Home » News » BLOG: Generating Good Through Social Value

Generating Good Through Social Value, by James Green

James Green is the Social Mapping and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Lead at Bute Energy, where he plays a key role in the Community Investments team. He helps support local communities near Bute Energy’s renewable energy projects by driving initiatives that maximise social value. With an MA in Environment, Development, and Policy from the University of Sussex (2020), James brings a strong academic foundation to his work in sustainable development. Recently, he attended the Social Value & SROI Practitioner Training with Social Value UK to enhance Bute Energy’s approach to measuring and delivering meaningful social impact.

 

In his own words, James reflects on his understanding of how he can support both supplier and community members to work together to generate green energy and social value.

What is Social Value?

When I think about social systems or communities, there is usually a poignant quote from the great environmental scientist Donella Meadows reverberating in the back of my mind. At the time of writing, the musings of choice are:

“We can’t impose our will on a system. We can listen to what the system tells us and discover how its properties and our values can work together to bring forth something much better than could ever be produced by our will alone”.

After working in the Social Value for the past few years and my knowledge from best practice from approaches such as Social Return on Investment (SROI), I think I agree with Donella – it’s a great opportunity, but you have to be a good listener first!  

Let’s break it down: Social is about the things that change for people; Value is how important these changes are to the people experiencing them. For me this is a clear clarion call to flex the faculty of listening. Listen to communities. Listen to their stories of history, hope and ambitions. Listen to how they want to experience change.  

Learn more about our collaborative work with the industry to benefit local communities

The Role of Social Value in Renewable Energy

So why does this all matter to the renewable energy sector? Because we have a great opportunity to facilitate positive change beyond decarbonisation and Net Zero goals. Significant community benefit funding and Social Value commitments from local supply chain is an opportunity for positive change. But first we must learn the communities’ story and what makes their space a great place to live. Through these stories we will understand their rich history, moments of community pride, but also the unintended challenges that might have a negative impact on people’s families.  

By listening, the Community Investments team have been told about the lack of facilities for young people in some areas, and the negative outcomes that can arise from this deficit. Or challenges around travel and mobility in a rural area, making it difficult to engage in cultural wellbeing, to name a few examples.  

Using SROI to Measure Community Impact

The Community Investment team will do the listening to learn about the Social, the things that change for people, and leverage our contractors’ commitments to delivering a minimum of 2% of their contract to Social Value. Ensuring that Social Value delivery matches what we have learnt through our conversations.  This is where Bute Energy collaborates with communities to improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of an area. 

The loop is then closed by understanding the Value, how important is the change experienced by recipients of Social Value delivery. Here the listening continues, where we listen to the change and probe to understand the outcome of change. If the community has seen an improvement in facilities for young people, so what? Well, that may result in young people engaged in hobbies and interests out of school, so what? The culture and sense of community is strengthened as young people collaborate and have a sense of place in their community. This hypothetical example demonstrates how it is useful to listen and ask the open questions which will allow us to listen deeper. 

Bute Energy’s Social Value Standard

Underpinning all of this is the Bute Energy Social Value standard, which supports and guides the Community Investment team and our appointed contractors to deliver best practice in social value. Alongside SROI, a best practice and rigorous approach to reporting on Social Value, which is guided by key principles including Involving stakeholders and understanding what changes through listening.  

 

Our commitment to social value was recently brought to life through our partnership with Drenewydd Actif Newtown (DAN), a local community sports initiative working to develop an inclusive, state-of-the-art facility aimed at improving physical and social wellbeing in Newtown, Wales. 

Learn more
|