The missing measure of sustainability: Listening to communities before counting success

From left: Prof Lida Holtzhauzen, director of the School of Communication, Prof Ana Adi, Prof Herculene Kotzé, deputy dean for community engagement, business development and stakeholder relations, and Prof Rene Benecke from the University of Johannesburg.

As South Africa rolls out projects meant to deliver lasting social and economic benefits, from renewable energy schemes to the new School of Mines and Mining Engineering at North-West University (NWU), one question is becoming hard to ignore: who decides whether these efforts are truly successful?

Ana Adi, Professor of Public Relations and Corporate Communications at Quadriga University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, visited the NWU School of Communication to share international perspectives on measuring social impact and working with communities. For Prof Adi, a recognised expert in strategic communication, the answer is straightforward: success shouldn’t be declared only by the organisations that deliver projects, it has to be judged by the communities the projects are meant to serve.

That was the core of the public lecture at NWU, where Prof Adi pushed students, academics and communications practitioners to rethink how we measure value, engagement and sustainability. “We often celebrate what’s easiest to count, attendance, publications, graduates, infrastructure,” she said. “But those figures only tell part of the story.”

This matters in South Africa, where universities frequently partner with government, industry and local communities on initiatives intended to create lasting change. At NWU, the Centre for Sustainable Mining and the first phase of the new School of Mines and Mining Engineering are examples of projects designed to support sustainable development while working alongside nearby communities, and they show why counting milestones isn’t enough; we also need to understand how people actually experience and benefit from change.

Prof Adi argued that meaningful community engagement must start with listening, not just metrics. Using a fictional Moriti Solar Project as a case study, she showed how a reported 78% approval rating from a three-month consultation could mask deeper issues. Who was included in “the community”? Who made up the 22% whose concerns went unheard? How might land-use changes affect future generations, cultural identity or livelihoods?

Numbers alone can’t answer those questions because they weren’t designed to. The workshop invited participants to widen how sustainability is measured. Traditional monitoring often focuses on outputs, number of solar panels, papers or graduates, while missing how people’s daily lives, livelihoods, relationships to land, cultural heritage and resilience are changing. Prof Adi and colleagues propose a “what if” framework that builds reflection, dialogue and critical questioning into projects from the start. Instead of treating uncertainty as a problem, the framework treats it as an opportunity to learn, adapt and improve decisions.

Artificial intelligence also came up during the sessions. Prof Adi showed how AI can support learning and decision-making when used responsibly. Rather than replacing stakeholder engagement or human judgment, she urged students and academics to use AI as a tool to challenge assumptions, surface alternative perspectives and ask better questions.

Practical steps were explored too: keep dialogue with stakeholders open throughout a project’s life, combine quantitative indicators with people’s lived experiences, and create deliberate moments to review, learn and adapt as projects develop.

Prof Adi’s visit underlined the value of international collaboration for strengthening local practice. Conversations between students, academics and community partners made a key point clear: how we measure success is not neutral, it decides whose voices count, whose experiences matter and whose futures are prioritised.

If South Africa wants sustainable development that truly benefits people, the job isn’t only to deliver projects, it’s to ensure the people most affected have a real say in what success looks like. As Prof Adi reminded her audience, uncertainty isn’t a weakness in the process, it’s often the reason better decisions are made.

What are we measuring when we measure value? | Public lecture by Prof Dr Ana Adi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h3ug9xyR_Q