The social vulnerability approach for social impact assessment

• Published in: Environmental impact assessment review 2018-11, Vol.73, p.70-79
• Main Authors: Climent-Gil, Emilio, Aledo, Antonio, Vallejos-Romero, Arturo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: At risk populations; CHILE; Dam; DAMS; Environmental aspects; Environmental conflicts; Environmental management; Environmental risk; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Hazards; HydroAysen project; Hydroelectric dams; HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS; Impacts; Infrastructure; NATURAL DISASTERS; Patagonia; POPULATIONS; Poverty; Projects; Research methodology; RISK ASSESSMENT; Risk factors; RIVERS; Social development; SOCIAL IMPACT; Social risk; SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS; Technological hazard; VULNERABILITY; Windows
• ISSN: 0195-9255; 1873-6432
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eiar.2018.07.005

The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) literature has highlighted the need to focus attention on the most vulnerable groups to improve the management of socio-environmental risk. However, methodological proposals to introduce vulnerability in SIAs are still incipient. The aim of this article is to present a proposal to analyze the role of social vulnerability in the production of risks generated by large infrastructure projects. Taking the theoretical-methodological advances made from the social vulnerability and natural disasters approach, and from the social vulnerability, development and poverty approaches, we have designed a Social Vulnerability Approach (SVA) which we aim at incorporating into the SIA of large infrastructure projects. To illustrate our methodological proposal, the case of the socio-environmental conflict generated by the HydroAysen Project (which entailed the construction of a set of hydroelectric dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers in the Chilean Patagonia region) has been selected. Our proposal allows us to identify elements of vulnerability throughout the whole project cycle and, therefore, windows for intervention in order to reduce social vulnerability as well as other kind of hazards that large infrastructure projects may generate on affected populations. •Social vulnerability is a process in two stages: the Structural and the Acquired.•SVA is apt for the diagnosis and management of social impacts caused by projects.•SVA is based on the Natural disaster and the Assets Based approaches.•Structural Vulnerability influences the very nature of the project.•Understanding the project as a possible hazard improves its analysis.