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The rapid spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world since early 2020 has caused significant economic, social, psychological, and public health costs. The COVID-19 pandemic hit almost all economic sectors including the hospitality and tourism industry. This review paper examined the impacts of COVID-19 on short-term housing and the factors influencing these impacts. The existing literature reported generally negative effects of COVID-19 on the operating performance of the short-term accommodation industry. COVID-19 impacted on travellers' perceptions, host-guest interactions and psychological well-being when choosing short-term accommodation. This review also provides implications for minimising the impacts of COVID-19 or similar future disruptive events on short-term accommodation operations and surviving the crisis in the short-term accommodation sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The effects of tourism extend beyond purely economic considerations; they also have an impact on both the environment and people. Development of tools and procedures that foster consensus among practitioners and enable the measurement and benchmarking of impacts are required for tourism managers to be able to work on lowering and mitigating the sector's effects, while enhancing the positive benefits. In this study a methodological proposition to assess the social impacts of tourism packages is presented. Aim and scope: This study adapts and tests for the first time a social evaluation technique, the Product Social Impact Assessment (PSIA) method, to assess the social implications of tourism products and services. It is iteratively tested on 9 tourism packages in Mediterranean Protected Areas. Numerous parties, including managers of protected areas and private tourism stakeholders, have engaged in this process at various stages, such as developing the packages or supplying the data required for the assessment. Conclusions: The methodology tested appears appropriate to quantify and qualify the social impacts of tourism packages and is valid for enhancing the social performance since positive progress between the two testing faces was registered. This study is a step towards standardizing the social assessment of tourism packages following a Life Cycle Assessment approach, and future developments are needed to make the approach proposed in the paper adequate to assess the social impacts of the upstream and downstream components of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-product biorefineries are up-and-coming industries to diversify the economy of countries since they have a productive matrix with a biological characteristic capable of processing various types of biomass with applications in pharmaceutical, renewable energy, and other industries. In this context, this research analyzes the literature on biorefineries and the methods of assessing social impacts that consider quality of life, employment, and stakeholders, among other metrics, as guided by the United Nations—UN. A systematic review combined with bibliometric, semantic, and content analysis was carried out by searching scientific documents in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. A total of 116 articles were located, of which three researchers selected twenty-three to compose the research. The Fleiss Kappa Index was applied to verify the agreement of the evaluators' decision regarding the inclusion and exclusion of articles, whose result was K = 0.43 above the tolerable limit defined for the inclusion of articles, which is K ≥ 0.21. Therefore, all twenty-three articles were included. The results indicate that authors showed greater interest in the topic of this research in the period from 2017 to 2019, representing 70% of the total scientific findings in the reviewed literature. It was observed that the types of research that predominate in the studies are empirical, with 52% of the articles. The qualitative approach, however, obtained a variation of 400% in the studied period. Another important fact is that 93% of all authors published only 1, and not 61% as expected by Lotka law. Social impact studies show greater adherence to second-generation lignocellulosic biorefineries, which use the fractionation of inedible materials and projects whose methods consider Social Life Cycle and Multicriteria are more consistent for assessing the social impacts of biorefineries, as they allow an analysis of qualitative and quantitative information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On December 29, 2020, nine months after the March Mw 5.4 Zagreb earthquake and amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, a devastating Mw 6.4 earthquake struck near the town of Petrinja, about 50 km SE from the country's capital Zagreb. It was preceded by the Mw 4.9 foreshock from the day before. The main shock claimed 7 fatalities and caused widespread damage. Historical centers of nearby cities with invaluable heritage buildings were significantly affected as were the many residential buildings, built mainly of unreinforced masonry. Damage was observed as far as 60 km from the epicenter. This paper summarizes the seismological aspects of the Mw 6.4 Petrinja earthquake, the emergency response and the main impacts to people and buildings. The description and findings are based on the field observations and a series of post-earthquake activities led by the team of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb. Typical damage to buildings and usability data are presented with examples based on 50,000 inspection results. By far the most affected were the unreinforced masonry buildings, followed by confined masonry, whereas reinforced concrete buildings were the least affected. The total direct and indirect losses are estimated to 4.8 billion EUR. The provided information represents a useful basis and impetus for improving emergency action and long-term disaster reduction plans in other regions with similar building exposure and seismotectonic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a response to the replicability crisis, awarding open science badges was designed as an incentive for researchers to participate in open science practices (e.g., sharing data, sharing materials, and preregistration). Estimating the effectiveness (such as articles' impacts) of the policy of awarding open science badges could address the concern of authors, journals, and open science stakeholders: do open science badges work? This study aimed to estimate the effects of open science badges on an article's social media attention (measured by tweets) and research impacts (measured by citation counts). Articles published by Psychological Science during the period from 2014 to 2021 were selected as the sample (n = 1,161). Propensity score matching analysis was employed to examine the data. Data samples of different sizes and four other matching methods were used to check the robustness of the main results. Our results revealed that open science badges had a significant effect on social media attention, while they did not have a significant effect on the research impacts of an article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Access to clean sanitation is closely linked to women's dignity, health, and wellbeing, and lack of these is a significant concern. We explore the perceptions about the poor sanitation access for on-duty female police officials working at off-site locations and its implications with regard to their behavior, health, and social lives. Subject and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey study with 150 on-duty female police officials in the period January–March, 2020 in South India to elicit their perceptions about access to sanitation in off-site locations, their behavioral modifications to tackle this issue, and its impacts on their health and social lives. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. Results: A high percentage of female police officials (69%) reported not having toilet access while on duty in off-site locations, and 80% avoided drinking water during duty to avoid accessing toilets. Poor toilet access was significantly associated with higher risk of genitourinary symptoms (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 0.96–4.83) and urinary tract Infections (OR: 2.5; 95% CI: 1.05–5.48). About 11% of participants abstained from work for hygiene purposes during their menstruation owing to discomfort without toilet access, with consequent wage loss and significant adverse social impacts (OR: 10.8; 95% CI: 4.7–25.2; p value = 0.0001). Conclusion: Reduced access to clean sanitation facilities for on-duty female police officials has adverse implications on their toileting and hydration behavior, health, and social lives. Gender-sensitive policies and enhanced welfare facilities are needed to motivate and to obviate health and social risks for the female police force engaged in protecting the country's citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the concerns, approvals and disapprovals of expert opinions about managerial issues from around reservoirs this study uses the approach of Fuzzy Composite Programming (FCP) in direct questionnaires to parameterize and rate a set of indicators with statements about managerial issues concerning societal implications by the responding experts. The personal ratings get summarized in four different layers and converted into one final numerical value which will be in the range of 0 as the absolute disapproval of the indicators and 1 as the absolute approval of the indicators. The FCP approach thereby rates the individual indicator, secondly the indicator category, thirdly the compensational factor and fourthly the dimensions of sustainability. This facilitates a rapid comparison of results of rather complicated sets of pre-set indicators in topics reaching from legal issues to societal concerns in one final numerical value to identify crucial topics and start open debates. This study was carried out as a methodological test at two water reservoirs in southern Germany. The results show a general possibility of using a rather retrospect methodology towards current ratings of experts in the field of reservoir management. 