ABSTRACT Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and Disaster Risk Assessment (DRA) are two distinct fields, with broadly similar aims relating to sustainable communities, but usually regulated by differing regulatory systems. In South Africa, SIA is an integral but often neglected component of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), while DRA informs Disaster Risk Management (DRM). The potential integration of SIA and DRA is a new trend internationally. This study examines South African EIA and DRM legislative and statutory provisions, searching for commonalities that could support potential integration between SIA and DRA – a phenomenon not yet reported on in South African literature or elsewhere. The EIA legislation was found to have a strong biophysical focus with limited provision for social issues, whereas DRM legislation more explicitly places people at the forefront of risk reduction. Despite the observed differences, commonalities were observed in SIA and DRA’s shared purpose to reduce risks, increase community resilience and achieve sustainable development. These findings suggest areas which offer opportunities for meaningful collaboration between SIA and DRA, leading to improved SIA status and practice in South Africa and valuable lessons for other countries with an SIA-DRA dichotomy.

中文翻译：

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通过DRA集成改善SIA：南非立法比较的教训

摘要社会影响评估（SIA）和灾害风险评估（DRA）是两个不同的领域，与可持续社区的目标大致相同，但通常由不同的监管系统进行监管。在南非，环境影响评估是环境影响评估（EIA）不可或缺的组成部分，但经常被忽视，而DRA则通知灾难风险管理（DRM）。SIA和DRA的潜在整合是国际上的新趋势。这项研究研究了南非EIA和DRM的法律和法规规定，寻找可以支持SIA和DRA之间潜在整合的共性-这种现象尚未在南非文献或其他文献中报道。发现EIA法规着重于生物物理方面的研究，对社会问题的规定有限，而DRM立法更明确地将人们置于降低风险的最前沿。尽管存在明显的差异，但在SIA和DRA的共同目标中发现了共同点，即降低风险，增强社区适应力和实现可持续发展。这些发现暗示了一些领域，这些领域为SIA与DRA之间的有意义的合作提供了机会，从而改善了SIA在南非的地位和实践，并为其他采用SIA-DRA二分法的国家提供了宝贵的经验教训。