Researchers seek to guide engineers to greater understanding of social value

Institution of Civil Engineers-funded researchers have launched a study into infrastructure professionals’ understanding of social value and the barriers to its delivery.

With a grant support from the ICE’s Research and Development Enabling Fund, Sustainability consultancy, Useful Projects has issued a questionnaire on social value and the wider project will look at “how far engineers have come in realising social value, and whether we can achieve more,” said the consultancy.

Useful Projects director, Judith Sykes, said: “Organisations are under increased scrutiny to declare how they are creating social value… but we need to go much further in delivering genuine added social value.”

Sykes said the project aims to demonstrate the shortfalls in implementation of social value to “identify a programme of awareness raising, education, tools and processes to drive progress.”

The survey will run until 26 August and the output from the research is scheduled for publication in the autumn.