10 respondents answered the FCP questionnaires, 5 at each study site. The scores of the calculation showed a higher level of positive connection in the case of the Schwarzenbachtalsperre (SBT) with a score of 0.77, compared to a score of 0.54 in the case of the Franconian Lake District (FLD). Apart from the pure numerical scores, FCP can show conflicting issues and possible compromise solutions between the different stakeholders, in/based on the individual ratings. The findings could help reach a more sustainable management of water resources that includes all stakeholders, by pointing out debatable implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrolysis is a valid thermos-chemical process of energy production that produces biochar from potentially harmful biomasses. This study aims to investigate the pyrolytic conversion of olive mill solid residues (OMSR) into biochar, with the aim of characterizing this product towards applications for soil improvement and soil C sequestration. Production parameters of OMSR-biochar (OB) and physico-chemical characteristics were analyzed and compared with published data to assess the potential of OB to serve as a soil amendment and soil C sequestration method. The slow pyrolysis of OMSR at 450° leads to a good proportion between produced products (fuels liquid and gas, and solid), and generates about the 35% of OB. In turn, this product reveals the absence of phytotoxicity, the presence of exchangeable surface cations, structure, particle size distribution and external surface groups suitable for agricultural uses, and high C content with a potential long lasting in soil. The physico-chemical characteristics of OB reported here suggest that OB could be used for improving soils and increasing C sequestration in a sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a first attempt to combine the analysis of socio-technical mechanisms and initiative-based learning to sense sustainability transition signals in cities. Relying on the analysis of cultural initiatives in six European Cities, the study identifies those factors that enabled social impact generation. It then formulates hypotheses about their contribution to the inception and rooting of sustainability transition dynamics. As a result, the article proposes a set of analytical categories of enabling factors acting across niches and regimes. The same factors are then reinterpreted by referring to scaling mechanisms (scaling up, out and deep). The proposed analytical scheme seeks to offer a broader reflection on the conceptual and methodological challenges related to sensing and interpreting urban sustainability transition pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social dimensions of sustainability's three bottom lines are often overlooked in the construction industry. This is despite attempts to find optimal trade-offs between economic growth, environmental impacts, human health and well-being, as well as social considerations. This study reviews the literature on social sustainability (SS) within the construction arena, identifies research gaps and proposes a forward-looking research agenda. This critical review employes the 'Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses' (PRISMA) technique to retrieve secondary data on SS from available academic, government and industry documents. The literature analysis focuses on seven themes: (1) definition of SS, (2) the theoretical dimensions of SS, (3) primary stakeholders, (4) policy and guidelines, (5) major SS performance indicators, (6) barriers to SS uptake in the construction industry, and (7) SS drivers in the construction industry. The review identifies primary stakeholders and proposes a list of assessment criteria that can be used by the construction industry in measuring progress towards SS. The study proposes a conceptual model that maps out key stakeholders, the major barriers, and enablers of SS in construction projects. The findings will support the development of SS guidelines specific to the construction industry in Australia as well as overseas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cumulative effects assessments are often expected to include an analysis of cumulative social effects to people, their communities, and livelihoods caused by resource development projects and land use activities. Understanding cumulative social effects is important for decisions about prospective resource development projects, but there has been limited attention devoted to how to complete such an assessment. This paper critically examines how cumulative effects frameworks are applied to social impacts during environmental assessments. We do this by analyzing semi-structured interviews exploring practitioner experience in environmental assessments for hydroelectric development in British Columbia and Manitoba, Canada. The results provide a conceptual framework for cumulative social effects and illustrate how identified challenges for cumulative effects assessment are exacerbated by social impacts that introduce additional complexities in impact identification, assessment, and decision-making. The paper concludes with a discussion of how these challenges can be addressed and recommendations for improving environmental assessment practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Review: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic brought unprecedented social change with the most severe impacts on the most vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV (PLWH). This review examined findings from empirical studies of social and behavioral impacts of COVID-19 on PLWH in the first year of the pandemic. Recent Findings: Impacts of COVID-19 on PLWH fit within an HIV syndemics framework, with overlapping COVID-19 and HIV comorbid conditions concerning mental health and structural inequality. Early impacts of COVID-19 on social isolation, emotional distress, stigma, and substance use varied across studies with few consistent patterns. Structural inequalities, particularly impacts on food security and housing stability, were observed more consistently and globally. Summary: COVID-19 intersects with HIV infection along with multiple interlocking comorbidities that are best characterized and understood within a syndemics framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology to deaggregate the results of a multi-hazard damage analysis by extending the traditional multi-hazard damage analysis to consider both population characteristics and independent hazards. The methodology is applied to the joint seismic-tsunami hazard at Seaside, Oregon, considering four infrastructure systems: (1) buildings, (2) transportation network, (3) electric power network and (4) water supply network. Damages to all infrastructure systems are evaluated, and the networked infrastructures are used to inform parcel connectivity to critical facilities. US Census data and a probabilistic housing unit allocation method are implemented to assign detailed household demographic characteristics at the parcel level. Six dimensions of deaggregation are introduced: (1) spatial, (2) hazard type, (3) hazard intensity, (4) infrastructure system, (5) infrastructure component, and (6) housing unit characteristics. The damages, economic losses and risks, and connectivity to critical facilities are deaggregated across these six dimensions. The results show that deaggregated economic loss and risk plots can allow community resilience planners the ability to isolate high-risk events, as well as provide insights into the underlying driving forces. Geospatial representation of the results allows for the identification of both vulnerable buildings and areas within a community and is highlighted by the spatial pattern of parcel disconnection from critical facilities. The incorporation of population characteristics provides an understanding of how hazards disproportionately impact population subgroups and can aide in equitable resilience planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the principal features of the Mw5.4 Zagreb earthquake. Located within the city limits at a depth of 10 km, the earthquake generated a peak ground acceleration of more than 0.2 g and a maximum spectral acceleration of about 0.6 g at 0.1 s in the historic downtown area. The situation was particularly challenging since the event occurred amid a partial Covid-19 lockdown at temperatures close to 0 °C, emphasizing the extensive and complex vulnerability of the local communities and individuals. 27 people were reported severely injured, one of which later died. The surprisingly high economic costs, needed to achieve a full reconstruction of damaged buildings and infrastructure in the affected area, are currently evaluated at more than 10B euros. Description of the organization of the emergency response in the first days and the observed damage to buildings is given with typical examples. The focus is on the performance of older masonry residential and cultural heritage buildings in the historic downtown, their inspection and evaluation of damage to structural and non-structural components. This information provides the basis for understanding of the negative impacts and clarifies the overall context identifying the enablers and barriers to the still ongoing recovery process. It also helps to increase the awareness of the seismic vulnerability of European cities with similar construction practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of jobs is an important social impact of mining. In addition, mining can have constructive social impacts such as welfare and improvement in the livelihoods of people in a region. Negative impacts may include the creation of social anomalies and the failure of gender balance. There have been many studies on social impacts of mining. But little research has been done on people's preferences for these effects, which is one of the principles of sustainable development. In this paper, the "choice experiment" technique has been used for assessment of personal preferences in concerning the social impacts of mining. For this purpose, a questionnaire