Search

Access, affordability and sustainability of raw material supply chains are crucial to the sustainable development of the European Union (EU) for both society and economy. The study investigates whether and how the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology can support responsible sourcing of raw materials in Europe. The potential of social indicators already available in an S-LCA database is tested for the development of new metrics to monitor social risks in raw material industries at EU policy level. The Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) database was identified as a data and indicators source to assess social risks in raw material industries in EU-28 and extra-EU countries. Six raw material country sectors in the scope of the European policy on raw materials were identified and aggregated among those available in PSILCA. The selection of indicators for the assessment was based on the RACER (Relevance, Acceptance, Credibility, Ease, Robustness) analysis, leading to the proposal of 9 social impact categories. An S-LCA of the selected raw material industries was, thus, performed for the EU-28 region, followed by a contribution analysis to detect direct and indirect impacts and investigate related supply chains. Finally, the social performance of raw material sectors in EU-28 was compared with that of six extra-EU countries. Considering the overall social risks in raw material industries, “Corruption”, “Fair salary”, “Health and safety” and “Freedom of association and collective bargaining” emerged as the most significant categories both in EU and extra-EU. EU-28 shows an above-average performance where the only exception is represented by the mining and quarrying sector. An investigation of the most contributing processes to social impact categories for EU-28 led to the identification of important risks originating in the supply chain and in extra-EU areas. Therefore, the S-LCA methodology confirmed the potential of a life cycle perspective to detect burdens shifting and trade-offs. However, only a limited view on the sectoral social performance could be obtained from the research due to a lack of social data. The S-LCA methodology and indicators appear appropriate to perform an initial social sustainability screening, thus enabling the identification of hotspots in raw material supply chains and the prioritization of areas of action in EU policies. Further methodological developments in the S-LCA field are necessary to make the approach proposed in the paper fully adequate to support EU policies on raw materials.

The social aspect of sustainable and ‘clean’ production/manufacturing technologies is researched and understood by means of Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA), a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) tool, which is still in its infancy. In this paper, a search for all peer-reviewed publications on applied Social LCA, which have appeared in scientific journals, between O’Brien et al (1996) and the latest one at the time of writing (April 2018), was carried out, using Scopus as the repository and using “S-LCA” OR “SLCA” OR “Social LCA” OR “Social Life Cycle Assessment” as search-phrases in title, abstract and keywords of publications, separately. Overall, 213 publications were unearthed, and the trend shows that there has been a near-exponential increase over time. A little over 55% of these publications – 121 to be precise - were applications of S-LCA – often in combination with environmental-LCA and life cycle costing analysis, in an LCSA. This paper discusses the contributions of a selected subset of these 121 publications to the body of S-LCA knowledge, with the focus being restricted to applications in developing and transition economies of the world, on the premise that there is a more urgent need to understand social aspects of production and manufacturing in these parts of the world. A SWOT analysis of S-LCA has been carried out towards the end. There is a consensus among many researchers that while LCC and E-LCA have matured a lot over time, S-LCA, the newest of the trio, is evolving slowly to become a harmonised tool which can serve as an effective complement to the aforesaid two, in life cycle sustainability assessments of products and processes in industry.

