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Thematics

How to integrate life cycle thinking into decision-making

Sectors advances

Methodological advances

Sessions

The final selection will be based on the interest generated during the call for abstracts and their relevance. Consequently, some sessions selected below for the call for abstracts may not be included in the final congress programme.

How to integrate life cycle thinking into decision-making

Life Cycle Assessment, Eco-design, and Material Criticality are methodologies and concepts that have become essential in the context of the ongoing environmental transition. However, the presence of courses covering these topics in higher education curricula (universities, technical institutes, grandes écoles, etc.) remains uneven and relatively recent. As a result, there is a need for continued training for generations of students now in the workforce who have not had the opportunity to study these subjects during their education. This session invites contributions on various sub-themes, including:

  1. Overview of LCA, eco-design, and criticality education (at an institution, regional, or national level)
  2. Sharing experiences on innovative teaching methods
  3. Insights on the implementation of training programmes within companies or through professional training associations
  4. Reflections on future training needs in response to current challenges (such as the rise of AI, environmental communication, and eco-design)

The European Commission is introducing a new eco-design framework: the Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR). This regulation requires companies to provide a digital product passport that integrates Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results along with identified improvement areas—and this applies to their entire product portfolio. Conducting an LCA for a flagship product will no longer be sufficient. How can businesses scale up? This session aims to explore this transformation through three key aspects:

  1. Tools: Solutions are evolving, calculations are becoming faster, and databases are more comprehensive. But are these tools mature enough?
  2. Engagement: A tool without product-specific data is ineffective. How can companies mobilise their suppliers, train them, and support them in data sharing?
  3. Strategy: How can results be represented in a way that informs decision-making—not just at the product level, but across an entire portfolio?

We are at a critical moment in the Gartner Hype Cycle: beyond hype and disillusionment, it is now time for practical implementation.

Measuring is the first step toward action, and the assessment of product environmental impacts has never been more widespread. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-established and recognised methodology, now widely implemented, encouraged, and even mandated by various governmental and industry-driven initiatives. This session will explore a key question: To what extent does the growing enthusiasm for environmental impact measurement translate into concrete action plans aimed at reducing product impacts while maintaining functional performance? Are we on the verge of a new industrial era, where life cycle thinking becomes systematically integrated into product development? Or do major obstacles still hinder the pursuit of minimal environmental impact? If so, are these barriers methodological, technical, commercial, managerial, or regulatory? What role do different corporate functions play in implementing eco-design strategies, and what limitations do they face?

Through discussions and contributions to this session, we aim to assess the available levers for industrial stakeholders to drive a more systematic adoption of eco-design—ensuring that measuring truly leads to action.

Social and environmental impacts are often assessed separately, even though their interactions seem inevitable for a sustainable approach. For example, the " human health" category is a key issue common to both approaches, yet it is evaluated using different and complementary methods. The complementarity between these two types of assessments—social and environmental—can offer a framework that allows for a better understanding of the various impacts associated with a product, thus facilitating more responsible decision-making. This session aims to explore the benefits of a socio-environmental hybrid approach to assessing product impacts, helping to avoid impact shifts from one aspect to another. Three main scales can be covered:

  1. Project and Design: How can socio-environmental assessment be integrated from the product design stage? How can the coherence between the two methods be ensured, while considering rebound effects and consumption patterns? Methods: Socio-environmental project footprint, Eco-socio-design, etc.
  2. Organisation and Company: How can socio-environmental LCA be applied in CSR processes? Methods: Organisational LCA, Materiality analysis (CSRD/CSR), etc.
  3. Geographical Scale: How can socio-environmental approaches be adapted to territorial contexts (e.g., regions/countries)? Methods: Coupled LCA-EEIO approach, etc.

The circular economy aims to optimise resource use through strategies such as extending product lifespans, increasing utilisation rates, repair, reuse, and recycling. To ensure that these strategies deliver genuine environmental benefits without unintended consequences, life cycle management can rely on key tools and indicators. This session will explore:

  1. Recent methodological advancements and their applications, enabling a more precise assessment of the benefits and limitations of circular models. At the product level (micro), this may include LCA approaches for improved consideration of recycling or the development of resource-related indicators (e.g. metal dissipation, plastic footprint). At the meso and macro levels, the session will examine how combining LCA with other methodologies (such as dynamic Material Flow Analysis – MFA) can support a more systemic evaluation of circular strategies’ effectiveness.
  2. Concrete case studies to identify which circular economy models effectively reduce environmental impacts across different materials and sectors, without leading to adverse trade-offs.