was prepared and filled by the individuals. By assuming the homogeneity of the preferences, the conditional logit model was estimated by the STATA software. Importance and value of social attributes of mining were achieved according to the coefficients and willingness to pay for the attributes. Furthermore, the results suggested that the number of jobs and the satisfaction of livelihood status are the strongest values held by the respondents, and that they show a willingness to work longer under unsuitable conditions in order to acquire necessary skills, provided that social anomalies do not ensue in their place of residence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small hydropower (SHP) is promoted as a pro-poor renewable energy source that does not have the negative social impacts of large dams. This article challenges these claims, using data from a household survey in China's upper Red River Basin. We find that SHP can fragment river systems in ways that reduce irrigation water availability, provoke changes to agricultural practices, and negatively impact river health. These social impacts of river fragmentation mainly occur in villages situated between a plant's intake and outflow. The frequency of plant water diversions due to continued generation in the dry season significantly predicts all social impacts; installed capacity of the plant and the quality of the village's irrigation infrastructure predict some impacts. Villages with strong local governance can negotiate with the plant to temporarily halt generation when irrigation water is needed, lessening social impacts. Our findings reveal that SHP plants are not as benign as they are made out to be; they must be built and managed according to community needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case studies on the impacts of extreme weather events at different spatial and temporal resolutions can help further the understanding of the impacts of climate change and serve as references for coping with future climate change challenges as well. We reconstructed the monthly time series data on social impacts of an extreme drought event in the Guanzhong area, Shaanxi Province, China, using newspaper records from 1928 to 1931. Changes in food substitutions, food prices, social unrest, and social resilience are analyzed to show how the drought affected the area. The results show that (1) the evolution of social impacts of the drought can be divided into five stages, and the variation in the impact magnitude is strongly influenced by the summer and autumn harvests; (2) the cumulative effects of the persistent drought are observed, and the level of social resilience declined rapidly and nonlinearly; and (3) there are two kinds of spreading patterns of drought’s impacts across natural, supporting, and humanity systems: hierarchical propagation and cascading effects. They act over different spatial and/or temporal scales and could provide the inspiration for the strategies designed to mitigate the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is typically viewed as consisting of three forces, economic, social, and ecological, in tension with one another. In this paper, we address the dangers posed to societal sustainability. The concern being addressed is the very survival of societies where the rights of individuals, personal and collective freedoms, an independent judiciary and media, and democracy, despite its messiness, are highly valued. We argue that, as a result of various technological innovations, a range of dysfunctional impacts are threatening social and political stability. For instance, robotics and automation are replacing human labor and decision-making in a range of industries; search engines, monetized through advertising, have access to, and track, our interests and preferences; social media, in connecting us to one another often know more about us than we ourselves do, enabling them to profit in ways which may not coincide with our well-being; online retailers have not only acquired the ability to track and predict our buying choices, but also they can squeeze vendors based on their outsize bargaining power; and, in general, virtual technologies have changed both the way we think and our sense of self. With the rising deployment of the Internet of Things, and developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence, the threats to individual freedoms and rights, societal cohesion and harmony, employment and economic well-being, and trust in democracy are being ratcheted up. This paper lauds the benefits and addresses the harm wrought by the high tech giants in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The search for rapidly growing revenues (and shareholder returns and stock prices) drives firms to accelerate product innovation without fully investigating the entire gamut of their impacts. As greater wealth accrues to the leaders of tech firms, inequalities within firms and societies are widening, creating social tensions and political ferment. We explore the ethical nature of the challenge employing a simple utilitarian calculus, complemented by approaches rooted in rights, justice, and the common good. Various options to address the challenges posed by ICTs are considered and evaluated. We argue that regulation may do little more than slow down the damage to society, particularly since societal values and political preferences vary internationally. Firms need to establish ethical standards, imbuing the upholders of these standards with sufficient authority, while creating a culture of morality. User involvement and activism, and shareholders' concerns for the sustainability of societies on whose continued prosperity they depend, are imperative to humanity's ability to decide the future direction of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining has played a part in the economic development of developed countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia. However, the mining economic growth connection varies considerably from that claimed in the historical analogy reasoning. It is not evident that these countries' historical experience applies to modern developing nations due to modifications in the nature of the world economy. Some studies indicated that mineral resources in a developing country present a unique opportunity for its citizens to attain levels of socio-economic development equivalent to the first world. Ideally, through good governance practices, this could be realised without having to compromise their traditional and cultural integrity. In reality, though, the very opposite is normally true. There are varying definitions of sustainable development available. In the context of this paper, it defines sustainable development as 'a means of development that does not compromise the traditional and cultural integrity of a people but works towards a better standard of living'. From a neutral perspective, this paper aims to critically evaluate issues relating to the impact mining has had on sustainable practices and the traditional culture of people in the developing world. This is achieved through an in-depth analysis of practical examples taken from Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria. This paper aims at providing a balanced, non-biased perspective of the common pros and cons of mining that can relate to developing countries in a generic sense. The issues elaborated in greater detail in this study relate to good/bad governance practices, corruption, child labour and spread of diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, policy discussions have increasingly considered participation in arts and cultural activities as a vehicle to reach broader social policy goals, such as social inclusion or active citizenship. However, convincing empirical evidence on the social impacts of arts and culture is still scarce. In particular, little attention has been given to the impact that cultural participation may have on individuals' engagement in civil society, especially in Europe. In order to address this lack of evidence, this paper explores the connection between cultural participation and civic participation in Italy using Likert-scale data collected in the ISTAT "Aspetti della Vita Quotidiana" Survey (2014). To do so, two composite indicators—the participation in cultural life indicator and the participation in civic life indicator—have been built using an approach based on partial order theory and the concept of Average Rank. The effect of cultural participation on civic engagement has been estimated using a quantile regression model which controls for potentially cofounding factors such as education, income, age and gender. Results do confirm that participation in arts and cultural activities is highly correlated with participation in civic life. It is particularly worth noticing that at higher levels of civic participation, cultural participation has a positive and strong effect on civic engagement of people having a low educational level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a controversy in the literature on marine protected areas (MPAs) over the way their outcomes are portrayed in terms of winners and losers. On the one hand, many analysts have portrayed MPAs as win-win solutions, resulting in both increased biodiversity and improved livelihoods. On the other hand, some analysts have argued that win-win outcomes are mythical, and in practice, MPAs invariably result in trade-offs between ecological and economic objectives. This study seeks to test which of these two hypotheses fits the Cabo de Palos Islas Hormigas marine protected area (CPH-MPA) in southeast Spain. However, it does so not by analysing directly the tension between the two objectives of ecological and economic goals, but by analysing the tensions between four groups of stakeholders—fishers, divers, community residents, and administrators—which map on to the tension between the two goals. The study is based on 111 interviews of key informants conducted in 2013–2014 to discover the perceptions of stakeholders on the issue of who are the winners and who are the losers as a result of the MPA. The main findings of this study on the CPH-MPA