Social Footprint. An Exploratory Analysis of Existing Evidence and Opportunities

Abstract

The design of products, systems, and services not often is driven to be socially innovative. One of the reasons could be that especially in the private sector, the impact of a Design for All approach it is not easy to assess. Nevertheless, many companies produce goods and services whose outcome goes beyond the mere consumption or experience level. Specifically, there is evidence that in different sectors (from design to food, from fashion to wellness) the level of consumer engagement is changing. In particular, it is expected that final users will experience an improvement in the quality of their lives in a more sustainable and nature-friendly way. This has often be referred to as social footprint or social impact. However, while a clear-cut measure of the environmental effects exists, that is the carbon footprint, the same cannot be said for the social footprint. Researchers and private organizations are discussing possible ways to measure it, and some have been implemented, but a general agreement on a unique definition has not been reached yet. When available, it is also unclear what it is the extent of its applications. The goal of this paper is to offer a detailed review and analysis of what it is known so far and to be able to propose a different point of view which moves from CSR and CSM to the possibility of evaluating the economical growth and success of enterprises developed from Design Driven Social Innovation. We intend to use the study to design a set of questions to be able to then interview some key experts in the area (mainly social entrepreneurs) to understand if there is a shared interpretation of the concept of the social footprint and how Design for All is being implemented, why and with which results. We also want to understand which are the key categories that could be transformed into measurable information. The study should be seen as a basis for the next steps, which are, respectively, the building of a social footprint indicator for businesses which have integrated society into strategy and its applications.