independence, entrepreneurship, and generally encouraging the evolution to more
sustainable forms of business that favour use of local materials and labour. Greater
reliance on renewable energy is an important centrepiece of the South Australian
scenarios, compensating for the closure of fossil fuelled power stations there, and
present use of fossil fuel for heating.
The use of MFA as illustrated in this presentation covered not only energy but
also various materials flows that have implications for sustainability. The use of
MFA gives greater reliability and certainty to scenario development, giving public
policy makers more confidence in the various future visions that circular economy
scenarios attempt to provide.
The implications of the materials flow calculations of the scenarios are now
being evaluated by the Government with an expectation of early adoption and
application.
Vanessa Pasquet described the life cycle management framework put in place by
the French region ‘Hauts de France’ where various industry sectors become more
deeply linked with their supply chains by using life cycle management procedures.
These include methods such as environmental design, eco-labels, environmental
product declarations (EPD) and advanced building standards. Similar tools can also
be applied to other industry sectors such fisheries, agriculture, textiles among others.
Life cycle assessment provides much of the essential information on which the
management tools are based. In view of the breadth of the sustainability agenda, a
variety of LCA procedures may be necessary to capture all the key issues of regional
concern. It is also important that all stakeholders along the value chains are identified
during the LCA process to ensure adequate co-operation in implementation.
The life cycle management framework described by Pasquet is strongly oriented
towards collective action rather than authoritarian regulation, although the latter is
eventually needed to ensure that all players have the same targets. The building of
stakeholder alliances depends on credible information (from the LCA process),
identification of common objectives for all the stakeholders, effective metrics to
measure progress and of remaining hotspots, communication procedures adapted to
the needs of supply-chain stakeholders, and transparency in monitoring and
reporting the outcomes. In many cases further education and training of
supply-chain partners may be needed.
Sinéad O’Keefe described an initiative by the by the Helmholtz-Centre for
Environmental Research GmbH—UFZ to model the industrial infrastructure and
stakeholder collaborations necessary for greater use of locally sourced organic
material (mainly wood products) in the eastern regions of Germany. The region
already has an extensive chemicals industry based on imported raw materials (mainly
gas) but also has extensive forest lands and agricultural outputs. The perspective of
establishing a regional bio-economy as part of an industrial transformation process
would have many advantages.
The study considers the sustainability and social impacts of a number of product
mixes that could be based on a regional bio-economy rather than on imported
materials as at present. Various life cycle assessment tools underpin this initiative;
materials flow analysis, life cycle assessment, social impact assessment, and
Life Cycle Approaches to Sustainable Regional Development
435
sustainable forms of business that favour use of local materials and labour. Greater
reliance on renewable energy is an important centrepiece of the South Australian
scenarios, compensating for the closure of fossil fuelled power stations there, and
present use of fossil fuel for heating.
The use of MFA as illustrated in this presentation covered not only energy but
also various materials flows that have implications for sustainability. The use of
MFA gives greater reliability and certainty to scenario development, giving public
policy makers more confidence in the various future visions that circular economy
scenarios attempt to provide.
The implications of the materials flow calculations of the scenarios are now
being evaluated by the Government with an expectation of early adoption and
application.
Vanessa Pasquet described the life cycle management framework put in place by
the French region ‘Hauts de France’ where various industry sectors become more
deeply linked with their supply chains by using life cycle management procedures.
These include methods such as environmental design, eco-labels, environmental
product declarations (EPD) and advanced building standards. Similar tools can also
be applied to other industry sectors such fisheries, agriculture, textiles among others.
Life cycle assessment provides much of the essential information on which the
management tools are based. In view of the breadth of the sustainability agenda, a
variety of LCA procedures may be necessary to capture all the key issues of regional
concern. It is also important that all stakeholders along the value chains are identified
during the LCA process to ensure adequate co-operation in implementation.
The life cycle management framework described by Pasquet is strongly oriented
towards collective action rather than authoritarian regulation, although the latter is
eventually needed to ensure that all players have the same targets. The building of
stakeholder alliances depends on credible information (from the LCA process),
identification of common objectives for all the stakeholders, effective metrics to
measure progress and of remaining hotspots, communication procedures adapted to
the needs of supply-chain stakeholders, and transparency in monitoring and
reporting the outcomes. In many cases further education and training of
supply-chain partners may be needed.
Sinéad O’Keefe described an initiative by the by the Helmholtz-Centre for
Environmental Research GmbH—UFZ to model the industrial infrastructure and
stakeholder collaborations necessary for greater use of locally sourced organic
material (mainly wood products) in the eastern regions of Germany. The region
already has an extensive chemicals industry based on imported raw materials (mainly
gas) but also has extensive forest lands and agricultural outputs. The perspective of
establishing a regional bio-economy as part of an industrial transformation process
would have many advantages.
The study considers the sustainability and social impacts of a number of product
mixes that could be based on a regional bio-economy rather than on imported
materials as at present. Various life cycle assessment tools underpin this initiative;
materials flow analysis, life cycle assessment, social impact assessment, and
Life Cycle Approaches to Sustainable Regional Development
435