Development of a Socioeconomic Index to Assess Social Impact at Restoration Sites

This project, in partnership with Veritree, aims to develop a standardized socioeconomic index to assess the social impact of ecological restoration projects in regions such as East Africa, Brazil, and Senegal. While environmental outcomes of restoration are well-documented, the social benefits, such as improvements in wellbeing, livelihoods, and community resilience, are often harder to measure. Using frameworks like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and international standards such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Global Flourishing Study (GFS), the project will design and test a survey-based index to quantify community-level impacts. The resulting index will support Veritree and its partners to better understand and communicate how restoration efforts contribute to human flourishing alongside ecosystem recovery.

Faculty Supervisor:

Travers Travers

Student:

Partner:

Veritree

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: