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Georgiadou, Maria Christina and Fitton, Sarah (2025) Delivering the UN sustainable development goals through inclusive stakeholder engagement: the case of flood alleviation schemes in England. Sustainable Development. pp. 1-13. ISSN 1099-1719
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an integrated framework for embedding social value in infrastructure planning and promoting inclusive, climate‐resilient urban development. However, the operationalization and measurement of social sustainability across infrastructure projects remain inconsistent and underdeveloped. This study examines the relationship between community engagement practices and social value outcomes in flood alleviation schemes in the North of England, with reference to SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). Through a comparative case study analysis of the Didsbury, Ripon, and Todmorden flood alleviation schemes, and 33 semi‐structured interviews with practitioners, the research finds that projects characterized by meaningful, early‐stage engagement and knowledge co‐production achieved stronger alignment with local social value priorities and increased community trust. The study concludes that, whereas current practices often reduce social value to narrow economic or technical metrics, embedding co‐production of knowledge with local communities is essential to achieving meaningful social value and aligning with multiple SDGs in flood risk management and infrastructure development.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
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