Integration of Social Aspects in Decision Support, Based on Life Cycle Thinking

Sustainability

Annekatrin Lehmann²  Daniela Russi¹  Alba Bala¹  Matthias Finkbeiner² 

[1] UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change, Escola Superior de Comerç Internacional (ESCI), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Passeig Pujades, 1, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain; E-Mails:;Department of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, Office Z1, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, D-10623 Berlin, Germany; E-Mail:

关键词: social impacts;    social indicators;    SLCA;    SIA;    LCA;    sustainability assessment;    integrated water resources management;    packaging waste management;    software;    decision support;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su3040562

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Recently increasing attention has been paid to complementing environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with social aspects. The paper discusses the selection of social impacts and indicators from existing frameworks like Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA). Two ongoing case studies, addressing sustainability assessment within decision support, were considered: (1) Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Indonesia; and (2) Integrated Packaging Waste Management in Spain and Portugal (FENIX). The focus was put on social impacts occurring due to decisions within these systems, such as choice of technologies, practices or suppliers. Thus, decision makers—here understood as intended users of the studies' results—are not consumers that buy (or do not buy) a product, such as in recent SLCA case-studies, but mainly institutions that decide about the design of the water or packaging waste management system. Therefore, in the FENIX project, a list of social impacts identified from literature was sent to the intended users to be ranked according to their priorities. Finally, the paper discusses to what extent the entire life cycle is reflected in SLCA impact categories and indicators, and explains how both life-cycle and on-site-related social impacts were chosen to be assessed. However, not all indicators in the two projects will assess all stages of the life cycle, because of their varying relevance in the different stages, data availability and practical interest of decision makers.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.