Social value
Major infrastructure projects have the capacity to deliver a powerful, long-lasting legacy for local users and communities.
At its heart social value is about changing lives – moving people from a place of economic inactivity, poverty, disadvantage and hardship to a more fulfilled, healthy, prosperous and positive destination.
Over the past decade there has been an increasing appreciation of the impact that major infrastructure programmes can have on local communities.
A growing number of countries around the world are introducing legislative levers to make social value thinking a part of business as usual. In the UK, the social value movement is now fully embedded in investment decisions thanks to the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and Procurement Policy Note 06/20.
What can we do for you?
Look to the long term
For social value to be successful it needs to be built in, not bolted on. To focus on delivering the best results for your communities requires more than box ticking. It means moving away from short-term thinking and ensuring that activities have long lasting impact and that everyone involved plays their part. This doesn’t happen overnight – it takes time to realise ambitions.
Help define what social value means for you
There is a lot of noise around social value – everyone has a different take on what it means and how to deliver, track and measure it. There is no one size fits all – social value means different things to different people at different stages of programme or project development. It’s what it means to you and your business that is important.
Identify the right solutions
We can quieten the noise and work with you to unpack where and how you can integrate, embed and deliver social value solutions that will be life changing for your communities, people, supply chains and extended stakeholders.
Get creative
To be truly transformational, there is a need to go beyond the business-as-usual legislative, procurement and policy levers and get creative. This means investing in a robust, long term social value strategy for your business that will be fully inclusive, proportionate and perfectly aligned with your operations, your people, your locations, your supply chain and with the sectors and communities in which you work.
Maximising social value through infrastructure development
Our work includes:
Our experience
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Great British Nuclear, Cumbria, UKWe’ve worked extensively to support and deliver social impact for clients in Cumbria. Working with Energy Coast University Technical College students in Whitehaven, we upskilled the group in project management, while supporting the delivery of a project focused on local heritage and history. The project also included collaboration with other educational and non-profit bodies, improving the students’ networks and knowledge and boosting the activity’s impact on the local area.
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Ovingham level crossing removal project, AustraliaAs part of a major project to remove a rail level crossing in Ovingham, which would improve travel times, connectivity and safety for road users, we delivered extensive support to shape and deliver better social value. Early community feedback emphasised the importance of connectivity, community and public space. As a result of our support, the project ultimately delivered new sporting infrastructure, pedestrian and cycle links, and landscaping and public art created with local indigenous communities.
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Sydney Metro, AustraliaSydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project, revolutionising travel for people in the country’s most populous city. We supported the Sydney Metro project to bring its engineering design assurance workforce development and industry participation plan to life. This included implementing diversity and inclusion programmes and initiatives on gender and cultural diversity, First Nations, younger and older people, as well as community engagement.
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Transport for London, UKWe supported Transport for London’s ambitious and exciting programme of property development and urban regeneration to maximise its positive social outcomes for communities. To empower its vision to build a better London and create places of the future, we supported the development and implementation of its sustainable development framework. This established a metric driven approach to specifying, delivering and monitoring its triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental) performance across its existing and emerging property portfolio.
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Wataynikaneyap transmission project, CanadaWe’re acting as the lenders’ adviser for this project to bring reliable and environmentally sound energy to remote First Nations communities in northern Ontario, Canada, which will involve transmission and distribution infrastructure spanning 1700km.
People and Planet
People and Planet demonstrates and quantifies social and environmental outcomes. It combines publicly available data with project data to assess social and environmental factors alongside project priorities. Risks and opportunities are displayed on maps and dashboards, empowering decisions that create long-term benefits for people and the planet.
