Social Value, Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship: Insights from Theory and Practice

This book provides insight on the concept of social value and social return on investment (SROI) - or measures to evaluate the social outcomes from interventions, beyond simply jobs and income. It offers a new and holistic perspective on the values generated from environmental stewardship and forest governance, and focuses on the methods, approaches and outcomes for understanding social value and SROI. The book offers new directions in social value and SROI, including cultural and spiritual outcomes, gender equity, and health and well-being, and provides pathways for implementing interventions and measuring social impact. It includes state of the art approaches from diverse and interdisciplinary experts drawn from academia and professional practice, including the voices and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities involved in programs, with a focus on environmental stewardship. Social value and SROI are increasingly used to assess outcomes from conservation and thisbook broadens the conversation on the impact and business case for these interventions. The book offers practical guidance to readers in pursuing social value and those seeking to measure it.

William Nikolakis is a lawyer and faculty member at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry, Canada, where he works on sustainability, social value and environmental stewardship, with focus on Indigenous Peoples. Dr. Nikolakis works closely with Indigneous Peoples and their governments to implement and evaluate environmental stewardship programs, an example is the Tsilhqot'in Indigenous Fire Management program, which delivers important ecological and social outcomes to communities. Dr. Nikolakis has published in leading scholarly journals and has published three books on forest and Indigneous People's governance.

Renata Veiga is a PhD candidate at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE, Brazil). She is a Forest Engineer who specializes in climate studies and sustainability. Currently researching how Integrated Fire Management programs can mitigate emissions and benefit communities in Cerrado, Brazil, she believes that understanding social value and applying SROI methods is fundamental for the present and future of the forestry sector.