SETAC Europe 27th LCA Symposium

This track focuses on strengthening methodologies for prospective and consequential LCA, emphasising advanced frameworks that enable proactive sustainability assessment. It highlights recent progress in impact category modelling, including biodiversity footprint and ecotoxicity refinements, as well as the integration of ecosystem services and social dimensions within Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). The emerging concept of environmental handprints, which accounts for positive environmental contributions, is also addressed. Collectively, these methodological innovations aim to improve the robustness, transparency, and policy relevance of LCA.  

Key topics:

• Prospective and consequential LCA frameworks and applications.
• Scenario modelling, regionalisation, and dynamic LCIA approaches.
• Integration and valuation of ecosystem services in LCSA.
• Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) advancements.
• Environmental handprint methodologies and applications.
• Biodiversity footprint and methodological innovations in LCIA categories (e.g. ecotoxicity, human health, biodiversity, toxicity data and modelling).
• Robustness, sensitivity, and uncertainty analyses.

This track explores how digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science, enhance life cycle assessment practices. Particular emphasis is placed on improving life cycle inventory (LCI) development and use, through automated data collection, interoperability, and integration with emerging tools such as digital product passports. The track also covers innovations in data inventory, automated assessment tools, and FAIR data standards, supporting more dynamic and transparent life cycle modelling.

Key topics:

• AI-enhanced life cycle modelling and decision support.
• Automated and dynamic prospective LCA modelling.
• Digital platforms for resource efficiency and circularity, and inventory data management.
• FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) life cycle data practices.
• Digital product passports and their role in advancing LCI quality and accessibility.

This track emphasises how life cycle assessment can directly support sustainability policies, industry strategies, and consumer decision-making processes in Europe. It highlights how LCA outcomes inform both policy development and industry practice by providing evidence for regulation, supporting innovation, and guiding responsible business strategies. The track also stresses the importance of integrated assessment approaches, combining environmental, social, and economic dimensions to provide a more comprehensive basis for decision-making. Beyond policy support, the track will focus on closing the gap between science and implementation, ensuring that methodological advancements translate effectively into practice. It further addresses the communication of results, enabling LCA to influence consumer behaviour and broader societal transitions. Application examples, such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and packaging, may illustrate how footprint and handprint approaches can be used to connect life cycle evidence with policy and industry decision-making.

Key topics:

• Life cycle approaches supporting EU Green Deal and Ecodesign Regulation, and related policies.
• LCA-driven innovation and ESG alignment, and industry strategies.
• Integration of economic aspects, such as cost assessments and life cycle costing, into decision support.
• Behavioural and consumer decision-making informed by LCA.
• Visualisation, stakeholder communication, and engagement.
• Environmental handprint as a complementary tool to footprint approaches in policy and industry contexts.
• Footprint and handprint from sectors such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and packaging.

This track promotes proactive sustainability management within bio-based and circular systems through advanced life cycle methodologies. It emphasises methodological improvements in LCIA, biodiversity and ecosystem services assessments, and the integration of social dimensions within bio-based value chains. The track will also highlight how bio-based and circular approaches can contribute to European competitiveness and resilience by reducing dependency on critical raw materials and creating new value from renewable resources. Contributions may include applications in textiles, packaging, and side-stream valorisation, which represent important contexts for translating circular economy principles into practice.

Key topics:

• LCIA advancements for bio-based and circular systems.
• Ecosystem services assessment in agricultural and bio-based value chains.
• Social LCA applications to bio-based and circular economies.
• LCI advances on land use, biodiversity, and carbon balance.
• Circular agricultural practices and sustainability steering.
• Application of life cycle approaches in textiles, packaging, and side-stream valorisation.

This track covers advanced methodologies for assessing and improving sustainability within critical raw materials and renewable energy systems. It emphasises strategies for resource efficiency, responsible sourcing, circular economy practices, and resilience in supply chains. The track also welcomes contributions on the integration of digitalisation, including digital twins and data-driven modelling, to improve monitoring of material flows, enhance transparency, and support more robust decision-making in resource management.

Key topics:

• Life cycle approaches for critical raw materials and energy systems.
• Resource efficiency strategies, circular economy approaches, urban mining, and responsible sourcing.
• Criticality analysis and resilience indicators.
• Dynamic LCIA for renewable energy systems (batteries, photovoltaics, hydrogen).
• Digitalisation and digital twins to strengthen critical raw material management.