Developing a Social Impact Measurement Framework for the UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserve (Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve, Viet Nam)

The Biosphere Reserve (BR) seeks to contribute to social sustainability at a global level (UNESCO/MAB, 1996; Ishwaran et al., 2008a). This study develops a Social Impact Measurement Framework (SIMF) for the UNESCO’s BR (through the case study of Cat Ba Archipelago BR, Viet Nam). The SIMF for the BR draws on established general SIMFs (Clifford et al., 2014; Hazenberg and Clifford, 2016; Paterson-Young and Hazenberg, 2021) in combination with literature on Social Capital (SC) and Social Trust (ST) theories (Bourdieu, 1986; Putnam, 1995; OECD, 2001; Ross et al., 2002; Dietz and Den Hartog, 2006; Baraldi and Farini, 2013; OECD, 2017) and the UNESCO’s BR mandates (UNESCO/MAB, 1996; UNESCO/MAB, 2022). The SIMF has five key elements, namely Inputs, Activities, Outputs, Outcomes, and Impacts, which account for the three functions (Conservation, Development, and Logistics Support) and seven sub-systems of the BR (Individual, Micro, Meso, Exo, Macro, Chronological, and Value-systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1974; Evans and Mcleod, 2023). The current research utilised a concurrent mixed-methodology, combining a questionnaire survey (N=541) and semi-structured interviews (N=29). The findings were then triangulated and integrated to draw conclusions and recommendations based on the developed SIMF, research aims and research questions. The results of the study build on understanding of the key processes and mechanisms, especially participation and trust, in shaping the BR’s performance and influences on social relationships and sustainable values within communities. Furthermore, a Typology of the Biosphere’s Networks has been identified, including state-based networks (kinship, role-based, cognitive, and affection networks), event-based networks (communication, transactional, religious/spiritual networks), and Biospheric networks (social-spatial networks, e.g., the World Networks of BRs, and the Biospheric phenomenal networks). The SIMF produced can support efforts to measure the wider impacts of the BR both in Cat Ba and globally, which can showcase a country’ achievements in relation to the UN’s SDGs (UN, 2020). The improved understanding of the impact of the BR, opens new windows for future research into human-nature harmony at both individual and collective levels.