Better Places (Social Value) Toolkit: Scoping review of existing tools, processes, practices, and frameworks [Stage 1 Report]

Mulholland, Cara, Hughes, Jenny, Samuel, Flora and Mitchell, Keith (2020) Better Places (Social Value) Toolkit: Scoping review of existing tools, processes, practices, and frameworks [Stage 1 Report]. Research Report. Stantec.

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Abstract

The Better Places Toolkit is a two-year Knowledge Transfer Project between Stantec and the University of Reading. Its aim is to produce a tool that facilitates the inclusion of social value in decision making about land valuation and acquisition. By reviewing existing tools and practices we have identified a gap for a spatial, digitally enabled tool for exploring early project social value forecasting. We want to create a tool that uses evidence to disrupt the current decision-making processes in early strategic land development. This can influence how projects are conceptualised from the beginning, potentially influencing timelines of implementation and build design. In this report we have outlined the findings from Stage 1 of the project. This starts with a wider introduction to the context of the project and high-level summary of the current thought leadership in social value of the built environment. We then present the findings from the desk review research of a longlist of 66 relevant social value, placemaking and engagement tools, which were then refined down to a shortlist of 17 for a deep dive review. This includes highlighting strengths and weaknesses in existing social value tools to facilitate early strategic decision making. The final section poses design decisions to structure the future tool development based on potential user needs, and the stakeholder responses on tool development to be worked on in Stage 2 of the project. The Better Places Toolkit needs to offer a solution that meets the needs of the industry: identifying when in the project most social value could be created, who are the key parties in driving for that social value, why social value is often optioneered out, and what would create the right incentives to push for more social value. In understanding these, we can understand why existing tools have or have not worked well or met needs, and we can optimise the design of Better Places Toolkit.