[EN] Currently, there is a trend towards sustainability, especially in developed countries, where the concerns of society about environmental degradation and social problems have increased. Following this trend, the construction sector is one of the most influential sectors due to its high economic, environmental, and social impacts. At the same time, there is an increase in the demand for transport, which drives a need to develop and maintain the necessary infrastructure for this purpose. Taking all these factors into account, bridges become a key structure and therefore assessment of sustainability throughout their whole life-cycle is essential. The main objective of this thesis is to propose a methodology that allows assessment of the sustainability of a bridge under uncertain initial conditions (subjectivity of the decision-maker or variability of initial parameters) and optimization of the design to obtain a robust optimal bridge. To this end, an extensive bibliographic review of all the works that perform assessments of the sustainability of bridges through the valuation of criteria related to their main pillars (economic, environmental, or social) has been carried out. In this review, it has been observed that the most comprehensive way to evaluate the environmental and social pillars is through the use of life-cycle impact assessment methods. These methods allow sustainability assessment to be performed for the whole life-cycle of the bridge. This process provides valuable information to decision-makers for the assessment and selection of the most sustainable bridge. However, the decision-makers' subjective assessments of the relative importance of the criteria influence the final assessment of sustainability. For this reason, it is necessary to create a methodology that reduces the associated uncertainty and seeks robust solutions according to the opinion of decision-makers. In addition, for bridges, the design and decision-making are conditioned by the initially defined parameters. This leads to solutions that may be sensitive to small changes in these initial conditions. A robust optimal design makes it possible to obtain optimal solutions and structurally stable designs under variations of the initial conditions as well as sustainable designs that are not influenced by the preferences of the stakeholders who are part of the decision-making process. Thus, obtaining a robust optimal design becomes a probabilistic optimization process that has a high computational cost. For this reason, the use of metamodels has been integrated into the proposed methodology. Specifically, Latin hypercube sampling is used for the definition of the initial sample and a kriging model is used for the definition of the mathematical approximation. In this way, kriging-based heuristic optimization reduces the computational cost by more than 90% with respect to conventional heuristic optimization while obtaining very similar results. This thesis provides, first of all, an extensive bibliographic review of both the criteria used for the assessment of sustainability of bridges and the different methods of life-cycle impact assessment to obtain a complete profile of the environmental and social pillars. Subsequently, a methodology is defined for the full assessment of sustainability, using life-cycle impact assessment methods. Likewise, an approach is proposed that makes it possible to obtain structures with little influence from the structural parameters, as well as from the preferences of the different decision-makers regarding the sustainability criteria. The methodology provided in this thesis is applicable to any other type of structure., [ES] Actualmente existe una tendencia hacia la sostenibilidad, especialmente en los países desarrollados donde la preocupación de la sociedad por el deterioro ambiental y los problemas sociales ha aumentado. Siguiendo esta tendencia, el sector de la construcción es uno de los sectores que mayor influencia tiene debido a su alto impacto económico, ambiental y social. Al mismo tiempo, existe un incremento en la demanda de transporte que provoca la necesidad de desarrollo y mantenimiento de las infraestructuras necesarias para tal fin. Con todo esto, los puentes se convierten en una estructura clave, y por tanto, la valoración de la sostenibilidad a lo largo de toda su vida es esencial. El objetivo principal de esta tesis es proponer una metodología que permita valorar la sostenibilidad de un puente bajo condiciones iniciales inciertas (subjetividad del decisor o variabilidad de parámetros iniciales) y optimizar el diseño para obtener puentes óptimos robustos. Para ello, se ha realizado una extensa revisión bibliográfica de todos los trabajos en los que se realiza un análisis de la sostenibilidad mediante la valoración de criterios relacionados con sus pilares principales (económico, medio ambiental o social). En esta revisión, se ha observado que la forma más completa de valorar los pilares medioambientales y sociales es mediante el uso de métodos de análisis de ciclo de vida. Estos métodos permiten llevar a cabo la valoración de la sostenibilidad durante todas las etapas de la vida de los puentes. Todo este procedimiento proporciona información muy valiosa a los decisores para la valoración y selección del puente más sostenible. No obstante, las valoraciones subjetivas de los decisores sobre la importancia de los criterios influyen en la evaluación final de la sostenibilidad. Por esta razón, es necesario crear una metodología que reduzca la incertidumbre asociada y busque soluciones robustas frente a las opiniones de los agentes implicados en la toma de decisiones. Además, el diseño y toma de decisiones en puentes está condicionado por los parámetros inicialmente definidos. Esto conduce