Social Value Blog
Congratulations To Sophia Robinson For Her A4MH Report Assurance Achievement.
Recently, consultant Sophia Robinson submitted her SROI Evaluation report for Artists for Mental Health (A4MH) to Social Value UK for Report Assurance checking alignment to the SVI Report Assurance Standard. It was found the report demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of, and consistency with, the Seven Principles of Social Value – as a result it was assured.
Equality, Wellbeing, And The SDGs: How Can We Address The Issues Of Covid-19 And Achieve The SDGs By 2030?
While overcoming the pandemic will certainly be an impressive feat and a demonstration of what we can achieve together if we set our priorities straight, it will not be the time to fall back into complacency. Continuing our work is not only vital to tackling the large-scale challenges of climate change and inequality but also to avoiding another devastating virus outbreak in the future. No country is on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030 and the pandemic has made the prospect of this even less likely. Although the future may currently seem bleak, we must hold firm in our convictions and not let the pandemic derail our vision of a more equitable and sustainable world for all. If we stop now, at defeating Covid-19, it is merely the equivalent of fixing a leaky faucet in a burning building.
What A Journey: A Decade With Social Value International
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Andrea, who after 10 years of dedicated service, is stepping down from the SVI Board of Trustees
World Health Day 2021: Building A Fairer, Healthier World
April 7 of each year marks the celebration of World Health Day. From its inception at the First Health Assembly in 1948, the celebration has aimed to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization. This year, World Health Day is focussing on “Building a fairer, healthier world”.
Social Value Matters 2021: Leading Our Transition To A Sustainable World
Social Value Matters conferences, shaped and delivered by the global community of members and wider networks in which Social Value International are connected, provide a combination of world-class thought-leadership content and highly interactive workshops to create the standards and practice that can help to create a more sustainable, equitable and positive future.
Building on the success of conferences held in London, Milan, Istanbul, Taipei and Toronto (virtually in 2020), the SVM2021 conference will be held from Bangkok, Thailand on the 20th and 21st October 2021.
We Can’t Achieve Social Value Without Achieving Social Justice
Social justice is central to the social value movement, and now more than ever it’s vital that we as a community stand up for social justice, equality and human rights.
To say the last few weeks have been difficult for our planet would be an understatement, to be honest, stating the last year’s been difficult would be too. Social justice has come into the spotlight, as it has many times before in human history, and we owe it to us and all future generations to not let this moment escape from us.
World Water Day 2021: Valuing Water
Water is the basis for all life, and without it, we cannot survive. It’s found everywhere on Earth, from the polar ice caps to steamy geysers. And wherever water flows on this planet, you can be sure to find life.
Yet despite the importance of water to sustain all living things, water is under extreme threat from a growing population, increasing demands of agriculture and industry, and the worsening impacts of climate change.
International Day Of Happiness: Towards A World Where Human Well-Being Takes Center Stage
When you ask people what they want most in life, a very common answer is “I just want myself and my loved ones to be happy.” Happiness is a feeling and therefore subjective but it is clear that with it, we tend to mean more than just a fleeting pleasurable emotion. Usually what we mean with it is “a deep[er] sense of flourishing” – a life of meaning, fulfilment, and stability.
Given that happiness seems to be something that most people ultimately want in life, and its benefits to society, one would expect it to be a central consideration in policy-making and increased human well-being to be a key indicator of progress. Instead, for too long, our understanding of development has been limited to the narrow concept of economic growth. Although a strictly economic tool, GDP per capita continues to be our main metric for measuring well-being.
Announcing Social Value Ireland As An Associate Network
This St Patrick’s Day, we at Social Value International are delighted to announce our newest Associate Network: Social Value Ireland. We recently caught up with the team behind this new network to understand more about Social Value Ireland, the social value landscape across Ireland and their plans for the future.
CEO Report – March 2021
The first 2 and a half months of 2021 have been a whirlwind for the global community of Social Value International. Across the world, interest in social value and meaningful social impact measurement and management continues to increase, with more and more sectors, industries and individuals seeing the need to expand our global definition of value and protect people and the planet.
In this month’s report, I dive deeper into ESG – a concept we cannot move without hearing right now – as well as highlighting to you a couple of important global developments that highlight that ever so critical principle of materiality:
Reducing Income Inequality
Valuation, especially of social and environmental outcomes is always guaranteed to elicit strong opinions from the “you can’t put a monetary value on everything” to the “you cannot make good decisions unless you know how important things are to people”. But either way, interest is growing….
World Wildlife Day: Can Putting A Value On Nature That Goes Far Beyond Money Protect People And Planet?
The natural world around us underpins our economy, our society, our very existence. It provides us with the water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, and forms the basis of goods and services we depend on for our health, happiness and wellbeing.
The world’s natural assets or ‘natural capital’ are also hugely important to the economy – if you add them all up, the total economic value of these benefits is phenomenal, at least US$125 trillion every year. Yet to truly understand the value of nature we need to look beyond the economic value, and consider the intrinsic value of nature under a broader definition of social and environmental value…
Zero Discrimination Day: The Growth Of Inequalities Worldwide
‘…in 2015, all countries pledged to reduce inequality within and between countries as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. But it is not yet one that the world has delivered on.’
Reports from the UN show that inequality is growing for more than 70% of the global population. At a time of crisis, when the world has been ravaged by COVID-19, we need to move beyond promises to achieving social justice worldwide and move forth to achieve it….
World Day Of Social Justice 2021
In this blog, Social Value International’s Director of Impact, Dr. Adam Richards, reflects on the World Day of Social Justice 2021 and on the importance of the social value movement in combating inequality. While the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare and deepened existing inequalities, including the growing digital divide within, between and across developed and developing countries, it has also shown us that rapid and meaningful change is possible when we set our minds to it.
CEO Report – February 2021
As January comes to an end, and for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere the promise of Spring is on the horizon, I have been reflecting on the previous 12 months. It seems crazy to think that just 13 months ago, 600 hundred of us were together in Taiwan for Social Value Matters 2019: Going Mainstream, a stark reminder of how quickly things can change. This year has been challenging for our members across the world, and I do hope that you and your families are all keeping safe and well.
However, despite the struggles 2020 brought, as I reflect on the last 12 months there are so many positive developments from across the movement and I wanted to share my thoughts on some of these developments with you today.
Strategic Partnership With UNDP
Social Value International Have Signed A Responsible Party Agreement With The United Nations Development Programme To Support The Rollout And Adoption Of The SDG Impact Practice Standards.
The Genesis Of Efiko.
Are you part of the growing group of people aiming to make organisations and the economy serve a greater purpose than wealth accumulation? Then much like us, you have probably wondered a thousand times what you could do better to make strides towards enabling that purpose. It is precisely with this mission in mind that Efiko Academy was born in September 2020.
Announcing Tasamy As Social Value Pioneers!
Social Value International are proud to announce that Tasamy have joined as Social Value Pioneers!
Tasamy is a non-profit organization that focuses mainly on supporting social entrepreneurship through four main pillars, accelerators and incubators, training and education, social innovation and impact investing.
Ahead of their joining, we spoke to them about their social value journey.
The Social Value Created By Child Protectors
Social Value International members, Citizens 4 Change use the wisdom of the crowd to protect East African children from violence. The below blog outlines how Social Value International Members can help Citizens for Change understand the social value created by citizens who protect children:
First Social Impact Management Graduate To Complete Their Graduate Programme!
This blog is penned by Reinoud Willemsen, Reinoud has been instrumental in the network in South Africa and is a key partner of Social Value International.