We’re thrilled to announce the publication of Social Value International’s SVI Glossary 2.0.

It comprises both a short ‘Glossary of Key Terms’ written for anyone starting to engage with social value and SVI’s work, as well as a more comprehensive ‘Technical Glossary’ for Social Value practitioners who undertake technical impact measurement and management task.

It is a significant milestone because the process of compiling and publishing the SVI Glossary 2.0 has led to some significant evolutions to key terminology and even to the framing of SVI’s role in ‘accounting for value’.

Why publish an update?

It is the first update of the original Glossary of Social Value terms which was published in 2012 as part of the SVI Standards and Guide to SROI published by Social Value UK in 2012.

Moreover, it comes out at a time when the Principles of Social Value and SVI Standards are used by thousands of practitioners all over the world and are being referenced by other standard setters and frameworks as the practice of IMM continues to evolve.

And it reflects the latest developments in the understanding and use of key terms and helps to develop consistency and interoperability with other IMM frameworks.

What changes have been made?

The process of reviewing key terminology has led to some substantial updates to the words we use and their definitions. It is important to highlight all of these updates especially for practitioners who have been using the SVI Standards and Guide to SROI for many years.

The three most significant changes are i) a greater emphasis on wellbeing ii) a focus on optimising and iii) replacing the term ‘stakeholder’ with ‘people affected’.

For a more detailed summary and explanation of key updates to terminology please read our Summary of the most significant changes to terminology.

Next steps
Updating the SVI Glossary has implications in that any revised terminology and definitions need to be reflected in all other SVI documents. The SVI website will soon include a table that records all of the key SVI documents and when each have been published including new version releases.

We hope that you find this new Glossary useful and welcome your feedback.