a soluciones que pueden ser sensibles frente a pequeños cambios en dichas condiciones iniciales. El diseño óptimo robusto permite obtener diseños óptimos y estructuralmente estables frente a variaciones de las condiciones iniciales, y también diseños sostenibles y poco influenciables por las preferencias de los decisores que forman parte del proceso de toma de decisión. Así pues, el diseño óptimo robusto se convierte en un proceso de optimización probabilística que requiere un gran coste computacional. Por este motivo, el uso de metamodelos se ha integrado en la metodología propuesta. En concreto, se ha utilizado hipercubo latino para la definición de la muestra inicial y los modelos kriging para la definción de la aproximación matemática. De esta forma, la optimización heurística basada en kriging ha permitido reducir más de un 90% el coste computacional respecto a la optimización heurística conveniconal obteniendo resultados muy similares. Esta tesis proporciona en primer lugar, una amplia revisión bibliográfica, tanto de los criterios utilizados para la valoración de la sostenibilidad en puentes como de los diferentes métodos de análisis de ciclo de vida para obtener un perfil completo de los pilares ambientales y sociales. Posteriormente, se define una metodología para la valoración completa de la sostenibilidad, usando métodos de análisis de ciclo de vida. Asimismo, se propone un enfoque que permite obtener estructuras poco influenciables por los parámetros estructurales, así como por las preferencias de los diferentes decisores frente a los criterios sostenibles. La metodología proporcionada en esta tesis es aplicable a cualquier otro tipo de estructura., [CA] Actualment existeix una tendència cap a la sostenibilitat, especialment en els països desenrotllats on la preocupació de la societat pel deteriori ambiental i els problemes socials ha augmentat. Seguint aquesta tendència, el sector de la construcció és un dels sectors que major influència té a causa del seu alt impacte econòmic, ambiental i social. Al mateix temps, existeix un increment en la demanda de transport que provoca la necessitat de desenrotll i manteniment de les infraestructures necessàries per a tal fi. En tot açò, els ponts es converteixen en una estructura clau, i per tant, la valoració de la sostenibilitat al llarg de tota la seua vida és essencial. L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi doctoral és proposar una metodologia que permeta valorar la sostenibilitat d'un pont baix condicions inicials incertes (subjectivitat del decisor o variabilitat dels paràmetres inicials) i optimitzar el disseny per a obtenir ponts òptims robusts. Per a això, s'ha realitzat una extensa revisió bibliogràfica de tots els treballs en els quals es realitza un anàlisis de la sostenibilitat mitjançant la valoració de criteris relacionats amb els seus pilars principals (econòmic, ambiental o social). En aquesta revisió s'ha observat que la forma més completa de valorar els pilars ambientals i socials és mitjançant l'ús de mètodes d'anàlisis de cicle de vida. Aquests mètodes permeten realitzar la valoració de la sostenibilitat al llarg de totes les etapes de la vida dels ponts. Tot aquest procediment proporciona informació molt valuosa als decisors per a la valoració i selecció del pont més sostenible. No obstant això, les valoracions subjectives dels decisors sobre la importància dels criteris influeixen en l'avaluació final de la sostenibilitat. Per aquesta raó, és necessari crear una metodologia que reduïsca la incertesa associada i busque solucions robustes enfront de les opinions dels agents implicats en la presa de decisions. A més, el disseny i la presa de decisions en ponts està condicionat pels paràmetres inicialment definits. Açò condueix a solucions que poden ser sensibles front a menuts canvis en les dites condicions inicials. El disseny òptim robust permet obtenir dissenys òptims i estructuralment estables front a variacions de les condicions inicials, i també dissenys sostenibles i poc influenciables per les preferències dels decisors que formen part del procés de presa de decisió. D'aquesta manera, el disseny òptim robust es converteix en un procés d'optimització probabilística que requereix un gran cost computacional. Per aquest motiu, l'ús de metamodels s'ha integrat en la metodologia proposta. En concret, s'ha utilitzat l'hipercub llatí per a la definició de la mostra inicial i els models kriging per a la definició de l'aproximació matemàtica. D'aquesta forma, l'optimització heurística basada en kriging ha permés reduir més d'un 90% el cost computacional respecte a l'optimització heurística convencional obtenint resultats molt similars. Aquesta tesi doctoral proporciona en primer lloc, una ampla revisió bibliogràfica, tant dels criteris utilitzats per a la valoració de la sostenibilitat en ponts com dels diferents mètodes d'anàlisis de cicle de vida per a obtenir un perfil complet dels pilars ambientals i socials. Posteriorment, es defineix una metodologia per a la valoració completa de la sostenibilitat, utilitzant mètodes d'anàlisis de cicle de vida. Així mateix, es proposa un enfocament que permet obtenir estructures poc influenciables pels paràmetres estructurals, així com per les preferències dels diferents decisors enfront dels criteris sostenibles. La metodologia proporcionada en aquesta tesi doctoral és aplicable a qualsevol altre tipus d'estructura. Nº de páginas, I would like to acknowledge the economic support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, formerly called Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. This thesis has been possible thanks to the FPI fellowship and the financially support of BRIDLIFE (Research Project BIA2014-56574-R) and DIMALIFE (Project BIA2017-85098-R).

