Social Impact Assessment (SIA) encompasses the analysis, monitoring, and management of the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions, such as policies, programs, plans, and projects, as well as the social changes triggered by those interventions. Its primary objective is to safeguard and sustain equitable and biophysical human environments from potential adverse impacts.

SIA is best understood as a comprehensive framework that evaluates all effects on people and how communities interact with their sociocultural, economic, and biophysical surroundings. It is inherently linked to various specialized fields, assessing impacts in areas such as aesthetic (landscape analysis), archaeological and cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible), community dynamics, demographic shifts, economic and fiscal changes, gender dynamics, health and mental health, Indigenous rights, infrastructure, institutional frameworks, leisure and tourism, political landscapes (human rights, governance, democratization), poverty, psychological well-being, resource access and ownership, social and human capital, among others.

Given its wide scope, comprehensive SIA typically requires a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach rather than being handled by a single individual.

Pathways Consulting Services Ltd. (PCSL) has developed in-house expertise in SIA and has actively engaged in this specialized research field in recent years.