likely impact of public objections and/or sharp increases in land values around the proposed project site.

As anthropologists, we use a methodology based on qualitative and ethnographic research. These include: participant observation and observation – living in a community and/or observing it in detail, learning to understand the community; social and life histories – this involves examining change, development and continuity in the life cycles of the community; ethnographic mapping – this technique involves identifying important features of the landscape in which the community lives.