This paper evaluates the method Social Life Cycle Assessment (S‐LCA) from the perspectives of Indigenous methodologies and Indigenous standpoint, in order to identify some strengths and limitations of using S‐LCA in Indigenous contexts. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to measure environmental impacts connected with all stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. S‐LCA is a methodology designed to include the social aspects of sustainability in the LCA methodology. S‐LCA emphasizes stakeholder involvement and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) S‐LCA guidelines (2020) lists Indigenous communities as possible stakeholders. With a focus on Indigenous communities in the Arctic region we also include comparative aspects from Australia to generate new conceptualizations and understandings. The paper concludes that S‐LCA has the potential to facilitate opposing worldviews and with some further developments can be a valuable methodology for Indigenous contexts. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

A bioeconomy tackles sustainable development at both the global and regional levels, as it relies on the optimized use of renewable bio-based resources for the provisioning of food, materials, and energy to meet societal demands. The effects of the bioeconomy can be best observed at a regional level, as it supports regional development and affects the social dimension of sustainability. In order to assess the social impacts of wood-based production chains with regional differentiation, the social life cycle assessment framework “RESPONSA” was established in 2018. We present an initial study, in which this method is applied to an exemplary production chain in a case study of laminated veneer lumber produced in central Germany. The results show a relatively better social performance compared to the reference economic sector, reflecting a relatively low rate of female employees as a major social hotspot. Several social opportunities are identified, in terms of health and safety, equal opportunities, and adequate remuneration, for the organization taking part in the value chain. Finally, considering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a global normative framework, a number of additional indicators for RESPONSA, as well as further developments and recommendations regarding its application in other regions and the upcoming social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) guidelines, are identified.

