Blackstone Consultants - Social Assessment

Our Approach

Blackstone's assignments have included a large number of social analyses and social assessment projects in Canada and in some three dozen countries around the world. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative research techniques, our social assessments and socio-economic analyses provide our clients (World Bank, Asian Development Bank; Inter-American Development Bank, countries and regions) with very vivid and accurate information and insights regarding local/national conditions that could affect the success of a proposed project, create adverse impacts on local people and institutions, or offer opportunities to build on assets/create linkages.

We carry out social analysis work based on a sustainable livelihoods approach. This approach is focused not only on needs assessment and problem identification, but also on detailed analysis of the positive assets that are available to build upon, particularly with regard to social capital and “social energy” among the local people. Our work almost always involves highly participatory, iterative stakeholder development processes. We look for realistic solutions that can provide benefits for all of the stakeholders, including the most vulnerable people. Our strong analytical approaches strive to avoid the production of simplistic “wish lists” that do not lead to any action. Instead, we provide our clients and stakeholders with action-oriented recommendations that take into consideration the capacity to implement any such recommendations. It is our experience that this type of approach leads to widespread agreement among the various parties, can avoid painful and expensive conflict resolution processes down line, and generates real and visible results.

Stakeholder Engagement (SE)

Intensive Stakeholder Engagement is incorporated into virtually every assignment we undertake. Why is SE so important? Meaningful engagement is crucial in order to ensure that:

Key stakeholders’ interests and concerns are understood and integrated into decision-making;
Decisions are based on an accurate understanding of baseline conditions;
Costly delays and disruptions of projects arising from stakeholder dissatisfaction are avoided.

When the potentially high consequences of stakeholder alienation (e.g., conflicts; delays; disruptions; reputational impacts; loss of share value) are factored in, early investment in stakeholder engagement makes smart business sense. In fact, it is often the lack of meaningful stakeholder engagement that causes disruptions with potentially severe implications for the bottom line. SE can normally be carried out in a time and cost effective manner.

We are often asked by our clients to combine Stakeholder Engagement activities with our Rapid Appraisal Social Assessments. Through these Social Assessments, we identify strategically vital local social, economic, governance and other conditions, trends, and concerns of relevance to the success of a public or private sector project, process, initiative or production process.

SE need not be expensive or time-consuming: Our Stakeholder Engagement & Social Assessment (SESA) methodology utilizes a highly specialized rapid appraisal approach developed over many years to capture vital socio-economic conditions, issues, complexities and opportunities in a cost and time effective way. As a result, we are able to highlight critical strategic issues and opportunities related to:

governance (legal/regulatory environment; decision-making structures; stability; corruption);
economic activities (activities; access to credit; labour; competitiveness; land values; informal/formal sectors);
socio-cultural conditions (gender issues/opportunities; health; education; culture/heritage/arts; quality of life); and environmental (protection/degradation issues affecting socio-economic well-being) pillars (or something);
environmental trends affecting stakeholders.

We combine several investigative tools and methods, as appropriate, combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches that include the following:

Secondary source materials analysis;
Identification of “lessons learned” from other organizations/jurisdictions;
Stakeholder mapping;
Institutional (organizational) analysis;
Key informant interviews across many sectors;
Focus groups (often disaggregated to gain inputs from different groups (e.g., youths; women/men; business community; etc.) ;
Case studies;
Search conferencing;
Workshops and seminars;
Facilitation;
Targeted quantitative surveys;
Human resource capacity evaluations;
Computerized evaluations.

Our Stakeholder Engagement and Social Assessment assignments have had direct, demonstrable positive impacts on the success of our clients’ programmes and projects. See our examples of projects.