The objective is to highlight the most robust and innovative approaches to guide the transition towards truly sustainable circular models.

La décarbonation des activités économiques est une des politiques exigeantes menées au niveau mondial pour réduire de façon significative les impacts des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Toutefois, si trois secteurs principaux sont ciblés comme étant les plus émetteurs – à savoir celui de la métallurgie, celui de la chimie et celui des industries cimentières – d’autres nombreux secteurs sont aussi concernés par cet objectif, et de multiples solutions voient le jour.

These solutions are often in their early stages, combining the integration of new technologies into existing processes with the partial use of recycled materials. To assess their actual relevance and avoid rebound effects, LCA appears to be one of the most suitable tools for this evaluation.

However, most LCA methodologies currently in use follow sector-specific standards, allowing for a degree of flexibility in their application, which prevents full consistency in calculations. They also face challenges in assessing ex-ante the environmental performance of immature processes, where data remains uncertain. It is therefore necessary to complement them with additional calculations—particularly carbon footprint assessments—that should be standardised and made more robust. For example, there is currently no industry-wide consensus on how to calculate the carbon footprint of metals derived from recycli

Through case studies from key sectors, this session will explore the latest methodological advancements developed to address these challenges.

Sectors advances

Cities play a key role in the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, hosting 75% of European citizens and being responsible for more than 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. As Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) helps avoid the transfer of pollution, it is essential to integrate this method into decision-making from the early stages of urban development projects. This raises methodological questions related to the accuracy of results, such as the consideration of uncertainties and spatial aspects, as well as the harmonisation of data and methodology across economic sectors. Furthermore, the widespread use of LCA in the early phases requires an evolution of tools that must be developed in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, with particular attention to the definition of the functional unit. This session will explore the technical and methodological solutions for the environmental assessment of urban projects.

The life cycle management of battery solutions used in mobility, stationary, and industrial sectors represents a major challenge for the energy transition and the circular economy. This management involves the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools to evaluate the environmental impact of batteries, from the extraction of raw materials to their end of life. Additionally, resource criticality analysis helps identify strategic materials at risk, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, and anticipate challenges related to their availability and recyclability. The evolution of regulations, particularly the European Battery Regulation (Battery Regulation 2023), imposes stringent requirements for durability, traceability, and recycling rates, thus influencing industrial strategies. This session will highlight the importance of an integrated approach combining LCA, critical resource management, and regulatory compliance to optimise the sustainability of battery solutions and promote an effective circular economy. The discussions will focus on understanding the best strategies to implement for long-term economic development that is both environmentally beneficial and aligned with sustainability goals.

The transport industry is facing growing environmental challenges, requiring a transformation of design practices. In this context, integrating environmental considerations into design processes is essential to reducing the environmental footprint of products in this sector. The integration of eco-design practices requires a strong strategic vision and the commitment of all stakeholders, from management to operational teams. It is crucial to establish interdisciplinary teams dedicated to implementing these new practices. Raising awareness and providing continuous training for employees are vital to embedding eco-design principles within the company culture.

Furthermore, traditional design processes must be revisited to incorporate environmental criteria. This includes adding specific steps for assessing environmental impacts right from the early stages of design. Finally, eco-design methods and tools play a central role in this transformation. From collaborative work to the most advanced life cycle assessment tools, the integration of eco-design must be supported by a broad range of methods and tools to address the multiple needs and challenges at different levels, depending on the technologies developed.

While the concept of life cycle thinking and the eco-design approach is attractive for its holistic vision and its promise to reduce the environmental impacts of systems during development and operational phases, how does it translate into reality? The implementation of life cycle thinking in the development processes of space and aerospace systems is essential for informed decision-making, aiming to reduce their environmental impacts and thus contribute to sustainability goals.This session aims to explore the advances, successes, biases, and methodological limits of implementing eco-design in these industrial sectors. The discussion will focus on:

  1. The specificities of the aforementioned sectors and their implications in implementing an eco-design approach.
  2. The adaptation of methodologies and databases related to eco-design methodologies, particularly Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
  3. The challenges associated with environmental indicators, both classical and specific to these sectors.
  4. The selection and development of more environmentally-friendly technologies.
  5. The evaluation and handling of rebound effects and/or impact shifting.