are that winning and losing are very complex and ambiguous categories; that there is no objective way of determining who are winners or losers; that the situation of winners and losers is due to human intervention rather than a natural and inevitable process; that win-win outcomes are implausible because trade-offs between wins and losses are inevitable; and that political authorities have to decide who will be the winners and who will be the losers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Screening social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) can be applied to identify the social hotspots associated with a production activity or supply chain. The objective of this paper is to explore how the quality of the results of a screening S-LCA can be improved, illustrated by a case study of sugarcane production in Brazil, an activity which has been criticized for its records on social sustainability due to issues such as poor working conditions for field workers and treatment of migrant workers. Methods: Cradle-to-gate production of sugarcane in Brazil has been modeled using input-output analysis. The associated social impacts have been modeled using the framework of the Social Hotspots Database (SHDB), which is one of the first databases providing information on social risks along supply chains. The results from the SHDB were complemented with results from a systematic analysis of relevant literature. Content analysis was applied to 38 publications in English relevant to the social impacts of sugarcane production in Brazil, including peer-reviewed articles, "gray literature," non-governmental organization reports, and conference presentations. Qualitative data analysis software NVivo 8 was used to facilitate the analysis of the publications. A deductive category system was established based on the subcategories recommended in the UNEP/SETAC social life cycle assessment guidelines. Social impacts were further aggregated and analyzed by social themes and impact categories. Results and discussion: The social impacts of the sugarcane life cycle in Brazil arise almost exclusively within the Brazilian sugarcane sector itself. Fifteen social themes are identified as hotspots in the SHDB, and nine of them are also identified by content analysis. Health and safety and labor rights and decent work are the impact categories with the highest risks. Besides negative impacts, content analysis is capable of identifying several positive impacts related to sugarcane production. Due to the use of aggregated country-level data, social impacts of manual and mechanical harvesting of sugarcane cannot be differentiated in SHDB; however, this can be achieved by content analysis. Conclusions: SHDB is effective for identifying social impacts at the country level, but the data are inevitably aggregated and only show averages across different technologies and geographical areas; therefore, the database is of limited value in distinguishing between alternative operations and locations. Content analysis can facilitate foreground data collection by differentiating operations and identifying both negative and positive impacts at the level of individual activities. We recommend that S-LCA databases can be integrated with results of content analysis to improve the richness—representativity and specificity—of results from a screening S-LCA, to differentiate between alternative production routes and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social impacts of large dams have been studied extensively. However, small dams' social impacts have been largely neglected by the academic community. Our paper addresses this gap. We examine the social impacts of multiple small dams in one upstream and one downstream village in Thailand's Ing River basin. Our research is based on semi-structured interviews with beneficiaries, government and NGOs. We argue that small dams' social impacts are multi-faceted and unequal. The dams were perceived to reduce fish abundance and provide flood mitigation benefits. Furthermore, the dams enabled increased access to irrigation water for upstream farmers, who re-appropriated water via the dams at the expense of those downstream. The small dams thus engendered water allocation conflicts. Many scholars, practitioners and environmentalists argue that small dams are a benign alternative to large dams. However, the results of our research mandate caution regarding this claim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical disaster studies tend to be addressed from various perspectives, and case studies (i.e., event reconstruction) are an important aspect of such research. Using records extracted from historical documents and focusing on locust plague events, this study investigated disasters that occurred from 1855 to 1859. The objective was to reconstruct the temporal dynamics and spatial patterns of a major locust plague event to explore the social impact and reveal the underlying climate trends. The results suggested that: (1) the locust plagues followed an approximately 5-year duration from 1855 to 1859. Over this period, the frequency of individual plagues varied greatly and 1857 was the peak year. Locust plagues showed clear distribution patterns on a spatial scale during this period, with the mean center located in Henan Province. Locust plagues tended to be localized at the beginning and then spread out from the original locations, presenting a general spatial pattern of "radiating after clustering." (2) Locust plagues were closely related to drought and showed a correlation with the overall drainage pattern of major bodies of water in the regions studied. The main reason for the locust plagues was probably drought events, climate and other geographic factors. The droughts were likely related to teleconnection between the increasing El Niño, frequency of sunspot activity and declining SSTs. (3) Locust plagues impacted society and damaged agricultural yields, as indicated by higher rice prices and increased wars. A hysteresis transfer effect was observed between locust plagues and the corresponding social responses; rice prices increased about half to 1 year after locust plagues occurred, while the frequency of wars increased after a clear delay of about 1–2 years. This showed locust plagues caused the rice price and refugee increasing and then caused social unrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address some of the social impacts of war, including issues of negotiating identity during displacement caused by war. What it meant to be Swedish or Danish-Norwegian in a town where there was a not insubstantial population of foreign merchants would clearly be an ambiguous situation. Burghers were elected by fellow citizens, who were themselves from other parts of Sweden, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe, including Germany, Holland, England, and Scotland. Allegiances were contingent, and in many cases among aliens probably more local than national. The social impacts of war in modern-day west Sweden extended beyond the towns directly affected, such as Nya Lödöse and Ny Varberg. The degree to which individuals could act with agency and autonomy was contingent and context-specific. Forced migration and the negotiation of identity are issues that remain relevant today; questions of memory, property, trauma, history, and narratives are still debated by combatants and non-combatants. Many of the issues which both civilians and military men and women experienced in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century wars between Sweden and Denmark-Norway are much the same as in more recent times. The social impacts of war in the seventeenth century were no less than those experienced in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the applicability of social life cycle assessment (SLCA) to the social impacts analysis of product-service systems (PSS). The purpose is to discuss the main challenges for this approach to comparing PSS business model alternatives and analyzing the social consequences of PSS introduction into the market.Methods: Two PSS solutions were considered to investigate the applicability and the challenges for SLCA when applied to PSS assessment. A comparative analysis was discussed based on UNEP/SETAC guidelines. The subcategories and social indicators suggested in the guidelines were analyzed, and the indicators considered suitable for the comparison of PSS alternatives, considering the use phase, were identified. Other indicators from the PSS literature were also added to those from the guidelines. To analyze the consequences of PSS implementation, the applicability of consequential SLCA was discussed.Results and discussion: The main results pointed out that only a few indicators in the SLCA guidelines could be used for comparative PSS analysis. This occurred because only some of the guidelines could be linked to the processes of each PSS. Other indicators identified in the PSS literature are suggested to complement the comparative analysis of PSS alternatives. Concerning the effects of PSS introduction, it can cause social impacts with regard to the company and stakeholders directly involved in the changes in addition to the effects that may occur in other products and services systems as a result of consumers’ behavior and PSS interaction in the market. The consequential modeling is suggested as appropriate for this analysis.Conclusions: The SLCA approach can be considered suitable for PSS social issues analysis, although there are limitations for a full analysis in this study. Some major challenges for its applicability were identified. First, PSS functional unit modeling should be investigated considering all PSS elements (products and services) and the functions provided by the system. Second, only few indicators in the guidelines were considered appropriate for PSS comparative analysis before its introduction. Finally, concerning consequential SLCA, this could be explored in the context of PSS, but there is still scarce research on this subject. In short, to establish SLCA as a useful and applicable methodology to assess the social impacts of a PSS, further research is required, especially regarding