[ES] La Comisión Europea considera la sostenibilidad como uno de los objetivos prioritarios para los proyectos actuales y las inversiones futuras. Desde las instituciones académicas hasta las diferentes industrias, ha habido un aumento significativo en integrar y adoptar practicas sostenibles. La creciente conciencia para evaluar la sostenibilidad dado lugar al desarrollo de varias herramientas de evaluación del ciclo de vida ambiental (ELCA) y modelos de costos del ciclo de vida (LCC) que pueden evaluar cuantitativamente los impactos ambientales y económicos de un producto a lo largo ciclo vital. No obstante, la dimensión social del desarrollo sostenible parece se encuentra en una etapa temprana de desarrollo, especialmente cuando faltan métodos para evaluar el desempeño social. Es por ello que este trabajo pretende evaluar el impacto social en el diseño de las diferentes tipologías estructurales contempladas para los tableros del proyecto de construcción Autovía Lleida-Huesca (A-22). Tramo Siétamo-Huesca. Se realizará una comparación de las alternativas de tablero prefabricado frente a tableros ejecutados in situ. Para ello se aplicó metodología propuesta por Directrices para la Evaluación del Ciclo de Vida Social de los Productos propuesta por UNEP- SETAC (2009), y la metodología estandarizada ISO 14040 (2006) e ISO 14044 (2006); ambos marcos metodológicos se adaptaron a las particularidades del enfoque de evaluación del impacto social en obras civiles y las características específicas de este estudio. La adaptación metodológica contemplo por un lado la definición de indicadores de sostenibilidad social enfocados al sector de la construcción, y por otro el establecimiento de un método de normalización y caracterización basado en puntos de referencia de desempeño (PRP), relacionado el resultado obtenidos en los indicadores con el contexto en donde se desarrolla la actividad. Se analizaron dos alternativas de diseño para las 3 estructuras de pasos superiores y 2 estructuras de viaductos. La alternativa 1 se compone de elementos de tableros de Vigas Prefabricadas Pretensadas, losa auto portante y pilas prefabricadas; mientras que la alternativa 2 está compuesta de elementos fabricados totalmente in situ, en el caso de los pasos superiores y de elementos prefabricados en el caso de los viaductos. Cabe destacar que los valores obtenidos en los indicadores de este, se normalizaron y caracterizaron integrando la contribución de la actividad y las puntuaciones de desempeño, usando un sistema de ponderación igualitario. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que las alternativas relacionadas con elementos prefabricados tienen mejor desempeño social global en el contexto en donde se desarrolla la actividad, en comparación con la alternativa In Situ. Esto permite inferir que el tiempo de construcción según el sistema constructivo empleado afecta considerablemente el resultado del impacto social que genera cada alternativa. Sin embargo, la alternativa 2 tiene un mejor impacto social en la categoría de sociedad, la cual está directamente relacionada con el uso de recursos locales, esto motivado a que el uso la fabricación in situ permite generar gasto directo en el sitio donde se desarrolla el proyecto. En el caso de que ambas alternativas cuenten con las mismas características, los materiales empleados para construcción, el tiempo en ejecutar el proyecto y los costos derivados del empleo de estas se convierten en un factor determinante al momento de elegir entre alguna de estas alternativas. Se realizó dos análisis de sensibilidad; en el primer análisis se varió el sistema de ponderación, asignando diferentes pesos a las partes interesadas. En el segundo análisis de sensibilidad se estudió la importancia del contexto en el que se desarrolla la actividad; buscando evaluar la variación del desempeño social de las alternativas a través de diferentes contextos, y su alteración con respecto, [EN] The European Commission considers sustainability as one of the priority objectives for current projects and future investments. From academic institutions to different industries, there has been a significant increase in integrating and adopting sustainable practices. The increasing awareness to assess sustainability led to the development of various Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) tools and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) models that can quantitatively assess the environmental and economic impacts of a product throughout life cycle. However, the social dimension of sustainable development appears to be in an early stage of development, especially when methods to assess social performance are lacking. That is why this work aims to evaluate the social impact in the design of the different structural typologies contemplated for the boards of the Lleida-Huesca (A-22) highway construction project. Siétamo-Huesca section. A comparison will be made of the precast board alternatives versus boards executed in situ. For this, the methodology proposed by the Guidelines for the Evaluation of the Social Life Cycle of Products proposed by UNEP- SETAC (2009) , and the standardized methodology ISO 14040 (2006) and ISO 14044 (2006) were applied; Both methodological frameworks were adapted to the particularities of the social impact assessment approach in civil works and the specific characteristics of this study. The methodological adaptation contemplated, on the one hand, the definition of social sustainability indicators focused on the construction sector, and on the other, the establishment of a standardization and characterization method based on performance benchmarks (PRP), related to the result obtained in the indicators with the context in which the activity takes place. Two design alternatives were analyzed for the 3 overpass structures and 2 viaduct structures. Alternative 1 is made up of elements of Precast Beams, self-supporting slab and precast piles; while alternative 2 is composed of elements manufactured entirely in situ, in the case of overpasses, and prefabricated elements in the case of viaducts. It should be noted that the values obtained in the indicators of this were normalized and characterized by integrating the contribution of the activity and the performance scores, using an equal weighting system. The results shown show that the alternatives related to precast elements have a better overall social performance in the context where the activity takes place, compared to the In Situ alternative. This allows us to infer that the construction time according to the construction system used considerably affects the result of the social impact generated by each alternative. However, alternative 2 has a better social impact in the category of society, which is directly related to the use of local resources, this motivated to the fact that the use of on-site manufacturing allows generating direct spending at the site where the project is developed. draft. In the event that both alternatives have the same characteristics, the materials used for construction, the time to execute the project and the costs derived from the use of these options will be a determining factor when choosing between any of these alternatives. Two sensitivity analyzes were performed; In the first analysis, the weighting system was varied, assigning different weights to the interested parties. This allowed us to confirm that alternative 1 performs more optimally from the social point of view, regardless of the weight assigned to the criteria. In the second sensitivity analysis, the importance of the context in which the activity takes place was studied; seeking to evaluate the variation of the social performance of the alternatives across different contexts, and its alteration with respect to the final score. In this, a moderately significant variation of the score could be appreciated, where the highest scores were obtained in the autonomous commun

