The Institute for Social Capital has published a new Practice Paper introducing Social Capital Impact Assessment (SCIA), a governance-relevant approach to understanding how decisions shape long-term social capacity.
Titled Social Capital Impact Assessment (SCIA): Using Social Capital as a Lens for Long-Term Impact, the paper sets out why social capital matters for long-term performance, legitimacy, and collective action, and explains how it can be incorporated into impact assessment practice in a disciplined and decision-relevant way. Rather than treating social factors only as immediate responses or outcomes, the paper frames social capital as a form of future capacity that is shaped by early decisions about project design, governance, and implementation.
The Practice Paper is written for policy-makers, project and infrastructure leaders, impact assessment practitioners, and organisational decision-makers working in complex social contexts. It positions SCIA as a complement to existing impact assessment and engagement frameworks, extending them by making future social capacity explicit and governable.
This publication is the first in the ISC Practice Paper Series, which aims to provide authoritative resources that bridge research, governance, and applied experience in the field of social capital.
The paper is available to read online or download as a PDF:
Social Capital Impact Assessment (SCIA): Using Social Capital as a Lens for Long-Term Impact
Readers interested in applied examples or further discussion of SCIA in specific decision contexts are invited to engage with the Institute for Social Capital.
