Social Sustainability: Linking Research to Policy and Practice

Dr Andrea Colantonio Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD) Oxford Brookes University

'Sustainable Development - a Challenge for European Research' , 26-28 May 2009, Brussels

Todays presentation
1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Background
Social Sustainability Theory and Definition Theory-Policy Linkages Assessment Methods and Practice Metrics Conclusions

Background
The paper draws upon our EIBURS (European Investment Bank University Research Sponsorship Programme) study

Three year research project examining best practices to measure and monitor socially sustainable urban regeneration (e.g. assessment methods, metrics etc.)

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/be/oisd/sustainable_communities/

Why is social sustainability important?

Emerging concept although least studied and often overlooked dimension of Sustainable Development

At the heart of the sustainable communities agenda (Bristol Accord, 2005)

What is Social Sustainability?

the social preconditions for sustainable development or the need to sustain specific structures and customs in communities and societies? (Sach, 1999) the finality of development whilst economic and environmental sustainabilities are both goals of sustainable development and instruments to its achievement (Assefa and Frostell, 2007)? Is it an end state? or a socio-economic process?

Definitions of Social Sustainability

Fuzzy understanding of the concept and no general agreement over its definition

Our definition:

how individuals, communities and societies live with each other and set out to achieve the objectives of development models, which they have chosen for themselves taking also into account the physical boundaries of their places and planet earth as a whole

Social Sustainability Key Themes and Domains

Traditional
Basic needs, including
Housing

Emerging
Demographic change (ageing
and international migration)

Education and skills Equity Employment Human rights Poverty Social justice

Empowerment, Participation and Access Identity, Sense of Place and Culture Health and Safety Social mixing and cohesion Social Capital Well being, Happiness and Quality of life
7

Theoretical Research Approaches to Social Sustainability

Approach
Equity and Human Rights (e.g. poverty studies
and unequal development)

Main Authors
Sen (1985, 1992), Sachs (2001)

Timeline
Since mid-1980s

Capital Stock
(e.g. Social Capital, Environmental capital equity and cities footprint)

Coleman (1988), Putnam (1993), Rees and Wackernagel (1996)

Since late 1980s

Institutional Theory and Governance

(e.g. participation and stakeholder analysis)

Chambers (1992) Healey (1992)

Since early 1990s

Business and Corporate studies

(e.g. Triple Bottom Line, Corporate Social Responsibility)

Elkington (1994)

Since mid-1990s

Behavioural and Social Sciences

(Well-being, health and happiness perspective)

Layard (2005)

Since late 1990s

Transition Theory

Rotmans, Loorbach et al. (2006)

2000s

Theory-Policy Linkages

The linkages between theory and policy depend on

Level of abstraction of the theory Feasibility and implementation costs Complexity and sophistication Nature of the dialogue and communication channels existing between researchers and policy-makers

10

Social Sustainability Assessment

There is paucity of specific social sustainability assessment (SSA) methodologies

The assessment is often conducted (i) through social impact assessment (SIA), which is extended to include other sustainability pillars by stretching Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to incorporate social issues

(ii)

(iii) by broadening the definition of environment, and hence the thematic coverage of theme-specific assessment such as SIA Hacking and Guthrie (2007)

11

The scope of SIA content has widened since the 1990s, however,

limited methodological information there is insufficient analysis of the links between socio-economic components quantification is limited and mainly focused on demographics, employment, services and facilities provision, and limited community engagement and reduced involvement of a wide range of stakeholders (Glasson and Wood, 2008)

12

Recent Sustainability Assessment-Related Legislation in the EU

Environmental Impact Assessment, since 1985 through Directives 85/337/EEC and 97/11/EC Strategic Environmental Assessment since mid 1990s and formally adopted in 2001 through the SEA Directive 2001/42/EC Sustainability Impact Assessment, introduced by DG trade in 1999 EU Impact Assessment System introduced in 2003 to enhance the quality of the Commission regulatory activity

13

Social Sustainability Metrics

Early emphasis on basic needs vs recent attention towards governance, representation and other institutional factors Trade-offs: technical weights vs recent emphasis on sound judgement, as well as leadership and communication skills (Egan, 2004).

Reemergence of community and the local level

Shift from purely statistics-based indicators toward hybrid sets of indicators that mix quantitative data and qualitative information

14

Social Sustainability Indicators

Traditional
Static Mainly Quantitative Product Descriptive Mono-dimensional Target oriented Top down selection

Emerging
Intergenerational with uncertainty Hybrid Process Strategic Multi-dimensional Principles and Objectives driven Deliberative and reiterative selection

15

Draft of
Social Sustainability Assessment Framework (SSAF)
(not included in the paper)

Colantonio (2009)

Social Sustainability

Practice
Methods, Themes and Indicators

Social mixing/ cohesion

Identity, Image, Heritage

Well-being

Empowerment, Participation, Access

Housing & Health and Education Employment Demography Environment Safety

Sustainability Assessment

Policy
Principles and Objectives

Recognition Protection and Intra- and interand Promotion of Generational Preservation of Health and Equity Diversity Safety

Uncertainty Principle

Precautionary Principle

Theory
Approaches
Equity and Human Rights Capital Stock

Institutional Theory and Governance

Business Behavioural and and Welfare Corporate studies Economics

Transition Theory

Conclusions
Emerging soft themes are becoming central to the social sustainability debate, together with traditional hard themes

Future growing importance of softer themes as societies become more affluent and less worried about basic needs

Importance of principles, objectives, themes and indicators for policymaking

Need for a systematic study of the linkages between theory, policy and practice at EU level

17

Contacts
Dr Andrea Colantonio Email: acolantonio@brookes.ac.uk

Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD) Oxford Brookes University United Kingdom

18