We help organisations not only meet policy requirements but go beyond compliance, creating lasting benefits for communities through inclusive engagement, the activation of meanwhile spaces, and the delivery of social value strategies that empower local people and ensure every voice is heard.
Social Impact by Certified supports clients in embedding meaningful social value across developments, portfolios and procurement processes.
Social value is the positive contribution an organisation, development or project makes to people, communities and the environment. It extends beyond economic outcomes, recognising the lasting social, environmental and wellbeing benefits created through meaningful engagement, responsible decision-making and inclusive placemaking.
While social impact is not always easy to quantify, many outcomes are long-term, qualitative and shaped by local context, it is fundamental to understanding the true legacy of a development. Measuring both tangible outputs and wider community outcomes helps demonstrate the value created for people and place.
At Social Impact by Certified, we develop bespoke social value strategies tailored to the needs of stakeholders, local authority priorities and planning policy. With wellbeing at their core, our hyper-local strategies empower communities, activate underused spaces, deliver inclusive engagement and create measurable social value that supports ESG reporting, planning commitments and long-term sustainability objectives.
Responding to a dynamic social value landscape
Our approach to measuring and reporting social impact is grounded in established, industry recognised frameworks. We challenge conventional thinking around what value looks like and how it's created - while anchoring everything we do in the frameworks and methodologies that commissioners, practitioners, and stakeholders trust most. The result is work that's innovative in approach, trusted in practice.
PROJECTS
Case Studies
Working with Re:Shape and their Community Investment Programme (CIP) Partners, we have developed a social impact strategy for their mixed-use development in Wimbledon Town Centre. The strategic framework reflects a commitment to going beyond traditional business metrics, emphasising the projects dedication to creating positive social and environmental impact.
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The scheme provides employment and amenity space, designed to be flexible, accessible and inclusive. To create a stronger sense of community in the area, Certified led workshops to identify local partners to occupy these spaces. The early ideas informing the CIP include use of the space as a sustainability hub, circular economy advice and workshop space, clothing swap facility, seminar space and wider community workshop space. These ideas have helped shape how the ground-floor space could be used to provide tangible public benefits for the local community, creating a stronger sense of belonging in the area.
Working with Re:Shape and their Community Investment Programme (CIP) Partners, we have developed a social impact strategy for their mixed-use development in Hackney. The approach focuses on community wellbeing and environmental priorities, aligning with Re:Shape's ESG framework.
The scheme provides a new community space for the NHS, generating a broad range of social benefits. Certified have carried out workshops, consultation and surveys to understand the aspirations for the space and report on the predicted social impact of the scheme.
At Edinburgh Gateway, we are acting as Sustainability & Social Value Lead across a major mixed-use masterplan comprising 957 homes.
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Our coordination of sustainability principles from the outset of the project to define the sustainability strategy & brief from pre-RIBA Stage 2. Maximising our Social Impact was a key part of the development brief and our collaboration with existing tenants of the property who were a charitable arts organisation led to a bespoke analysis of social benefits linked to community events, volunteering and even a series of music & arts festivals, attracting over 5,000 people.
Working with Re:Shape and their Community Investment Programme (CIP) Partners, we have developed a social impact strategy for their mixed-use development comprising over 1,000 co-living studios, BtR, Hotel, retail, community spaces and social housing in Haringey.
Certified have developed a community wellbeing survey for pre-planning consultation to ensure the local community have the opportunity to shape the spaces being developed in their neighbourhood. This strategy allows us to create a hyper-local social value strategy in collaboration with local stakeholders and the CIP partners, through early data collection and analysis. The framework establishes a programme for ongoing engagement, ensuring social value is delivered throughout the project's lifecycle with continuous review, adaptation and evidence.
Our social value commitment
Social Impact by Certified allocate 15% of all resource input on a non-fee-earning basis, as a direct contribution towards promoting and delivering positive social impact. This reflects our commitment to supporting wider community benefit and ensuring each project we work on generates meaningful social value beyond its core scope.'
