Building with People; For Good or for Bad?: An analysis of current Social Impact Assessment practice. Illustrated with a case study of the Nicaragua Canal.

Knipping, A. (2016) Building with People; For Good or for Bad?: An analysis of current Social Impact Assessment practice. Illustrated with a case study of the Nicaragua Canal. Master thesis.

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Abstract

Attention for social impacts of infrastructure projects has gained academic and social attention in the last years. This dissertation sheds light on how Social Impact Assessment (SIA) theory works in practice and how the more ‘soft’, or social, side of engineering is perceived among engineers. A case study of the SIA on the Nicaragua canal shows weaknesses on the subjects of stakeholder engagement, grievance mechanisms, resettlement action plans and a general weakness of recommendation versus action. In their SIA, ERM recommended HKND to take certain action plans in consideration but no transparency on whether these recommended action plans were taken into account is given. Interviews with key practitioners in the Dutch field of SIA contributed to the understanding of weaknesses in contemporary SIA and gave insights for future improvements. Nine general weaknesses were identified in the interviews, ranging from SIA’s difficulty of measurability to the general feeling of dispersed responsibility.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Degree programme:	Environmental & Infrastructure Planning
Supervisor:	Vanclay, F. and Arts, J.
Date Deposited:	23 Apr 2020 05:32
Last Modified:	23 Apr 2020 05:32
URI:	https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1826

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