Social Sustainability as a Target Figure in Life Cycle Assessment: Development of a Catalogue of Criteria for Measuring the Social Dimension

2019 ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
Claudia Hösel ◽  
Christina Hesse ◽  
Rico Pestinger
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Target Figure ◽  
Assessment Development ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals A Regional Socio-Economic Life Cycle Assessment of a Bioeconomy Value Chain

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Jarosch ◽  
Walther Zeug ◽  
Alberto Bezama ◽  
Matthias Finkbeiner ◽  
Daniela Thrän
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Production Chain ◽  
The Social

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.

scholarly journals Social Life-Cycle Assessment of a Piece of Jewellery. Emphasis on the Local Community

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela D’Eusanio ◽  
Monica Serreli ◽  
Luigia Petti
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
The Social

An increasing global focus on sustainability has affected the jewellery industry by raising questions about its environmental and social impacts and ethics due to the negative impacts of gold mining. It is essential to consider the social aspects of mining activities on the socio-economic environment and the affected individuals in order to understand the sustainability of the jewellery industry in a better way. Nonetheless, this is a gap in the evaluation of the issues of jewellery in the other phases of the life cycle, observed in the literature. For these reasons, the goal of this study is to assess the social and socio-economic aspects of a piece of jewellery from the artisan’s point of view by considering the relationship between a piece of jewellery and the local community. The United National Environmental Programme/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) Guidelines on Social Life-Cycle Assessment, the UNEP/SETAC Methodological Sheets and the Subcategory Assessment Method were implemented. The findings show that a piece of jewellery can play an important role in supporting the local cultural heritage by innovating the traditional product, and promoting educational activities related to the history of the product and the territory. Consequently, the local community with its historical background gives an added value to the piece of jewellery. Further research on this topic is desirable in order to improve the knowledge of this particular sector and to identify other social issues that can be involved in this product.

scholarly journals Socio-Problematization of Green Chemistry: Enriching Systems Thinking and Social Sustainability by Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Marcelino ◽  
Jesper Sjöström ◽  
Carlos Alberto Marques
Keyword(s):  
Green Chemistry ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
The Social

The current research on systems thinking criticizes the additive nature of green chemistry (GC) not being supportive of systems thinking to achieve holism in its practices. This paper argues that systems thinking should comprise of the social issues, and, therefore, it studies renowned papers by GC pioneers and reviews on the field regarding how they address the social dimension of sustainability. It points out how GC has ignored social sustainability in its discourses, practices, and evaluations, leading to a reductionist interpretation of sustainability. Then, this paper presents some challenges to be overcome in order to achieve balanced sustainability. A systemic chemical thinking is advocated, considering chemistry in culture and chemistry as culture, expanding the chemistry rationality from ontological and technological dimensions into the epistemological and ethical ones. It is then discussed how chemistry education can help to promote sustainability in a broad and systemic way.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Evaluation of the Sustainable Development of Battery Electric Vehicles in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang ◽  
Zhou ◽  
Li ◽  
Wei
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Battery Electric Vehicles ◽  
The Social

Due to the rapid growth in the total number of vehicles in China, energy consumption and environmental pollution are serious problems. The development of electric vehicles (EVs) has become one of the important measures for solving these problems. As EVs are in a period of rapid development, sustainability research on them is conducive to the timely discovery of—and solution to—problems in the development process, but current research on the sustainability of EVs is still scarce. Based on the strategic development direction of EVs in China, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were chosen as the research object of this study. The theory and method of the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) were used to study the sustainability of BEVs. Specifically, the indicators of the life cycle assessment (LCA) were constructed, and the GaBi software was used to assess the environmental dimensions. The framework of life cycle costing (LCC) was used to assess the economic dimensions from the perspective of consumers. The indicators of the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) of stakeholders were constructed to assess the social dimension. Then, the method of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was selected for multicriteria decision-making in order to integrate the three dimensions. A specific conclusion was drawn from a comparison of BEVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The study found that the life cycle sustainability of ICEVs in China was better than that of BEVs. This result might be unexpected, but there were reasons for it. Through sensitivity analysis, it was concluded that the current power structure and energy consumption in the operation phase of BEVs had a higher environmental impact, and the high cost of batteries and the government subsidy policy had a higher impact on the cost of BEVs. Corresponding suggestions are put forward at the end of the article.

The social dimension of sustainable development: Defining urban social sustainability

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 289-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Dempsey ◽  
Glen Bramley ◽  
Sinéad Power ◽  
Caroline Brown
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
The Social

Current status and needs for life cycle assessment development in Asian/Pacific Regions

1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 191-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zulina Zakaria ◽  
Mohd Nasir Hassan ◽  
Muhamad Awang
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Assessment Development ◽  
Asian Pacific

scholarly journals VALUING DELIBERATE BUILT-IN FLEXIBILITY IN HOUSES – EXAMPLED

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 479-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Carmichael ◽  
Reza Taheriattar
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Financial Viability ◽  
Sustainability Criteria ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social And Environmental Impacts ◽  
Over Time

People’s Housing requirements commonly transition over time, and there are financial, social and environmental impacts associated with altering and moving houses. With possible future alteration in mind, this paper looks at the viability of deliberately incorporating flexibility into houses at the time they are designed and built, as compared with no specifically incorporated flexibility (yet still possibly capable of being altered). A comparative analysis, rather than an absolute analysis, is outlined. The financial viability is performed as an options analysis, while the social and environmental matters are evaluated along life cycle assessment lines. As a case example, the paper considers the viability of incorporating deliberate two-storey flexibility into a single-storey house using Australian practices. It is shown on the case example that incorporating deliberate built-in flexibility can perform positively against all sustainability criteria – financial, social and environmental, separately or combined – however the generality of this conclusion remains to be proven.

scholarly journals The social dimension and indicators of sustainability in agrifood supply chains

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1476
Author(s):  
Renato Rocha Dias Santos ◽  
Patricia Guarnieri ◽  
Otavio Moreira Do Carmo Jr. ◽  
Silvia Araújo Dos Reis ◽  
José Márcio Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Art Research

Several organizations aim to establish and manage cooperative and collaborative actions in order to incorporate the principles related to sustainable management in supply chains. The indicators related to the social dimension are still barely explored in academic research, since the perceived business practices are still emerging in the contemporary world and in the organizational relations. The opposite of the financial and environmental dimensions, which are already rooted in the business environment. In agrifood chains, social aspects are essential when suppliers are often impoverished farmers, and labor practices are generally painful and exploitative. This paper aims to identify, in the international literature, the state-of-the-art research related to social sustainability in agrifood supply chains. To achieve this goal, a systematic literature review covering papers published in the Science Direct, Directory of Open Access Journals and Emerald Insight databases was carried out. Results indicate that academic production is still low, despite its growth in recent years, and is limited to approaches containing indicators of social sustainability related to support communities affected by agrifood business. In addition, it evidences arrangements among members of supply chains, mostly of the cooperative type, having collaborative arrangements with more limited approaches among the analyzed works.

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