Radio Astronomy — The Societal Value Aspect

Project Managers are under increasing pressure from local communities to deliver Societal Value (SV), defined as integrated social and environmental value. Societal Value delivery requires the co-creation of value outcomes with environmental and community stakeholders, in addition to the functional benefits of the project.

The aim of this research is to advance understanding of the conceptualization and practice of Societal Value in projects, with an extra focus on construction.

This paper will summarize existing research and key concepts in the delivery of Societal Value, applying examples from both existing and planned radio astronomy projects such as the Next-Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA, USA), Square Kilometre Array (SKA, South Africa and Australia), and Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA, Chile). Such projects are built in rural areas, bringingservices, infrastructure, jobs, education, and Astro-tourism to surrounding communities.

Relevance for Practice: Answering these research questions can lead to the development of a societal value framework, including metrics and an audit methodology, for use by organizations and governments in practicing project assurance.