The environmental assessment of energy systems is crucial for supporting the transition to more sustainable models. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) helps identify the most efficient supply chains and informs strategic decisions. However, traditional approaches to this methodology have limitations in a context where energy systems are rapidly evolving. Therefore, the LCA methodological framework must be developed to better reflect the complexity of transforming energy systems.This session aims to explore three key dimensions:

  1. Prospective: Anticipating technological developments, changes in the energy mix, and societal dynamics through exploratory scenarios.
  2. Dynamic: Accounting for temporal variations in environmental impacts, efficiency, and energy consumption patterns.
  3. Spatial: Integrating geographic specificities of resources, uses, and impacts to refine analyses.

Through case studies and methodological reflections, this session seeks to identify improvement levers for evaluations that incorporate these three dimensions. The goal is to optimise energy planning and develop innovative tools tailored to the current challenges of the energy transition

Methodological advances

The session "Benefits of Collaborative Research in Environmental Analysis" aims to present research conducted in collaboration between businesses, public authorities, research centres, and expert consultants, such as the work produced at SCORE LCA. It will be an opportunity to showcase the latest research results, focusing on what the collaboration of various actors within the LCA ecosystem enables, such as the development of specific case studies.

The methodological advancements made and applied within these case studies will be presented during the session. These presentations will allow the researchers to share their conclusions and provide an opportunity for those who have used the recommendations to demonstrate how they have applied them. The presentations will also highlight areas for improvement in existing standards and recommendations, notably ISO 14044 and ISO 14067, as well as those that implement them, such as EN 15804+A2. These areas for improvement are intended to be carried forward into standardisation and promoted within ongoing regulatory processes (PEF, ESPR, CPR, Green Claim Directive...).

In addition to eco-design, the principles of SSbD (Safe and Sustainable by Design) seek to reduce the impact on human health and the environment of materials and their associated chemicals right from the design stage. At the end of 2022, the Joint Research Council launched a process providing a framework for implementing SSbD, with a procedure and criteria to be tested in order to improve it. The SSbD theme is supported by Europe, with ongoing projects and new calls for projects in the pipeline. These are testing the framework on application cases and/or developing methods and tools for integrating the evaluation of SSbD solutions (questionnaire, scoring, assistance in choosing between innovative solutions). In 2025, a new version of the framework will be published based on feedback. The SSbD evaluation is based on several dimensions (steps) from a lifecycle perspective:

  1. 1 to 3 for safety
  2. 4 for the environment (environmental LCA)
  3. 5 for socio-economic aspects (LCC and social LCA).

In this session, the test projects will be asked to provide feedback on the results, problems encountered and suggestions for improvements, in relation to the 2025 Framework, as well as the approaches implemented to integrate the Framework's steps.

Several large companies must now prepare to conduct life cycle assessments (LCAs) quickly according to various standards and sectoral rules (e.g., FDES) in order to comply with European legislative frameworks. In this context, it seems necessary to resort to various digital solutions to manage the increasing data access needs of companies and to perform LCAs with simple tools. These needs appear to have been addressed by various organisations and companies developing integrated solutions. That being said, the rapid development of these solutions and the limited descriptions of their capabilities raise questions about the ability of experts to manage the growing flow of LCA studies that will need to be verified.

We therefore propose a session that will allow different stakeholders to present the verification challenges within digital tools, the key aspects to consider for fair comparisons, and potential solutions to maintain a high level of trust in the LCA studies that will be conducted in the future using digital tools.

Considering planetary boundaries and properly integrating them into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models is a crucial challenge for absolute environmental sustainability assessment. However, this poses new challenges for LCA practitioners, both methodologically (e.g., scaling down planetary boundaries, impact allocation) and practically (e.g., data access).

In parallel with these methodological and practical challenges, this session aims to initiate a discussion on the possibility of such an assessment during the design and development phases, not only for new products (e.g., advanced materials, innovative processes and/or technologies) but also for territorial systems (e.g., circular value chains at the regional or national level).