the consequential SLCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Measurability becomes a key question in the assessment of the sustainability of products and services. As the LCA has proven its capability of measuring environmental sustainability over the last decades, the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) seems promising as a way to cover the social dimension of sustainability within a similar framework. For operability reasons, working hours are commonly used as a single metric in product orientated S-LCA studies, even though major stakeholder groups are excluded by doing so. This paper shows how this shortcoming can be overcome through the introduction of the measurement of additional activity variables and explores different ways of implementing these variables. Methods: This work suggests introducing the activity variables Biophysical Pressure and Added Value in addition to the commonly used working hours of involved labour forces. Biophysical Pressure reflects the negative influence of the degraded natural environment on the affected humans in addition to the direct health effect covered by standard LCA. Added Value represents the potential benefits for stakeholders due to financial investments in production. The new activity variables are derived from the MRIO database 'Exiobase' and coupled with social risk indicators from the 'Social Hotspot Database'. Finally, the qualitative risk classes are transformed to quantitative units and normalized to allow for a better interpretation and an optional aggregation of the three variables into a Final Social Impact score. Results and discussion: In order to test the method's applicability, the social impacts of products and services from two different product systems were calculated and compared. Three t-shirts and four residential housing heating systems were assessed by the developed method and compared on the basis of their respective functional units. Major differences between the social impact measured only by working hours and social impact measured by the aggregation of the three quantitative units were observed, especially since the Added Value (social benefits) dimension and working hours contrasted regionally. While the concept is functional, there are limitations related to the MRIO inventory data and to the interpretation of results; therefore, sensitivity analyses were applied. Conclusions: The developed S-LCA method shows a promising way to extend the range of stakeholders affected by the life cycle of a distinct product by adding new variables. While constraints of MRIO data concerning detailed product system representation currently limit the approach, it allows one to identify potential social hotspots in complex product systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese pine ( Pinus tabulaeformis) is a highly climate-sensitive species. Presently, the Huanglong Mountains are covered by widespread forests dominated by Chinese pine and thus has a great potential for dendrochronological studies. To increase the knowledge of NDVI changes of the Loess Plateau and their potential influences on the environmental changes, the regional tree-ring chronology from the Huanglong Mountains was used to investigate climate/NDVI relationships. Standard dendrochronological methods were applied to a regional tree-ring series of Pinus tabulaeformis from the Huanglong Mountains, the Loess Plateau. The relationships between ring widths and NDVI/climate factors were investigated by the simple and spatial correlation analysis. The results of the correlation analysis indicated that mean temperature has negative influences on tree growth, while the tree-ring widths of Chinese pine reflect the variations of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Herein the standard tree-ring width series was used to develop June-July NDVI for the Huanglong Mountains during the period AD 1812-2012, and it explained 41.2 % of the total NDVI variance during the period AD 1982-2006. The results of the spatial analysis show that the reconstructed NDVI has strong drought signals for the Huanglong Mountains. Drought events in the NDVI series are compared to the historical records and climate data in the study area, and show common drought events over much of Shaanxi. These drought-caused famines have had strong influences on the people of Shaanxi during the past 201 years. The moving correlation between March-July temperature and the NDVI reconstruction showed that the recent warming is the most important driving force of the drying trend and the resulting in tree growth decline during the last 30 years. Our reconstructed NDVI is significantly correlated with sea surface temperature in the Indian and the western Pacific Oceans. The linkages to the Indian and Pacific Oceans suggest the connection of regional NDVI variations to large-scale ocean-atmosphere-land circulation systems. Our NDVI reconstruction provides the long-term perspective on the vegetation dynamics of the Huanglong Mountains and is used to guide expectations of future forest variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining is a global business with international networks of production and consumption, but mineral deposits are place specific and the impacts of mining projects are mostly experienced locally. Hence, mining is an example of a glocal phenomenon par excellence: global processes are realized in local communities and environments. This paper discusses the social impacts of mining in eight communities situated in Northern Europe. The data consist of 85 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2013 and 2014. Using a qualitative approach and starting from the bottom-up, the analyses identified three impact frames that combined individual experiences and meanings expressed in the interviews. The first impact frame focuses on environmental justice. Environmental impacts are corporeal, cognitive, and emotional, as they affect the real life of people living in the vicinity of the mine. The main finding is that environmental 'bads' are experienced locally in the North, whereas the economic 'goods' go to mining companies and consumers in the 'South.' The second impact frame looks at the loss of livelihoods and the cultural way of life. Mining is seen as a threat, especially to reindeer herding and nature-based practices. In the areas where mining is a new industry, the activity is seen as antithetical to those small-scale activities of a local economy. The third impact frame centers on experiences and concerns about the dependency of a community on a single industry. When the fortunes of local communities are dependent on international business and the fluctuations of global markets, the residents feel that they have no power to influence the developments and can thus only adapt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate-related disasters such as tropical cyclones, floods and droughts are not new to Pacific Islanders, who have developed customary or 'traditional' practices to enable communities to adapt and recover from such hazards. Some of these practices have been degraded and some assisted by modernisation. Through their effects on the island environment, these hazards have a range of socio-economic impacts on food (fisheries and crops) and water supply, tourism, and coastal buildings and infrastructure. The varied impacts of climate change not only exacerbate those hazards but also raise new threats, such as sea level rise and ocean acidification, that have no precedent in the past 500 years, and for which there are therefore no traditional adaptations, although Pacific innate ingenuity and resilience remains strong. These issues are particularly acute for the low-lying atoll countries whose continued existence is threatened by sea level rise, but also affect those that live on higher islands in coastal settlements, where most of their population is concentrated. Climate change thus sharpens social and cultural issues of equity (reflecting disparities in location, income, education, gender, health and age), made even more acute by increased levels of voluntary or forced migration within, and even more so beyond, island country boundaries. Consequently, many islanders see climate change as a moral challenge to the richer countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) is broadly applied and recently social and economic LCA have emerged. However, the development of a general framework for social LCA is still at an early stage of development. The aims of this paper are to systematically discuss general considerations regarding social LCA, to build a consistent and operationalized framework for a number of indicators and to test the framework through application on a case study. Methods: The first step was to define the scope of the framework starting from a comprehensive review of concepts of social sustainability and social well-being, focusing on the conditions potentially affected by large-scale introduction of novel technologies. Secondly, main areas of concern for social well-being were defined. This resulted in the identification of four main areas of concern. The third step was to make an inventory of potential social indicators and select a number of indicators that could make the framework operational. Additionally, factors for weighting and normalization were developed. Results and discussion: The framework developed in this paper is based on four categories and 11 indicators and follows a life-cycle perspective. Six of the indicators are quantitative and are assessed using an input-output model linked to databases from the International Labour Organization. The remaining five indicators are qualitative indicators which are mapped using expert elicitation and a literature review. Identified concerns regarding the qualitative indicators are 'flagged' and provided alongside the results of the quantitative assessment, which are aggregated into one single score by means of a weighted and normalized arithmetical mean. The paper illustrates the application of the methodology in a case study examining the deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies in Europe. Conclusions: The paper presents a framework that can be used to explore potential impacts on social well-being resulting from the large-scale implementation of novel technologies. The selection of a limited number of indicators (11) keeps the methodology simple and transparent. Although the framework provides a useful approach in allowing both quantitative or qualitative identification of potential areas of concern, the results remain highly explorative in nature. The inherent value-laden and context specific nature of social aspects remains one of the key challenges for developing a general applicable framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific Island communities may be vulnerable to negative impacts of economic development, which is often considered a strategy for reducing vulnerability to environmental change. Studies that evaluate potential impacts of economic development in isolated communities may be inaccurate to only focus on asking people to anticipate impacts of phenomena they have had minimal exposure to. We used an open-ended approach to evaluate how communities in the Solomon Islands perceived change, and used this information to anticipate potential impacts of the government's plans to develop tourism. Our results showed mostly negative expectations of change, particularly socio-cultural, which was perceived as being driven by diminishing social capital, foreign influence, and economic development. Despite minimal exposure, locals supported tourism and had more positive expectations of change associated with this activity. Our findings emphasize the need for locally appropriate planning to ensure intended positive impacts of tourism and other forms of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2002, the province of Ontario introduced plans to ban coal in thermoelectric power production. Rural communities with a high proportion of power plant jobs (such as Atikokan, Ontario, Canada) grappled with three potential outcomes of the planned changes. These include the following: (i) the coal ban is overturned and power plants continue to burn non-renewable coal, (ii) the coal ban takes effect and power plants are closed, and (iii) the coal ban takes effect but power plants continue operating with alternative renewable fuel sources such as woody biomass. Considering there is a lack of readily available economic assessment tools for Ontario communities, the objective of this study is to model how direct changes in employment at the power plant (and indirect employment at associated local industries) impact the spending patterns of households associated with the power plant. Methods: To address the objective, an induced economic impact assessment model was developed by integrating quantitative publically available data sources with community-level qualitative data sources incorporating them into an input-output approach. Baseline values were established, representing induced community expenditure under the coal scenario. Values were then adjusted to represent induced community expenditure under shutdown and biomass scenarios. Results: The model suggests that the continuation of coal would allow for $82.7M in household spending, the shutdown reduces overall household spending to $72.1M which represents a decrease of 12.8 %, and the conversion to woody biomass as the sole fuel for the power plant increases household spending relative to the coal by $1.2M or 1.4 %. The results also indicate that the induced economic impact would be realized throughout the region, beyond Atikokan. Conclusions: These results suggest that biomass conversion could produce a net positive-induced economic effect as household spending increases, provided local biomass fuel supply is available. Since a conversion to biomass from coal at this scale is a North American first, other jurisdictions may gain insight from this study as they consider reducing their environmental footprint. Furthermore, the induced economic impact model method which is presented here could easily be adapted and used for other Ontario communities which lack access to established input-output models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or 'drones', appear to offer a flexible, accurate and affordable solution to some of the technical challenges of nature conservation monitoring and law enforcement. However, little attention has been given to their possible social impacts. In this paper, I review the possible social impacts of using drones for conservation, including on safety, privacy, psychological wellbeing, data security and the wider understanding of conservation problems. I argue that negative social impacts are probable under some circumstances and should be of concern for conservation for two reasons: (1) because conservation should follow good ethical practice; and (2) because negative social impacts could undermine conservation effectiveness in the long term. The paper concludes with a call for empirical research to establish whether the identified social risks of drones occur in reality and how they could be mitigated, and for self-regulation of drone use by the conservation sector to ensure good ethical practice and minimise the risk of unintended consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional change under agricultural expansion in the Chaco of Argentina is determined by interactions of rainfall change, infrastructure development, socio-economic actions and values, and the social perceptions of change. Our study focused on adaptation in the socio-environmental system which is the key to understanding opportunities, uncertainties and risk in the context of historical change. Change in land use from extensive grazing through mixed farming and on to industrial-scale soybean production was made possible by a trend of increasing rainfall that reduced the risk of crop failure from drought since the 1970s. Rainfall change coincided with a period in which the Chaco forest was suffering extensive degradation from long-term extractive use. The degradation aided agricultural expansion since the degraded state of the ecosystem justified public policies of deforestation. In parallel to these resource-based processes, public policy changed in the late 70s and 80s toward favoring privatization of state land and exclusion of small producers. This permitted the land concentration needed for industrial-scale production. Technological innovation in both water and land resource management reinforced the process of concentration because small producers rarely have the financial or educational capital to develop or implement emerging technologies. One of the results of the intensification and expansion of agriculture is that soil surface sealing, waterlogging and flood risk are now effective at a landscape scale. To address these risks, private enterprise and government efforts must now come together toward innovative policies in integrated landscape management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for 99 % of companies operating in the European food and drink industry and, often, are part of highly fragmented and complex food chains. The article focuses on the development of a social impact assessment methodology for SMEs in selected food and drink products as part of the EU-FP7 SENSE research project. The proposed methodology employs a top-down and bottom-up approach and focuses on labour rights/working conditions along the product supply chain as the key social impact indicator, limiting key stakeholder classification to workers/employees and local communities impacted by the production process. Problems related to this emerging field are discussed, and questions for further research are expounded. Methods: The article reviews both academic and 'grey' literature on life cycle assessment (LCA) and its relationship to social LCA (S-LCA) and SMEs at the beginning of 2013 and includes case study evidence from the food sector. A pilot questionnaire survey sent to European food and drink sector SMEs and trade associations (as partners in the research project) about their knowledge, experience and engagement with social impacts is presented. Proposals are elaborated for a social impact assessment methodology that identifies the key data for SMEs to collect. Results and discussion: The literature reveals the complexity of the S-LCA approach as it aims to unite disparate and often conflicting interests. Findings from the pilot questionnaire are discussed. Using a top-down and bottom-up approach, the proposed methodology assesses data from SMEs along the supply chain in order to gauge social improvements in the management of labour-related issues for different product sectors. Issues relating to the 'attributional' choice of a social impact indicator and key stakeholder categories are discussed. How 'scoring' is interpreted and reported and what the intended effect of its use will be are also elaborated upon. Conclusions: Whilst recognising the difficulty of devising a robust social impact assessment for SMEs in the food and drink sector, it is argued that the proposed methodology makes a useful contribution in this fast-emerging field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What first comes to mind when you think of natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale region? The information and ideas we hold about shale gas development can strongly influence our discussion of this issue, the impacts we associate with it, and the types of regulation we view as appropriate. Our knowledge and beliefs are based in part on social representations-common sense understandings of complex, often scientific, phenomena, generated in the public sphere and reliant on the history, culture, and social structure of the context in which they emerge. In this article, we examine social representations of environmental, economic, and social impacts of natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale, as reported by major regional newspapers. We conducted a content analysis of newspaper coverage in two newspapers in the northern tier of Pennsylvania and two in the southern tier of New York from 2007 to 2011, with a total sample of 1,037 articles. Effects on water quality were by far the most prevalent environmental