UKGBC to work with Partners on testing its Framework for Defining Social Value

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has today announced plans for working with 8 Social Value Programme Partner’s to test its recently published “Framework for Defining Social Value” on live built environment projects.

UKGBC’s Social Value Programme aims to support the built environment sector to deliver better outcomes for communities. Since the launch of the Programme in 2019, UKGBC convened a Social Value Task Group to address the challenge of defining social value for the built environment. This resulted in the “Framework for Defining Social Value” report, launched in February 2021, which aims to help built environment practitioners define and deliver social value for any project or place.

In the coming year, UKGBC will be working closely with Social Value Programme Partner’s including Arcadis, Buro Happold, CBRE, Federated Hermes, Hoare Lea, JLL, Retirement Villages Group and WSP. The Partners’ main role will be to test the Framework on live projects so UKGBC can understand their experiences, successes and key challenges. This will then feed into more detailed social value delivery guidance and an updated process for delivering social value, consequently refining and improving the Framework. UKGBC will announce the partner projects soon.

The Programme Partners will be involved in a new Social Value Forum, where experiences of testing the Framework can be shared and solutions to any challenges workshopped collaboratively. It is also intended to enable Partners to deepen their social value networks and learn about key trends and rising topics through industry experts.

There will also be opportunities for UKGBC members to get involved in the programme this year through a series of ‘deep-dive’ webinars exploring steps of the Framework in more detail and several learning and development events. For more information on upcoming events and to join the Social Value interest group mailing list please contact Eleanor Boyce.

Eleanor Boyce, Senior Advisor for Social Value & Places at UKGBC said:

“The built environment sector is uniquely positioned to leverage the interconnectedness of people and places to positively impact quality of life.  UKGBC’s Framework for Social Value aims to define social value for any project or place, focusing on the impact that buildings, infrastructure and places have on people.

“Therefore, ensuring the Framework is easily applicable to real projects is essential to its success. Working with our Programme Partners to test this will be critical in enabling us to refine this resource and produce more detailed social value delivery guidance. We are grateful for the help of these Partners in ensuring the Framework is as robust and applicable as possible in order to maximise its impact in creating social value.”

Yana Georgieva, Senior Sustainability Consultant at Hoare Lea said:

“Fundamentally, social value should be about improving the quality of life of people. What specific interventions would help to achieve this could look very different depending on the local context. I hope that through collaboration and open dialogue, we can establish a common understanding and agree a set of consistent principles and hierarchy of delivery which will enhance comparability among projects whilst maintaining the flexibility needed to effectively address local needs. The UKGBC Social Value Forum provides a great platform for practitioners to learn from each other and share their experiences, both good and bad, to accelerate knowledge transfer in this space dispelling some of the confusion that surrounds social value in the built environment”.

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