Indicadores de valor social: perspectiva dos usuários do Projeto Usina da Paz

Abstract

The literature on social value indicates that managers do not possess the necessary skills to incorporate social values into decision-making processes or to adequately evaluate them. Furthermore, there is no unified method to measure social value, and the existing methods use financial and monetary metrics. Thus, the need arose to identify qualitative indicators of social value, which represent the real impacts of projects and their social complexity in a nonmonetary way, based on the perspectives of the project’s main stakeholders: the users. The aim was also to identify the SDGs practiced by the project and the relationships between them and social value. To this end, research was carried out, characterized as an exploratory case study with a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews involving 34 users of the Usina da Paz Project, located in the metropolitan region of Belém. The interview script was adapted based on factors identified in the literature review. Data analysis was conducted through Bardin’s thematic content analysis, using ATLAS.ti software to assist in the analysis, storage, and management of data. The findings suggest that the Usina da Paz Project addresses 12 of the 17 existing SDGs, with greater activity in SDG 4 (Quality Education) with 144 mentions and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) with 72 mentions, while 5 SDGs were not addressed by the interviewees. Accordingly, 17 social value indicators were identified, represented qualitatively, showing that social value is present in the project and is directly linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on the identified indicators, the 17 codes were grouped into 6 categories, according to key themes for better understanding. SDG 4 (Quality Education) presents a strong relationship with the social value indicators of the Usina da Paz Project, especially education and training (coefficient 0.50), equality and opportunities (coefficient 0.14), and culture and personal enrichment (coefficient 0.17). This suggests that the project is on the right path to contributing to the UN 2030 Agenda. Finally, it was found that users have a positive perception regarding their interaction with other stakeholders in the project; however, there is room to improve user participation in decision-making processes.