Social Life Cycle Assessment: Methodologies and Practice

Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) is a relatively new discipline and it is an expanding field of research. After an initial period characterized by the application of the SLCA Guidelines of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, now practitioners are going through an in-depth and critical analysis. The epistemological and methodological aspects of SLCA are now dealt with, as a basis for defining the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the methodology.This chapter provides an overview of where we are in SLCA, from the methodological and practical point of view, discussing new trends and approaches, and also in the context of a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment.