Enhancing Social Value Assessments: Co-Producing a Tool for Evaluating Social Infrastructure with Health and Well-being Indicators (2024-25)

About

This project deepens collaboration with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the London borough of Camden to co-produce an assessment tool for evaluating the social value of social infrastructure (SI).

Building on the SOCIAL-US tool developed earlier by the research team, the project embeds health and well-being indicators alongside dimensions of social cohesion and place quality. The tool will be piloted in libraries and parks to ensure applicability, then refined into a user-friendly, web-based format hosted on the GLA platform.

This initiative fosters knowledge exchange, strengthens partnerships, and supports evidence-based policies aligned with London’s social integration and health agendas.

Key info

Start date: 01/12/24
End date: 31/07/2025
Funding amount and funder: £5000, funded partly by the Universities Research Leave Scheme and ESRC IAA KEPSs, awaiting additional follow-up ESRC funding.

Aims

Enhance SOCIAL-US with Holistic Metrics: Integrate social value, health, and well-being indicators into the assessment tool to enable comprehensive evaluations of social infrastructure (SI) outcomes.
Address Identified Gaps: Expand the tool’s focus beyond social cohesion to include broader measures such as access to green spaces, recreational facilities, air quality, mental health support, and inclusivity.
Co-Produce Solutions with Stakeholders: Collaborate with the Greater London Authority (GLA), Camden Borough, and key stakeholders—including Libraries and Recreation departments—to refine and validate the tool.
Pilot and Test the Enhanced Tool: Apply the updated SOCIAL-US assessment in two pilot sites (Kentish Town Library and Talacre Gardens) to analyze social cohesion, place quality, and health-related indicators, ensuring usability and robustness.
Facilitate Knowledge Exchange and Adoption: Conduct workshops, develop case studies, and produce an online guidance document to promote the tool’s implementation across London boroughs and beyond.
Develop a Digital, Scalable Solution: Create a web-based version of the tool, hosted on the GLA platform, to ensure accessibility and facilitate cross-borough collaboration and knowledge-sharing.
Drive Policy and Practice Change: Support evidence-based policymaking by embedding SI evaluation into local authority practices, promoting community engagement, and encouraging cross-borough collaborations to improve SI design, management, and funding.