The Sports Wellbeing Values capture changes in wellbeing associated with participation in sport including:

• participation for people with a disability
• improved attitudes to physical activity
• removing barriers to participation
• receiving coaching
• attending sports events.

Together, these outcomes reflect the multiple ways sport contributes to improved wellbeing, social connection, and inclusion across communities.

The values have been derived by Simetrica-Jacobs using robust wellbeing data from New Zealand, originally commissioned by Sport New Zealand, and have been adjusted to align with ASVB’s established wellbeing valuation approach. This ensures consistency with existing ASVB values while extending the ASVB calculator to better reflect the social value created through sport.

These Sports Wellbeing Values will support organisations to:

• measure the social value created through participation in sport
• communicate wellbeing outcomes in clear and credible terms
• strengthen funding and advocacy narratives
• contribute to a more consistent and comparable evidence base for the value of sport

The addition of the Sports Wellbeing Values broadens the relevance of the ASVB calculator for the sport and physical activity sector. With nearly 100 outcomes now in the bank, it enables a wider range of programs and activities to be measured using a consistent and evidence-based approach, supporting more confident reporting, decision-making, and sector advocacy.

Watch this space. We will be sharing case studies and practical examples of how the Sports Wellbeing Values can be applied across different sporting contexts, including early insights from our partners at Gippsport who have been testing the values within their programs.

If you are not yet an ASVB subscriber but are interested in the Sports Wellbeing Values, you can register your interest below to receive updates, case studies, and upcoming opportunities to see the values in action.

WEAll is the leading global collaboration of organisations, alliances, movements and individuals working together to transform the economic system into one that delivers human and ecological wellbeing.

WEGo: Wellbeing Economy Governments

The Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership (WEGo) is a collaboration of national and regional governments promoting sharing of expertise and transferrable policy practices. The aims are to deepen their understanding and advance their shared ambition of building wellbeing economies. WEGo, which currently comprises Scotland, New Zealand, Iceland, and Wales, is founded on the recognition that ‘development’ in the 21^st century entails delivering human and ecological wellbeing.

Objectives – WEGo members commit to:

• COLLABORATE in pursuit of innovative policy approaches to create wellbeing economies – sharing what works and what does not, to inform policymaking for change.
• PROGRESS toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in line with Goal 17, fostering partnership and cooperation to identify approaches to delivering wellbeing.
• ADDRESS the pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges of our time.

The brilliance of the framework is that it articulates the start of a new market. David LePage, Managing Director of Buy Social Canada and long-time advocate for creating a social value marketplace, encapsulated it simply in his slide about “The Evolution of Procurement” where considerations of “value-for-money” are no longer just focused on price and quality but now must also include “social” (impact) and “green” (environmental impact).

From a personal perspective, one of the main reasons I am passionate about the work that I do with the ASVB, is that I believe the “important information” (namely the social and environmental impact) are often left out of the decision-making process when it comes to investment. In my mind, considering only profit and not the true costs of initiatives, is one of the main contributors to the current “mess” our planet and society is in.

In part, I believe this lack of consideration for social and environmental impact in decision making is due to a lack of motivation, as I’m sure many mines would not be seen as viable propositions if both of these factors were included in the cost-benefit analysis, but I also believe it is partly due to the fact that, particularly the social impact, is difficult to quantify. And that’s where I see the role of the Australian Social Value Bank.

If we are to create a “social value marketplace” as David LePage describes it, we need to be considering social and environmental impact along with price and quality in all procurement decisions. Initially, it will suffice for businesses to state that they create social impact; for example, we can provide quality, cost competitive catering, but we also train and provide employment to disadvantaged young people. However, as this marketplace begins to mature, we will need a standardised way to quantify social value that can be compared.

It is at this point that the ASVB becomes integral to the social value marketplace. When, for example, developers competing to build the next tunnel can say, “we can deliver the project for $X Billion and our suite of training, employment and place-making activities will deliver $X of social value”.

It is only when we start to quantify the net social benefits of activities that we will truly be able to compare procurement options across all four domains: price, quality, social and green.

I left my first Social Traders Conference heartened by the political will to support the growth of a social enterprise sector, certain of there being a place for the ASVB within it, and optimistic that we can create a social value market place, which can use market forces, to get us out of this mess we’re in.

Min Seto is the Executive Officer of Alliance Social Enterprises.

The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the individual and do not necessarily represent those of Alliance Social Enterprises.