At the same time, this session invites all contributions – whether methodological and/or practical, academic and/or industrial – discussing the challenges and/or solutions for a sound – i.e., scientifically-based and pragmatic – quantification of circular economy practices' performance:

  1. From system boundary definition to impact allocation, including life cycle inventory data for circular economy;
  2. The compatibility between LCA and circularity indicators and their usefulness for guiding sustainable circular decision-making;
  3. From methodological proposals to tool development;
  4. - Feedback on the joint application of ISO 14040/44:2006 and ISO 59020:2024 standards.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) plays a key role in evaluating companies' environmental impacts. However, its integration with regulatory requirements—particularly in the agri-food and bioeconomy sectors—remains a significant challenge. Regarding biodiversity, for example, while current methodologies consider direct uses such as land occupation and transformation, as well as indirect drivers (climate, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, etc.), they still struggle to capture the full range of pressures exerted on terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. Phenomena such as habitat fragmentation, complex pollution, resource overexploitation, and the alteration of ecological functions require more refined and tailored methodological approaches.

With the accelerating loss of biodiversity and new regulatory requirements—particularly the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)—it is becoming essential to refine impact models, develop appropriate metrics, establish reference frameworks, and ensure that LCA meets corporate expectations for reporting and decision-making.

This session will explore "Methodologies, Metrics, and Alignment with Regulatory Expectations: From Agri-Food to a Sustainable Bioeconomy and its Transformations", focusing on methodological advancements to better integrate biodiversity impacts, particularly in the bioeconomy and agri-food sectors. It will address: (1) methodological progress in representing terrestrial, freshwater, and marine biodiversity impacts in LCA, (2) available metrics for quantifying these impacts and their relevance for businesses, (3) the alignment between LCA results and CSRD requirements for structured and actionable reporting, and (4) the challenges and opportunities related to applying these approaches in corporate strategies.

Aimed at LCA practitioners and corporate decision-makers, this session will emphasise practical solutions and development perspectives for an LCA that fully integrates biodiversity considerations. Beyond biodiversity, it will also examine the links between LCA and regulatory challenges, advancing sustainable practices in the bioeconomy and agri-food sectors.

Various efforts are currently being made to reduce the environmental impacts of French scientific research. One of the initial efforts is through the actions of the GDR Labos 1point5. These actions are crucial for raising awareness and/or mobilising researchers to reduce the environmental (if not carbon) footprint of research, while providing top-tier data on greenhouse gas emissions linked to laboratory operations. However, these efforts remain insufficient to comprehensively assess the various impacts associated with French research, particularly in the fields of engineering and emerging technologies. In particular, these actions do not take into account recent developments in environmental assessment methodologies, notably Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA was initially developed to evaluate industrial products, manufactured identically at large scale, and derived from mature technical systems where reliable data can be collected, limiting temporal, spatial, and technological variability.

Currently, there is a strong European interest in the development of prospective or ex-ante LCA, applied to technologies under development in research projects, technologies that are inherently immature, prior to their large-scale market deployment. In this context, LCA should, according to van der Giesen et al. (2020), "anticipate avoidable potential environmental impacts", "avoid environmental lock-ins", "analyse the potential environmental impacts of a technology at an early stage of its development", and "avoid investments in technologies with high environmental impacts". This analysis also involves considering assumptions about the evolution of the socio-economic system at different geographical scales, which condition both the acceptability of certain technoscientific proposals and their relevance in terms of reducing environmental impacts, for example, based on planetary boundaries.

This session will bring together actors involved in the environmental assessment of scientific research projects, and will review 1) the approaches used to assess the environmental impact of research as it is currently carried out, but above all 2) the methodological developments that will make it possible to assess the impact of future uses. des innovations technologiques issues des laboratoires de recherche. Dans cette optique d’évaluation prospective sur le cycle de vie, il s’agira notamment de discuter des verrous scientifiques à lever, relatifs à la disponibilité de données de premier plan représentatives du système technologique en cours de développement, aux projections quant au « futur paysage de déploiement de la technologie », et à la prise en compte des « deep » incertitudes afférentes. Ces verrous renvoient à la prise en compte, pour l’évaluation environnementale d’une technologie, des changements d’échelle qu’impliquent son déploiement (Shibasaki et al 2007 ; Piccinno et al 2016), de son niveau de maturité technologique (TRL) et des incertitudes sur les résultats (Groen et al 2014 ; Igos et al 2019).

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