According to the Western Australia Council of Social Services (WACOSS):
"Social sustainability occurs when the formal and informal processes; systems; structures; and relationships actively support the capacity of current and future generations to create healthy and livable communities. Socially sustainable communities are equitable, diverse, connected and democratic and provide a good quality of life."
When we talk about environmental metrics, we focus on well-being of environment; when we talk about economic metrics, we focus on well-being of economy. Hence, the social metrics should be measures of well-being of society or particular groups of people involved as stakeholders. While understanding the importance of sustainable development, people do not still want to give up wealth, capabilities, convenience of life. Although changes in lifestyles and consumption habits can be considered a necessary sacrifice, social analysis seeks to reveal the ways of social transformation that would be less stressful, yet more efficient in reaching sustainability goals. Comparison of different avenues for development would require establishing social metrics.
The following dimensions can be identified in the social context:
Quality of life - basic needs are met and a good quality of life for all members is fostered at the individual, group, and community level (e.g., health, housing, education, employment, safety).
When evaluating a technology project, one can use the following questions as a checklist to see how the development affects or improves:
Equity - equitable opportunities and outcomes for all its members, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community.
Check how the technology project will:
Diversity – co-existence of different viewpoints, practices, ethnic, cultural, racial groups in the community.
Check how the technology project will:
Interconnected/Social cohesions – establishment of processes, systems, and structures that promote connectedness within and outside the community at the formal, informal, and institutional level.
Check how the technology project will:
Democracy and governance – ensuring democratic processes and open and accountable governance structures.
Check how the technology project will:
Maturity - an individual accepts the responsibility of consistent growth and improvement through broader social attributes (e.g., communication styles, behavioral patterns, indirect education, and philosophical explorations).
Check how the technology project will:
Most of the social metrics are hard to quantify. In assessments, we have to develop a rubric that explains the low and high values on metric scale and choose a reference system for consistent comparison.