Social impact relates to the long-term positive changes, for individuals, communities, and society as a whole that result from an action or inaction, an activity, project, programme or policy. It is significant, positive change that addresses a pressing social challenge – like crime, depression, unemployment.
Creating social impact is the result of a deliberate set of activities with a goal matching this definition. Depending on the social challenge being solved, the social impact effect could be social, economic and/or environmental.
The social impact of a university is often aligned to its third mission which is concerned with how a University to engage with society. To address growing societal and economic challenges, universities everywhere face a growing demand to link their research and teaching knowledge to this third societal mission.
Creating social impact in important but a crucial element in to be considered is the measuring of said social impact. But measuring social impact can be tricky and complex. Do you have any proven tools or mechanisms to measure impact? We would love to hear them.
