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Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is a sub-field of the social
sciences that is developing a knowledge base to provide a systematic appraisal
in advance of the impacts on the day-to-day quality of life of persons and communities
whose environment is affected by a proposed project, plan or policy change.
An institute specialising in social development issues, such as Institut Sosial
Malaysia can play a crucial role in helping policy-makers, social workers, academics
and practitioners, to better understand and react to various contemporary social
issues. The government has agreed in principle to implement the social impact
assessment on all development projects considered crucial or critical especially
for programmes which were related to community development.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi said when launching the
Institut Sosial Malaysia in October this year (2005), that the launching of
the institute comes at a most opportune time as we seek to evaluate our
nations needs and resources in ensuring more comprehensive and balanced
development in the country.
Social impacts (also effects and consequences) refer to changes to individuals
and communities due to a proposed action that alters the day-to-day way in which
people live, work, play, relate to one another, organize to meet their needs
and generally cope as members of society.
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Environmental aspect surrounding the community will be
taken into consideration when planning for development |
Agricultural projects will have to be planned so as not
to affect the
balance between economic well-being and societys advancement |
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SIA is done as part of the planning process and therefore
alerts the planner and the project proponent (through the social assessor) to
the likelihood of social impacts. Like a biological, physical, or economic impact
social impacts have to be pointed out and measured in order to be understood
and communicated to the impacted population and decision-makers.
Social impact assessment provides a realistic appraisal of possible social ramifications
and suggestions for project alternatives and possible mitigation measures. By
social impactswe mean the consequences to human populations of any
public or private actions that alter the ways in which people live, work, play,
relate to one another, organize to meet their needs and generally cope as members
of society.
The term also includes cultural impacts involving changes to the norms, values,
and beliefs that guide and rationalize their cognition of themselves and their
society. These aspects include (but are not limited to):
The ways people cope with life through their economy, social systems,
and cultural values.
The ways people use the natural environment, for subsistence, recreation,
spiritual activities, cultural activitie and so forth.
The ways people use the built environment, for shelter, making livelihoods,
industry, worship, recreation gathering together, etc.
The ways communities are organized, and held together by their social
and cultural institutions and beliefs.
Ways of life that communities value as expressions of their identity.
Art, music, dance, language arts, crafts, and other expressive aspects
of culture.
A group's values and beliefs about appropriate ways to live, family and
extra-family relationships, status relationships, means of expression, and other
expressions of community.
The aesthetic and cultural character of a community or neighbourhood
- its ambience.
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| An office complex, like any other building, is another
project which would require an SIA |
SIA involves characterizing the existing state of such aspects
of the environment, forecasting how they may change if a given action or alternative
is implemented, and developing means of mitigating changes that are likely to
be adverse from the point of view of an affected population.
At the launching of the Institute, the Prime Minister also said that he hopes
that Institut Sosial Malaysia would be able to play a leading role in addressing
the various social development issues that confront our society today.
He called upon the Institute to work in concert with other institutions, both
local and international, to provide policy ideas, blueprints and training opportunities
with the aim of creating the developed and well-balanced society that we aspire
to be.
By addressing critical social issues in Malaysia and beyond, Institut Sosial
Malaysia can help to navigate the course of our nations development in
the upcoming Ninth Malaysia Plan and the attainment of the goals of Vision 2020.
Indeed, there is a strong need for more research to be conducted in the social
studies arena in order to guide the nations social development agenda
forward in a more effective manner.
Along those lines, the Prime Minister suggested that Institut Sosial Malaysia
set, as one of its long-term targets, the goal of being a centre of excellence
in
research in the social sciences, particularly in the area of social development
and social policy.
He also said that with the assessment, the Government hoped there would no longer
be any negative impact which would cause various social problems and reaction
from non-governmental organisations.
He revealed that the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development with
the cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had carried
out an eight-month pioneer study on the social impact assessment for four development
projects in the country. These projects will be announced by the Ministry in
due course.
The Prime Minister said the pioneer study covered aspects on forecasting changes
on the environment as well as the impacts on the individual, community and institutions
near the development projects that were carried out.
He said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry had been asked
to conduct a feasibility study to determine the effects of the implementation
of the assessment and submit the report to the Cabinet for consideration.
Essentials of SIA
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Mega projects need a fuller Social Impact Assessment report.
The more complicated the project generally, the fuller the SIA needs to
be |
| A well-planned housing development for the community entails
a healthy society |
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Many of the following guidelines are based on the Guidelines
and Principles for Social Impact Assessment, developed by an inter-organizational
committee of experts in the field (Inter-organizational Committee; NOAA 1994).
Principles
The Guidelines and Principles outline the following as some of the principles
that should structure any SIA:
Involve the diverse public.
Since SIA is all about determining and addressing the concerns of the public,
public involvement is essential. Public involvement should be an active and
interactive process, in which members of the public are full participants in
the SIA enterprise. The word diverse is important, too. It is essential
that all potentially affected segments of the public have opportunities to participate.
Analyze impact equity.
A basic part of SIA is to analyze who wins and who loses with each alternative
considered.
Identify methods and assumptions.
The SIA must report the assumptions on which it is based, and describe methods
employed.
Provide feedback to project planners.
An SIA should not be something a consulting firm does by itself, producing a
final deliverable without prior client involvement. There should be active feedback
between the SIA contractor and GSA planners throughout the assessment and planning
processes. These processes should be carefully coordinated so that planners
can be apprised of potential problems and opportunities before it is too late
to do anything about them.
Use SIA practitioners.
Trained social scientists, using appropriate professional methods, will provide
the best results. Generally speaking, such practitioners include cultural anthropologists,
sociologists, cultural geographers, and members of related professions.
Establish monitoring and mitigation programs.
An SIA should not only provide GSA with an analysis of impacts, but also the
basis for setting up programs to mitigate social impacts and monitor how these
programs work.
Methods
Particularly with regard to relatively small, uncomplicated actions (e.g. leasing
in an existing building), if SIA is needed at all it can be done relatively
quickly, based on existing documents and data from easily available government,
library, institutional, and internet sources and brief consultation with knowledgeable
parties. The more complicated the project or its likely effects, in general,
the fuller the SIA needs to be.
Every SIA involves back-ground research into what is known about the community
- its size, social, educational, economic and ethnic makeup, and expressed cultural
values and concerns. Consultation with experts is also usually needed. Since
the social and cultural aspects of the environment, and their values, exist
largely in peoples minds, inter-action with affected communities and groups
is essential.
There are many methods of interacting with people and groups to learn about
their society. A systematic interview program, working with group leaders, and
participant observation (in which the analyst lives as part of the community
while studying how it works) are among the methods that can be employed.
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