Our Socio-Economic Services:

Social assessments;
Socio-economic impact assessments and evaluations;
Qualitative and quantitative research (i.e., focus groups and workshops; key informant interviews; case studies; surveys; SPSS);
Social, demographic and economic analysis to document and ground-truth existing conditions;
Detailed institutional and capacity analyses;
Needs assessments and consensus-building about priorities for action;
Asset-based analysis to develop sustainable livelihood solutions;
Participatory programming, consultation and stakeholder development;
Poverty assessment;
Post-conflict analysis;
Economic development and community-based/local initiatives programmes;
Gender equality and child labour studies;
Community awareness-building programmes;
Indigenous peoples and minorities research;
Monitoring and evaluation.

Our Work Encompasses Many Sectors:

Municipal/social infrastructure (i.e., water and sanitation; energy; waste management; transportation);
Urban development;
Tourism, parks and protected areas;
Rural development, farm restructuring, rural-to-urban migration, and irrigation and drainage;
Cadastre and land tenure programmes;
Cultural heritage management;
Sustainability planning, environmental management and conservation;
Resource development (e.g., mining; energy facilities and corridors);
Transportation;
Economic development and inter-sectoral linkages;
Health;
Youth/education.

Social Assessment Project Examples:

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION (IFC) EVALUATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR PROJECTS IN NINE COUNTRIES (2010) Blackstone was retained to carry out studies in nine countries around the world (India, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Uganda, Senegal, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru) to assess the impacts of private sector developments on local populations and identify how outputs can contribute to an updating of the agency's Sustainability Performance Standards . The project involved several hundred interviews with stakeholders, gender disaggregated focus groups and a number of case studies;

GUYANA: Socio-Economic Evaluation for Community Local Roads Improvement Project, Caribbean Development Bank (2009) Socio-economic study for community roads projects in 12 communities in Guyana, including extensive stakeholder consultations;

BELIZE: Development of “Tourism and HIV/AIDS Coalition” and Preparation of Strategic Plan (2007-2008), to strengthen the tourism sector’s role in combating the serious HIV/AIDS epidemic in Belize, including extensive consultation programmes with a wide range of stakeholders;

AZERBAIJAN: Grant Fund Preparation, Youth and Education Project for Internally Displaced Persons, World Bank (2006) Project to work with IDPs to engage them in a participatory process to determine needs related to: cooperative efforts between IDP and local schools; development of Community Centres for youths; educational initiatives for economic education in schools, such as Junior Achievement; Community Participatory Mapping for peri-urban areas of Baku to empower IDPs and encourage their ability to liaise effectively with local authorities and agencies;

AZERBAIJAN: Social Infrastructure for Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) and Vulnerable Populations (Asian Development Bank and Government of Azerbaijan) Blackstone successfully won and led this major multi-disciplinary project designed to assess the needs of the one million persons displaced as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan war (IDPs) and prepare a $15 million loan to develop social infrastructure for these very vulnerable populations in several regional towns. The project involved extensive consultation with stakeholders, design and implementation of a participatory needs assessment process, asset analysis, detailed institutional and legal/regulatory analysis, resettlement of IDPs from several occupied school facilities, development of new housing and design of a Local Initiatives Fund for community-based grant applications, and capacity-building for municipal government agencies and local groups;

SERBIA: Social Assessment for Irrigation and Drainage Rehabilitation Project (World Bank and CIDA): Project to assess socio-economic implications of major drainage and irrigation rehabilitation works in Serbia and design/deliver capacity building programme for government, NGOs and other stakeholders;

GEORGIA: Cultural Heritage Asset Management and Tourism Development Strategy (World Bank) Assignment to assess resources, define linkages between cultural heritage resources and tourism, and design/evaluate options for improving the sustainability of the “Fund for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage of Georgia”;

SERBIA: Minority Populations Property Rights - Social Assessment for Cadastre Project (World Bank): An assessment of the potential impact of the Bank’s cadastre project on women and on minorities (Internally displaced persons – IDPs from Kosovo; refugees from Bosnia and Croatia; Roma; ethnic Albanians, Slovaks, Hungarians, etc.);

BULGARIA: Farm Restructuring and Rural Development Assessment (World Bank): A very detailed and comprehensive social assessment of the effects of farm restructuring following the breakdown of the collective farms on rural populations, utilizing a full range of research tools including a quantitative survey, farm managers survey, focus groups, key stakeholder interviews and household case studies;