There are a lot of factors affecting employee motivation in the company. Some of them are supported by law, while others result from voluntary activities of the company, and the way to some of them still have not been found. Our research dealt with one of the possibilities, the S-LCA indicators as employee motivation factors. The attention is usually paid to companies and their system of employee stimulation. This research is supported by in-depth literature review in the field of S-LCA. Our research addressed employees of one medium-sized company to find out what they think of the activities of their management in the area of stimulation of their employees. Using a factor analysis, we found seven basic motivation factors, i.e. Safety at Work, Fair Remuneration, Social Security and Benefits, Work Climate, Basic Rights and Freedoms, Corporate Image, and Equal Opportunity. In the context of social impacts of manufacturing on employees, individual employee groups are motivated to work in different ways. Faktorů, které ovlivňují motivaci zaměstnanců ve firmě, je celá řada. Některé z nich mají oporu v zákonech, jiné vyplývají z dobrovolné činnosti podniků a k ​​některým se stále nevěnuje patřičná pozornost. Výzkum se zabýval jednou z možností, ukazateli S-LCA jako potenciálními faktory pro motivaci zaměstnanců. Obvykle je pozornost je věnována firmám a jejich systému stimulace zaměstnanců. Tento výzkum je podpořen hloubkovým přehledem literatury v oblasti S-LCA. Náš výzkum oslovil zaměstnance jedné středně velké firmy, abychom zjistili, co si myslí o aktivitách jejich vedení v oblasti stimulace svých zaměstnanců. Pomocí faktorové analýzy jsme našli sedm základních motivačních faktorů, konkrétně bezpečnost při práci, spravedlivé odměňování, sociální zabezpečení a benefity, pracovní klima, základní práva a svobody, image společnosti a rovné příležitosti. V kontextu sociálních dopadů výroby na zaměstnance jsou však jednotlivé skupiny zaměstnanců motivovány k práci různými způsoby.

Alternative food networks (AFNs) have emerged to improve both environmental and socio-economic aspects of food provisioning, including the living and working conditions of farmers. Their objectives are supposed to be mediated through the shortening of chains and/or the implication of alternative value chain actors (VCAs). Through the application of a social life cycle assessment methodological proposal on two products from three Belgian AFNs, we first verify how the AFNs meet sustainability promises. Second, we investigate how such social sustainability of the assessed products is influenced by the differentiated configurations of chain governance in the AFNs. Such a discussion of root causes of social sustainability performances in product chains have been investigated very little as of yet. Our results show that AFN perform well in some aspects (consumer aspects, work satisfaction, social ties between VCAs), but in some others, AFN chains use similar mechanisms as the ones used by mainstream chains (unbalanced market power, unfair prices, and low commitment between VCAs), with potentially detrimental effects on profitability and employment conditions for VCAs located upstream, i.e., farms. Our framework is useful to highlight social hotspots in product chains, and to discuss these across the differences in the configurations of the chain layout and&mdash, in the end&mdash, chain governance.

Purpose – This presentation takes a critical look at various electric air mobility concepts. With a clear focus on requirements and first principles applied to the technologies in question, it tries to bring inflated expectations down to earth. Economic, ecologic and social (noise) based well accepted evaluation principles are set against wishful thinking. Design/methodology/approach – Aeronautical teaching basics are complemented with own thoughts and explanations. In addition, the results of past research projects are applied to the topic. Findings – Electric air mobility may become useful in some areas of aviation. Small short-range general aviation aircraft may benefit from battery-electric or hybrid-electric propulsion. Urban air mobility in large cities will give time advantages to super-rich people, but mass transportation in cities will require a public urban transport system. Battery-electric passenger aircraft are neither economic nor ecologic. How overall advantages can be obtained from turbo-electric distributed propulsion (without batteries) is not clear. Maybe turbo-hydraulic propulsion has some weight advantages over the electric approach. Research limitations/implications – Research findings are from basic considerations only. A detailed evaluation of system principles on a certain aircraft platform may lead to somewhat different results. Practical implications – The discussion about electric air mobility concepts may get more factual. Investors may find some of the information provided easy to understand and helpful for their decision making. Social implications – How to tackle challenges of resource depletion and environment pollution is a social question. Better knowledge of the problem enables the public to take a firm position in the discussion. Originality/value – Holistic evaluation of electric air mobility has not much been applied yet. This presentation shows how to proceed., Hamburg Aerospace Lecture Series --- Collection of Presentations --- http://www.AeroLectures.de

This project deliverable providesdefinition of the methodological framework for LCA/LCCA/SLCA of RE4 innovative solutions.

Project deliverable providingthe definition of the methodological framework for LCA/LCCA/SLCA of RE4 innovative solutions.

