A new article in the international scientific journal PLoS ONE introduces a groundbreaking model to measure, evaluate, and enhance the social impact of companies and organizations: the Dialogic Social Impact Analysis of Companies and Organizations (DSIACO). Developed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers, DSIACO represents a major step forward in connecting scientific evidence with the growing demands for corporate sustainability and social responsibility in Europe.
The model helps organizations design and report their sustainability strategies in line with European frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). It also supports investors and policymakers in making informed decisions based on verified evidence of social value creation, an increasingly crucial aspect as impact finance in Europe surpasses €7.4 trillion and continues to grow.
The study was conducted by Mar Joanpere (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Ana Burgués-Freitas (Universidad de Granada), Cristina Pulido (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Adriana Aubert, Elisabeth Torras Gómez, Maria Vieites, Marta Soler Gallart, and Ramon Flecha (Universitat de Barcelona), an international reference in social impact methodologies and former chair of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Evaluation Methodologies for Horizon 2020.
DSIACO’s main innovation lies in going beyond traditional measures such as counting activities or participants to focus instead on demonstrable improvements in people’s lives and communities. It provides a scientifically validated framework for evaluating and enhancing impact across employees, value chains, consumers, and local communities, ensuring alignment with the EU’s double materiality principle.
Published by PLOS, one of the world’s leading open-access scientific publishers, this article marks a milestone in linking science, sustainability, and social transformation.
Read the full paper: Dialogic Social Impact Analysis of Companies and Organizations (DSIACO)
Serra Húnter Fellow of Sociology at Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
Former DAAD-Gastprofessorin at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg