The Impact Thinking Canva is a practical planning tool designed to support structured impact valuation and impact measurement processes. It helps users clarify objectives, assumptions and pathways before undertaking detailed analysis. Finance professionals may find it relevant as an early-stage framework for integrating environmental and social impacts into decision-making and valuation work.
Organisation behind the tool
The tool is developed and published by Valuing Nature Platform, an initiative focused on improving the consideration of nature, social and environmental impacts in economic and financial decision-making. It sits within the organisation’s broader work on impact valuation and decision-support tools.
What the tool does
- Provides a structured canvas to plan impact valuation or impact measurement exercises
- Helps users define the scope, purpose and decision context of an impact study
- Maps impact pathways, including inputs, activities, outcomes and impacts
- Identifies key stakeholders and their roles in the process
- Highlights data needs, assumptions and potential gaps early on
- Designed as a visual, worksheet-style framework that can be completed collaboratively
Target audience
The primary audience includes organisations and professionals undertaking impact valuation, sustainability assessment or impact measurement. This includes finance professionals, sustainability practitioners, consultants and analysts. It may also be used by researchers, non-profits and public sector bodies involved in environmental or social impact work.
Relevance to finance professionals
- Risk assessment – supports early identification of environmental and social impact pathways that may translate into financial or operational risk
- ESG analysis – helps structure thinking around material impacts and dependencies relevant to ESG disclosures and assessments
- Investment context – useful for framing impact considerations in project appraisal, blended finance or impact investment decisions
- Decision-making – provides a common framework to align internal teams and stakeholders before committing resources to detailed analysis
