ISEAL Alliance

The ISEAL Impacts Code provides a framework for standards systems to better understand the social and environmental results of their work, as well as the effectiveness of their various activities and programs. It suggests an approach to monitoring and evaluation whereby you set targets and review those targets in the light of your experience. The Impacts Code will apply primarily to social and environmental standard-setting organisations, though many of the requirements are applicable to other organisations that support social and environmental change.

Credible Impacts Assessment

The Impacts Code will require standards systems to develop an Assessment Plan that includes all the steps required to assess their contributions to impact. These steps include:

• Choosing from among a core list the social and environmental issues where the standards systems intends to have an impact
• Defining the intended impact that the system is seeking to achieve for each issue
• For each issue, defining the desired behaviour change that is most likely to get to the intended impact (these are outcomes or areas of influence)
• Defining the strategies (areas of direct control – activities and outputs) that are being implemented to get to the outcomes
• Choosing indicators to measure whether the changes in behaviour or practices come about and whether these practices lead to the desired impacts
• Gathering data about changes in behaviour and practice through the audit process, including data about other issues prioritised by stakeholders and unintended results
• Conducting or contracting out evaluations of impact to draw causal links between outcomes and impacts
• Analysis of data to determine contribution to impact and to learn the extent to which strategies are leading to desired outcomes and impacts
• Feedback loops to refine the content of the standard, the strategies for supporting uptake of the standard, and the theory for how change comes about

Comments and Contact

The development of the ISEAL Impacts Code is guided by a Steering Committee who oversees the work of two Technical Committees.

ISEAL welcomes comments on the Impacts Code at any time. Please submit comments using the comment submission form by email to consultation [at] isealalliance [dot] org or by mail to the ISEAL Alliance offices.