Purpose: In social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), we can distinguish two main types of impact assessment (LCIA): type I can be seen as a reporting approach with the use of performance reference points and type II aims at including cause-effect chains or impact pathways in the analysis. Given the heterogeneity of those type II approaches, this review provides a classification of existing type II approaches. Methods: We reviewed a total of 28 articles against the background of their main purpose, the method used, the issues covered and the origin of data (observation/characterization/ measurement). We checked the articles against (i) the reflection of an impact pathway, (ii) the availability of so-called inventory and impact indicators, and (iii) the presence of characterization models or factors translating correlations or causality. Results and discussion: The analysis reveals three main paths to include impact pathways in S-LCA, which differ in authors’ intentions: (1) some studies identify and propose variables composing impact pathways, or frameworks gathering several pathways; (2) other studies investigate or test known pathways empirically, and until now seek mainly to link income data with health impacts at a macro scale, and (3) a last batch applies known and already quantified characterization models or factors from other research works in case studies. Until now, these case studies focus mainly on income-related social effects or on health impacts. Further, each path is further characterized and classified under nine approaches. Our findings highlight not only the heterogeneous nature of approaches, but also their common denominator which is to not consider phenomena or impacts in isolation but to consider them in relation to their sources or further impacts. It should be noted that type II studies are not only limited to quantitative approaches and variables, but can also use more qualitative variables and methods. Conclusions: The presented classification may be used as a guidance tool for authors to make their methodological choices. Also, our findings indicate the opportunity of extending future type II S-LCA research to variables tackled in type I studies (e.g. safe and fair employment and working conditions), beyond pathways including incomes and health impacts. This can be done by using theories from social sciences for the identification of impact pathways. Those could then further be investigated through statistical approaches or in the framework of S-LCA case studies, with specific data and potentially more qualitative methods to analyze causality or social mechanisms., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Social Life-Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is under continuous development. The Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in S-LCA are a set of guidelines commonly used for the performance of such assessments. They cover a variety of stakeholders and subcategories for the social assessment of products in general. However, they may not necessarily be appropriate for the assessment of biobased value chains of agricultural and forestry origin. The aim of this study is the identification of social aspects relevant for the assessment of biobased value chains across various regions of the world, including those aspects possibly overlooked in the Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in S-LCA. For this purpose, a literature review of empirical studies was performed using the sheets as a reference. The results show that the Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in S-LCA provide good coverage of social topics relevant for biobased value chains, but that the stakeholders “smallholder” and “family farm” are not adequately addressed. Drawing on the empirical literature reviewed, the study emphasizes the relevance of these stakeholders in the analysis of biobased value chains of agricultural and forestry origin, and proposes criteria for consideration in the assessment of this stakeholder.

[EN] Most of the definitions of sustainability include three basic pillars: economic, environmental, and social. The economic pillar has always been evaluated but not necessarily in the sense of economic sustainability. On the other hand, the environmental pillar is increasingly being considered, while the social pillar is weakly developed. Focusing on the environmental and social pillars, the use of methodologies to allow a wide assessment of these pillars and the integration of the assessment in a few understandable indicators is crucial. This article is structured into two parts. In the first part, a review of life cycle impact assessment methods, which allow a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and social pillars, is carried out. In the second part, a complete environmental and social sustainability assessment is made using the ecoinvent database and ReCiPe method, for the environmental pillar, and SOCA database and simple Social Impact Weighting method, for the social pillar. This methodology was used to compare three optimized bridges: two box-section post-tensioned concrete road bridges with a variety of initial and maintenance characteristics, and a pre-stressed concrete precast bridge. The results show that there is a high interrelation between the environmental and social impact for each life cycle stage., This research was funded by the Ministerio de Economia, Ciencia y Competitividad and FEDER funding grant number [BIA2017-85098-R]

This article introduces a process that can be used by companies to obtain an increasingly precise picture of their supply chain social footprint (negative impacts) and identify potential social handprints (i.e., changes to business as usual that create positive impacts) using social organizational life cycle assessment (SO-LCA). The process was developed to apply to the electronics sector but can be used by companies in any industry. Our case study presents the social footprint of a typical US computer manufacturing company and identifies potential salient social risks and hotspots using generic information about the inputs that are related to a global trade model. The global trade model enables us to map the likely supply chain based on where inputs are usually sourced from by the US electronic computer manufacturing sector. In order to identify material impacts, normalization factors were created and used. Once the material impacts and salient risks are known, it becomes necessary to identify root causes in order to plan actions that will truly make a meaningful change, addressing the issues at stake. The article concludes by establishing a methodology that enables the use of the industry-level impacts and assessment in combination with the organization&rsquo, s own data to calculate company-specific results.

