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Sustainable road infrastructure promotes economic growth, efficient utilisation of funds and enhances people's quality of life. The current sustainability assessment models focus more on economic and environmental factors and pay minimal attention to social factors. This review paper aims to systematically consolidate existing research related to the social sustainability assessment of road infrastructure and then provide insights for future research. A thorough systematic literature review of 93 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and industry reports published from 2000 to 2021 was conducted. Firstly, the review highlights the shortfalls of existing assessment models and provides future research directions. Secondly, the study proposes a list of nine social sustainability dimensions and 48 indicators for assessing the lifecycle social impacts of road infrastructure. Finally, an integrated conceptual framework of interrelationships among the indicators is developed. The findings help policymakers, industry professionals, and academia understand the current state of the subject. Also, the list of social sustainability indicators and their interrelationships identified assists in developing enhanced assessment models for evaluating the net lifecycle social performance of road infrastructure in future. This paper unveils several key social sustainability dimensions and indicators along with their interrelationships that remain unaddressed during the lifecycle social impact assessment of road infrastructure. Finally, the study provides future research directions that can boost the social sustainability assessment of road infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-basin water transfers are implemented to counter the uneven geographical distribution of natural water sources. This paper's novelty consists of providing a system-dynamics framework to evaluate inter-basin water transfers based on integrated water governance. The Big Karun Basin, Iran, has long been of interest to water managers due to its discharge potential. It houses several water-transfer projects that are under operation or under study for possible future implementation. This study implements system dynamics modeling (SDM) in the Big Karun Basin considering existing inter-basin water transfers. This study's results estimate an average annual 8 to 10 billion cubic meters of water are transferred from the Karun River to the Persian Gulf. Part of this flow can be used to meet some of the water demands in Iran's central and eastern basins subject to social and environmental assessment of impacts. SDM modeling was also implemented accounting for the existing water transfers plus the under-study water transfers. This study's results indicate the firm energy from hydropower produced by the Big Karun Basin system would decrease by 28% relative to existing water transfer conditions. This issue raises concerns given the Big Karun Basin contribution to electricity production Iran. The water supply to several sectors would be marginally impacted by future water tranfers, yet water quality would be compromised in some instances. Therefore, the Big Karun Basin water system was simulated considering inter-basin water governance based on hedging rules for the under-study water transfers. Results indicate the minimum drinking and industrial demands could be met. In addition, the firm energy from hydropower produced by the Big Karun Basin system would decline by 12% relative to existing water-transfer conditions and the vulnerability of the water system would decline in terms of required quality for downstream demands and water users in comparison with the full-transfer water condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) public participation in Malawi with a focus on the role of women from matrilineal and patrilineal marriage systems. Six rural ESIA projects are explored of which three are in areas of patrilineal and three are in areas of matrilineal systems. Participation space was found to be consistently dominated by men, with no obvious differences between both systems. The key reasons are likely to be lower educational and social status of women in rural areas throughout the country. This is associated with a number of challenges, including chronic poverty and food insecurity. Affirmative action is needed to achieve a better representation of women in ESIA processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The effects of tourism extend beyond purely economic considerations; they also have an impact on both the environment and people. Development of tools and procedures that foster consensus among practitioners and enable the measurement and benchmarking of impacts are required for tourism managers to be able to work on lowering and mitigating the sector's effects, while enhancing the positive benefits. In this study a methodological proposition to assess the social impacts of tourism packages is presented. Aim and scope: This study adapts and tests for the first time a social evaluation technique, the Product Social Impact Assessment (PSIA) method, to assess the social implications of tourism products and services. It is iteratively tested on 9 tourism packages in Mediterranean Protected Areas. Numerous parties, including managers of protected areas and private tourism stakeholders, have engaged in this process at various stages, such as developing the packages or supplying the data required for the assessment. Conclusions: The methodology tested appears appropriate to quantify and qualify the social impacts of tourism packages and is valid for enhancing the social performance since positive progress between the two testing faces was registered. This study is a step towards standardizing the social assessment of tourism packages following a Life Cycle Assessment approach, and future developments are needed to make the approach proposed in the paper adequate to assess the social impacts of the upstream and downstream components of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of this data note is to provide a reliable, comprehensive dataset focusing on work-related injuries and fatalities, broken down by year, country, gender, and economic sector. We aim to fill a significant gap in sustainability models, specifically in metrics concerning occupational health. Although the data is compatible with any Multi-Regional Input–Output (MRIO) model, it is primarily designed for integration with the EXIOBASE model. The dataset seeks to broaden MRIO models' capabilities in social impact assessments and national social footprint evaluations. Ultimately, this resource aims to offer a holistic tool for researchers and policymakers, enabling more thorough assessments of international trade flows, Global Value Chains (GVC), and national policies across both environmental and social dimensions. Data description: Our dataset enriches the EXIOBASE model with updated fatality statistics from World Health Organization (WHO) and Eurostat databases, covering the years 2008 to 2019. It provides detailed data on work-related fatal injuries by country, gender, and economic sector. With its broad applicability, this dataset stands to influence research and policy across multiple disciplines. It offers valuable insights for studies on global social impacts, policy economics, and the real effects of global value chains, among other research areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]