representation in each newspaper. Economic representations focused on jobs, leases, and royalties, but varied substantially across geographical contexts. Representations of social impacts were relatively rare in each media outlet. We also interviewed the journalists who wrote the most articles on shale gas development at each newspaper. Their perspectives provide some explanations for why certain impacts were mentioned more frequently than others, and for differences between newspapers. We conclude with implications for communicating about impacts associated with shale gas development, and for regulating development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In a previous phase of this work, a methodology oriented towards social Life Cycle Assessment (sLCA) was developed to assess the social impact of formalised recycling systems in low income countries. To support this, a literature review of social impact assessment methodologies was carried out incorporating the social issues of both the informal and the implemented, formal recycling approaches. The goal of this study is to determine the feasibility of applying this methodology by assessing the current social impacts of three Peruvian recycling systems based on two formalisation approaches. A further goal is to identify and measure the social impacts of the formalisation procedures, thereby confirming or rebutting the expectations and forecasts of organisations (NGOs, Local Authorities, Ministries & Business) involved in the implementation. Methods: The methodology developed was applied to three Peruvian recycling systems which had been formalised using two different approaches. One approach utilizes cooperation with recyclers' associations and the second one, operated by the municipality uses formalised recyclers as employees. Interviews were conducted with local recycling system stakeholders in order to collect data to assess fulfilment of the social criteria. Three impact categories and 9 subcategories were analysed using 26 indicators. To transform the qualitative information into numerical values, a score system 1 or 0 for the fulfilment or non-fulfilment of social criteria was applied. After obtaining the indicators' average scores, further characterisation by social impact subcategory was effected. The final scores for the subcategories show the fulfilment or otherwise of all social criteria related to the subcategory. Results and discussion: The assessment substantiates similar negative impacts of both formalisation approaches for the social subcategories discrimination, recognised employment relationships and fulfilment of social benefit, physical working conditions and education. The formalisation based on cooperation with recyclers' associations reveals a positive social impact for freedom of association and collective bargaining, psychological working conditions and social acceptance whereas the method operated by the municipality scores better for working time and minimum, fair incomes. Regarding the methodology, no difficulties were detected in applying the indicators. Conclusions: It can be concluded that although sLCA was originally used to analyse products and production processes, it is feasible to adapt it for the social assessment of recycling systems based on formalisation of the informal sector in low income countries. A comparison of current social impacts between different formalisation approaches using this methodology is also viable. A further conclusion is that it is feasible to measure the social impacts of formalisation approaches using the selected indicators and characterisation procedure. Social issues such as anti-discrimination policies, employment terms, payment of social benefits, preventive policies, occupational and health training and adult education can be improved following the evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve environmental hygiene in public housing estates in Hong Kong, the Housing Department launched the Marking Scheme for Tenancy Enforcement in Public Housing Estates in 2003. The marking scheme operates as a penalty-point system where sitting tenants will be expelled from their public housing units if they receive penalty points up to a certain level for committed misdeeds. By its nature, the marking scheme is a measure to tackle neighbourhood problems or so-called antisocial behaviour (ASB) in public housing. Yet, it was implemented without comprehensive public consultation a priori. Besides, why this control selectively targets public housing tenants but not residents in other housing tenures is not justified. More importantly, no previous attempt has been made to investigate the impacts of the marking scheme. To straddle the existing research gap, this study aims to explore the social impacts brought about by the marking scheme on public housing tenants through a structured questionnaire survey. In the respondents' eyes, the effectiveness of the scheme to rectify public housing tenants' bad behaviour is doubtful. Moreover, harmony within families and neighbourliness seems to be undermined by the scheme. Recommendations are then provided to public administrators regarding ASB control in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a selective review of William Freudenburg's key contributions to the sociological literature addressing social consequences of resource-based growth and development in rural communities. The review starts by examining Freudenburg's earliest work on energy 'boomtown' impacts that appeared in the late 1970s. From there, it moves to consideration of some later works pertaining to the social impacts of resource development as well as several more broadly focused works addressing resource dependency and community social change that he developed throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Freudenburg's intellectual insights and legacy are highlighted in terms of five key areas of contribution: (1) his efforts to raise sociological consciousness about the occurrence and seriousness of social impacts in communities affected by large-scale resource development activity; (2) his provision of methodological guidance and leadership; (3) his effectiveness in promoting and demonstrating analytic rigor and depth of interpretation in his own empirical work; (4) his provision of major conceptual and theoretical direction to studies of resource dependency and social change; and (5) the foundations that his contributions have provided as points of departure for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the 2nd International Seminar in Social Life Cycle Assessment held in Montpellier, France on May 5-6, 2010. It states that the seminar focused on scientific questions related to developing methods for the evaluation of social impact of product chain functions. It discusses questions that can be considered by practitioner in conducting social life cycle assessment (LCA) including the definition of social LCA, determining functional unit, and setting perimeter.

Purpose: In May 2009, the Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products (the Guidelines) were launched at the occasion of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000 (Social Responsibility) meeting in Quebec City, Canada. Developed by a United Nations Environment Programme/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry ('UNEP/SETAC') Life Cycle Initiative project group on Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), the Guidelines provide a framework to assess social impacts across product life cycles. A year later, the Methodological Sheets for the Subcategories of Social LCA ('the Methodological Sheets') are being made available to support practitioners engaging in the field. The Methodological Sheets provide practical guidance for conducting S-LCA case studies by offering consistent, yet flexible assistance. Aim and scope: A Methodological Sheet was developed for each of the 31 subcategories of assessment outlined in the Guidelines. Each sheet includes a subcategory definition tailored to S-LCA, an explanation of how the subcategory relates to sustainable development, information on data assessment, including examples of inventory indicators, units of measurement, and data sources, along with a reference section that points the user to further information. The data assessment section is intended to provide adaptable guidance to LCA practitioners by offering examples and does not prescribe comprehensive procedures. The Methodological Sheets do not provide guidance on aggregating subcategory indicators or characterization models, nor do they discuss interpretation of results. The sheets are focused on the inventory analysis phase of S-LCA. This article will detail the development process of this unique resource, its content and future development, and how it compares to other types of documents, such as the GRI G3, ISO 26000 guidelines on Social Responsibility and the Global Social Compliance reference code. Conclusions: The Methodological Sheets support the framework of S-LCA offered in the UNEP/SETAC Guidelines. They provide consistent guidance to assist LCA practitioners in case studies. At the same time, they have been designed to encourage context-specific application. Content of the Methodological Sheets will continue to evolve. Over time, and when relevant, characterization and interpretation models will be added to the Methodological Sheets. The Methodological Sheets are currently under public review and available on the Life Cycle Initiative website. A finalized version will be available in 2011, integrating comments from the review process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is a need to assess social impacts of products along the full life cycle, not only to be able to address the 'social dimension' in sustainability, but also for potentially improving the circumstances of affected stakeholders. This paper presents a case study for a social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) based on the recently published 'Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products' developed by the United Nations Environment Programme/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) working group. General aim is to 'try out' the proposed method. The case study itself compares the impacts of rose production in Ecuador with the Netherlands. Furthermore, the objective is to identify differences and similarities in environmental and social life cycle modelling and both social and environmental hot spots in each of the life cycles. Methods: The study considers the production of rose blossoms and the cutting and packaging process in two fictitious companies in Ecuador and the Netherlands. Both rose bouquets are delivered to the European market and auctioned in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands. The social assessment is based on the UNEP/SETAC guidelines for S-LCA. Data are mainly obtained from governmental and non-governmental organisations. For the calculation of the environmental burden, a screening-type LCA is conducted, including midpoint impact assessment. Results and discussion: This paper asserts that rose production in Ecuador is associated with many negative social effects, e.g. child labour, unfair salary, or bad impairment to health. The rose production in the Netherlands has no obvious negative social impacts but rather ecological consequences. Responsible for this is the high-energy consumption of the greenhouses. Conclusions: Application of the UNEP/SETAC guidelines in case studies can be encouraged based on results of this case study. The consideration of different stakeholder groups with corresponding, very diverse themes allows a comprehensive analysis of the actual conditions. However, finding suitable indicators to measure the status of the subcategories may be challenging. Moreover, the case study shows that results can be completely different for the environmental and for the social dimension, so that it often will be needed to perform both assessments if a complete picture is required. Recommendations and perspectives: It will be interesting to apply the UNEP/SETAC approach of S-LCA to other products; products with a more complex life cycle will be a special challenge. As with any new method, getting experience on data collection and evaluation, building a data stock, integrating the method in software, and finding ways for effective communication of results are important steps until integrating S-LCA in routine, recognized decision support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The biannual Life Cycle Management conference series aims to create a platform for users and developers of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and related tools to share their experiences. A key concern of the LCM community has been to move beyond the production of LCA reports toward using the developed knowledge. This paper reports and evaluates some of the main outcomes of the 4th International Life Cycle Management Conference (LCM 2009). Results Conference focus: While the focus of the conference was LCM, LCA remains a main analytical tool for supporting LCM. This is clearly shown by the overall program in which roughly half of the contributions focused on or used LCA. Some products and resources and environmental themes were markedly represented in the presentation subjects. Conference participation: The 180 delegates included 40 South Africans, 20 from other African countries, and 140 from as far afield as Brazil, Sweden, Japan, and Australia. The surveyable number of delegates and conference rooms, in combination with the well-balanced scientific and social program, facilitated optimal professional exchange and discussion. Conference structure: LCM 2009 featured some 140 contributions from 47 leading environmental practitioners, consultants, and academic researchers. The interactive conference format included three plenary sessions and training workshops. Conclusions LCM 2009 successfully engaged with the critical questions of what it means to manage (not merely shift) the environmental and social impacts of global economic activity, what this entails for industry and public services in emerging economies, and how supply chains, networks, and partnerships can be stimulated and managed to deliver truly sustainable practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, aims, and scope Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) is a tool assessing the social aspects of products and services. This article is a step forward from the Guidelines and wishes to clarify the different impact assessment (IA) methods covered in the Guidelines and how these different methods would provide different types of information regarding the social aspects of the product system. Methods The outcomes resulting from different sLCIA methods are discussed through the analysis of three methods covered by the Guidelines for SLCA (UNEP 2009): the Taskforce's method, Hunkeler's (2006) and Weidema's (2006). In order to highlight the different outcomes, we analyze the "nature" of the indicator results, the sources of the stressors, and the way the IA results are linked to the product system. Results Different results are provided depending on the sLCIA approach used. We stress that the use of impact pathways allows the assessment of social impacts. The Taskforce's method, which compares the state of the dimensions of the social context of the product system with international consensus, assesses "social performances." Regarding the sources of the stressors, the analysis needs to look at other levels than the unit process to capture the social issues. Finally, two approaches are used to connect the indicator results to the product system: one carrying the quantitative link between the inventory indicator and the functional unit all the way to the IA result through impact pathways, and the other, weighting the IA results according to the relative importance of an activity variable. Discussion The different features of the sLCIA methods result in different outcomes. Depending on the sources of the stressors, different levels are assessed. When the stressors are collected at an organizational level, e.g., country, sector, or enterprise, the unit assessed becomes the social context, which can be called "context units" parallel to the unit processes. SLCIA methods will also provide different outcomes depending on the characterization models used in the analysis: social impacts versus social performances. Finally, the difference between the outcomes according to the approaches used to link the IA results to the product system will require further reflections. Conclusions Two types of sLCIA are covered by the Guidelines. One uses Performance Reference Points allowing the evaluation of the relative position of the state of a dimension of a context unit in reference to an international consensus. The second one, closer to LCA, assesses the social impacts derived from the technical nature of the processes, through the use of impact pathways. Recommendations and perspectives Choosing between the feasibility of deriving social impacts from social variables through impact pathways or assessing a broader set of social issues through the use of semiquantitative indicators is an ongoing issue and requires further research. Currently, the choice of sLCIA methods is informed by the availability of the characterization models and the indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hundreds of thousands of Louisiana citizens were displaced from their homes as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Of those displaced within Louisiana some relocated to other parishes, some to other residences within the same parish, and others were able to return to their pre-storm residence. This article draws upon data gathered by the 2006 Louisiana Health and Population Survey to examine the social costs of displacement across 18 Louisiana parishes approximately 1 year after the hurricanes. Specifically, we examine how displacement affected housing, economic, and health outcomes for individuals and families. Further, we compare the implications of two types of displacement (1) internal displacement—within-parish relocation versus (2) external displacement—relocation across parish lines. We found that the displaced had lower odds of owning their homes, living in detached housing, and retaining access to primary health care facilities. The displaced were also more likely to be unemployed and exhibit symptoms consistent with severe mental illness. The externally displaced suffered income declines. These trends are critically important for understanding both the short- and long-term ramifications of displacement after disaster. Our findings have implications for theories, policy makers, and planners considering the larger social costs of disaster and large-scale displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010 Federation Internationale de Football (FIFA) World Cup to be hosted in South Africa is expected to provide an opportunity to further the country’s objectives of using sporting events to signal international recognition and promote socio-economic development. Studies on sport tourism events tend to focus on economic impacts and neglect social issues (Ritchie and Adair ). In particular, residents’ perceptions are overlooked although they are often directly impacted by sport events, especially when they reside in close proximity to the event location. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is heralded as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with significant legacy benefits for South Africans. However, generally, the actual voices of local residents are absent in relation to debates pertaining to this event and concomitant anticipated benefits (Swart and Bob ). One hundred residents in each location were interviewed. The focus of the study was to examine the perceptions of the residents towards the proposed stadia development and potential impacts of the 2010 World Cup. The findings reveal that there is considerable support and positive perceptions relating to South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup. However, there were several concerns raised in relation to the distribution of anticipated benefits and the impacts of the stadia on their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]