On June 30th 1908 a huge explosion occurred near the Tunguska River in eastern Russia. It was so violent it knocked people off their feet. Local people thought it was the end of the world. They sent a deputation to the local archpriest to ask how they should prepare for this the apocalypse.
More than 10 years later an expedition of scientists came to assess what had really happened and what the event meant for the future. The expedition, led by Leonid Kulik, conducted a rigorous evaluation, establishing that a meterorite had probably exploded some six miles above the earth’s surface. This was, and remains, the largest impact event on land in recorded history. Kulik’s work has led to programmes to examine how a meteorite approaching a major conurbation might be stopped. Kulik himself has an asteroid and a crater on the moon named after him.
At Public Aspect we don’t expect our own moon crater, but we did find Kulik’s story an inspiration in setting up our company.
Social impact assessment examines the consequences of actions that affect people. A good impact assessment, like Kulik’s, points the way to enhance the positive effects of an activity and to minimise the negative ones.
This is what we do for the organisations we work with. They turn to us when they want to cut through complexity and get clarity. We use these ten simple rules in all our work:
- Keep it simple
- Ensure that the purposes of the assessment are clear
- Consult stakeholders as part of the assessment
- Use self-assessment as a tool
- Use a combination of qualitative and quantitative research
- Be careful about attribution/claiming credit
- Do solid analysis and communicate results effectively to the right audiences
- Include financial information: show a link between impact and spend
- Do not allow measurement imperatives to distort services
- Benchmark performance against others in the sector
To find out how we can help you please contact us.
