The Social Value of Infrastructure Projects: The Case of the Université de Sherbrooke Solar Park

Project Description

Due to their scale and multiple potential effects on society, the built environment is increasingly seen by governments as a powerful tool for solving complex social problems (Petersen and Kadefors, 2016). In light of their influence, these infrastructures are expected to provide many more non-financial benefits to the communities in which they are incorporated. The University of Sherbrooke’s solar park is an example of infrastructure that lends itself to studying the challenges of social value creation in this industry. Indeed, while the economic and environmental benefits of this project are already measurable and demonstrable, the impacts of the social dimension have yet to be identified. Thus, this partnership research proposes to build its reflection on the following question: how has the Université de Sherbrooke’s solar park generated social value for itself, its partners and the Quebec community at large? More specifically, the research aims to (1) better understand the social impact and social value of large infrastructure projects, (2) identify the types of non-financial benefits to be integrated into the management of this type of project, and (3) make recommendations that will encourage the integration of social impact throughout the life cycle of infrastructure projects.

Team Members involved in this project are:

Sofiane Baba, Scientific Committee INFRA-S, Université de Sherbrooke

Marie-Luc Arpin, Professor Université de Sherbrooke

Akme M’lyss Manuelle Cess, student, Université de Sherbrooke