MOLDOVA: Social Assessment for Property Rights/Cadastre Project (World Bank) Project to assess the impact of the Bank’s Moldova First Cadastral Project on: rural and urban populations, particularly the poor; behaviour of local governments, in terms of the extent to which their ability to manage local government affairs has/has not increased with property registration; businesses/economic development/poverty alleviation;

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Social Assessment for Roads Maintenance and Safety Programme (World Bank): Identification of means by which the upgrading of Bosnia's roads infrastructure can generate maximum benefit to the various stakeholders (residents, businesses, government). In particular, means by which roads upgrading can help the most vulnerable elements of society (rural elderly, youth, poor) were identified, along with ways to strengthen the institutional capacities of the country's two roads authorities;

CROATIA: Social and Rural Development Assessment, Karst Ecosystem Conservation Project (World Bank): Detailed stakeholder participation programme and socio-economic assessment project dealing with Croatia's populations in and around four national parks. This project involved determination of the extent to which the Serbs were returning to their pre-war homes, and development of baseline data after ten years of war and a traumatic transformation to a market economy. A tourism assessment was involved in this challenging assignment;

ARGENTINA: Social Assessment and Environmental Education Programme, Solid Waste Management Project, Chubut Province (CIDA) Responsible for all social, economic and awareness-building tasks associated with this comprehensive SWM project encompassing several towns in central Argentina;

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Social Assessment, Solid Waste Management Project (Private Sector Client): Carried out stakeholder consultation programme and social impact assessment associated with solid waste project in Trinidad;

BELIZE: "The Maya Inquiry": Southern Highway Mayan Peoples' Consultation Programme (IADB): Carried out a sensitive series of consultations among the Mayan villages of southern Belize to address land tenure and other issues associated with the potential impacts of the proposed southern highway on the local people;

PERU: Monitoring and Evaluation Programme, CIDA Water Supply Projects: Carried out the monitoring and evaluation programme for CIDA's major water supply and distribution projects in peri-urban Lima and Nazca, including assessment of opportunities opened to women who were participating in the establishment and operation of a new community water system;

ECUADOR: Social Impact Assessment and Public Consultation Program for Major Power Sector Project (Private sector client) Responsible for SIA, public participation programming and consultations with a wide range of stakeholders and communities associated with a 150 km transmission line across Ecuador and thermal power plant at Shushufindi in the Amazon basin area of Ecuador;

BOLIVIA : Social Assessment, Thermal Power Project (Private sector client) Responsible for the determination of socio-economic impacts of a power facility proposed for Riberalta in northern Bolivia, designed to use brazil nut husks for the generation of thermal power. The analysis included consideration of child labour and women's issues;

MALAWI, Africa: Socio-economic Impact Assessment and Tourism Study, Lake Malawi National Park Region (CIDA) Responsible for socio-economic, tourism analysis and gender analysis tasks associated with multi-component development plans for the Nankumba Peninsula and for Lake Malawi National Park in central Africa;

Cruise Ship Waste & Solid Waste Management Study for 6 Caribbean Countries for the World Bank/OECS Carried out socio-economic, WID, institutional and environmental education/human resource development tasks for this large study looking at cruise ship wastes being deposited on the islands;

CHINA: Transport Sector Appraisal Carried out overview assessment of China's transport sector for CIDA, including roads, marine, air, rail and pipelines, and addressing institutional capacities, on-going projects, needs assessments, etc.;

ECUADOR: Socio-Economic Impact Study, Sayausi-Molleturo-Puerto Inca Highway Corridor Our principals carried out all socio-economic assessment components of this major study sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank to assess the impacts of a 115 km road corridor through the Andes Mountains, for a major engineering firm;

BANGKOK, THAILAND: Elevated Expressway Study: Ratchadaphisek Viaduct Our partners were responsible for a detailed assessment of the social, economic and gender impacts associated with construction of an elevated toll expressway through the business section of Bangkok, for a major engineering firm.