The Rio +20 conference in 2012 confirmed not only the sustainability concept as the new development goal but also introduced the green economy as its implementation strategy and the life cycle assessment (LCA) as one of its analysis tools to reveal the current production and consumption patterns which affect human well-being. Human well-being therefore has to be defined. We describe human well-being using the capability approach of Amartya Sen. Current production and consumption patterns have an influence on human well-being, on people's functioning and capabilities. Consumption patterns alter and the energy sector is in Germany at the centre of that process. Renewable energy technologies are seen as instruments for a transformation of the energy system, causing non-renewable (mineral) resources such as the rare earth elements to be of high significance for the transformation. To analyse social conditions (human well-being) throughout the life cycle of the product we focused on five major functionings (welfare basis, health & safety, social participation, democracy & freedom, decent life) and assigned 24 impact issues to them to enable an assessment of the social effects of the rare earth production along the whole process chain. The analysis of social impacts of the production of the rare earth elements using S-LCA is developed to illustrate the connection between the S-LCA and the capability approach – Amartya Sen's concept of human well-being.

The utilization of wood in long life products, such as construction materials in the built environment, is an e ective way to optimize the use of natural resources while also reducing negative environmental impacts. However, the environmental bene ts of timber, especially in the construction sector, are not always clearly understood. As a renewable material, timber is available in perpetuity if it is obtained from sustainably managed forests. Using timber in the built environment stores sequestered atmospheric carbon dioxide in long-life products and timber can be incinerated at the end of its life (or its multiple lives) with energy recovery, thereby minimizing demolition waste. The built environment e ectively acts as an extension of the forest. The question is: how should the environmental bene ts of timber use be measured and presented? To answer that question, this paper o ers an overview of the life cycle assessment (LCA) methods the forest products sector could broadly apply to evaluate and report the sustainability performance of wood. In addition to environmental LCA, the paper also incorporates an overview of organizational LCA (O-LCA), and social LCA (S-LCA). Furthermore, this paper discusses environmental product declarations (EPDs) and construction standards aiming to enable better comparability of the environmental performance of products. This review paper concludes with a discussion of where the opportunities for the forest products sector lie and the need for joint actions within the sector. The importance of including the storage of sequestered atmospheric carbon dioxide into the standards assessing the environmental impact is emphasized.

Since sustainability and environmental issues rose lately, lightweighting has been the point of interest for automotive and aerospace sectors. Lightweighting reduces the fuel consumption of the vehicles and as a result of this reduces emissions. Aluminum, especially wrought aluminum alloys, have large potentials for dramatic weight reduction of structural parts while maintaining the safety and performance. Wrought aluminum alloys are used in automotive skin, bumpers and suspension parts etc. Lightweight suspension parts improve the ride quality and handling, additional to fuel consumption and emission reduction. Holistic life cycle approach takes into account the material flows and related information flows in order to achieve these material flows through the life cycle of the components as well as performance characteristics not only in technical and economic terms but also environmental and social terms. It is necessary to have seamless information flow through the life cycle of the components that could be enabled by the closed-loop product life cycle management (PLM). Closed-loop PLM may also help collection of life cycle information which is necessary to generate performance characteristics and distribution of performance characteristics among life cycle actors.

In the challenging world of territorial transformations within the agriculture, there is an increasing need for an integrated methodological framework of assessment that is able to reconcile the demand for solutions that are both economically sustainable and contribute to environmental and social improvement. This study aims to assess the introduction of innovation into agro-food systems by combining an environmental life cycle (LCA) assessment and a social life cycle assessment (s-LCA) to support the decision making process of a fruit growers co-op for the adoption of mulching and covering in raspberry farming. LCA and s-LCA have been applied independently under specific consistency requirements, selecting two scenarios to compare the impact with (1) and without (2) the innovation and then combined within a cause-effect chain. The interactions between the environment and socioeconomic components were considered within a nested frameset of business and territorial features. The total emissions from raspberry production in Scenario 1, according to the Global Warming Potential (GWP) Impact Category amounted to 2.2840kg of CO2 eq. In Scenario 2, the impact of production was associated with a GWP of 0.1682kg of CO2 eq. Social repercussions analysis from Scenario 1 compared to Scenario 2 indicate more satisfaction for working conditions and the management of climate risks. The mulching and covering, implemented within a given framework of farm activity, created conditions for the preservation of a model in which raspberry production contributes to landscape protection, the business sustainability of farms and the creation of employment. The combined use of the two methods contributes to the development of a strategy planning due to its ability to deliver, as well as specific analysis at a functional level, a wider framework for assessing the consistency of the impacts related to innovation in raspberry production.