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– To develop sustainable ways of living common practice through overall
systems change
– To promote demand for and enable use of sustainable infrastructures (e.g.
related to transportation)
– To achieve well-being and improve quality of life for all through awarenessraising, education and capacity-building across all sectors of society (SLE 2015 )
Capabilities on LCSM have been acquired by professionals in companies in
industrialized countries as well as consultants and academics working for these
companies. Actors in emerging economies are beginning to develop those capacities as well, supported by training programmes like the CMM implementation in
developing countries between 2012 and 2013 (Swarr et al. 2015a , b ). While local
capacities are now available in the developing world, especially in rapidly growing
and emerging economies, the implementation and changes of current practices
toward improved performance is still insuffi cient (Valdivia et al. 2014 ; Sonnemann
et al. 2015 ). This chapter seeks to present the current conditions for mainstreaming
LCSM based on an analysis of available knowledge and infrastructure on life cycle
approaches in 18 selected rapidly growing and emerging economies based on four
criteria.
3 Furthermore, the chapter aims to discuss the results, propose a framework
to develop LCSM capacities and provide conclusions and an outlook with
recommendations.
2 Potential for Mainstreaming Life Cycle Sustainability
Management in Developing Countries: A Global Status
Assessment
The term “mainstream” can be understood as “ideas, attitudes, or activities that are
shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional” (Oxford Dictionaries
2015 ) or as “products and services readily available and appealing to the general
public, as opposed to being of interest only to a very specifi c subset of the public”
(Business Dictionary 2015 ). The authors acknowledge that the connotation of
mainstreaming can be negative if the ideas, attitudes, products or activities ignore
the individual and group values that are essential in free societies or, in a broader
sense, that become obstacles in a path toward sustainable development. In order to
reach substantial socio-economic changes in societies, mainstreaming is a key
instrument, but cultural diversity and different backgrounds need to be taken into
account before designing and implementing measures.
To illustrate the existence of different mainstreaming perceptions in a country
and the ways to implement changes, the case of India is described as follows.
3 (a) training activities in place, (b) local LCA studies available, (c) national LCA databases
in place, (d.1) an active national network and aspects such as (d.2) size of the network and (d.3)
gender balance.
19 Mainstreaming Life Cycle Sustainability Management in Rapidly Growing…
– To develop sustainable ways of living common practice through overall
systems change
– To promote demand for and enable use of sustainable infrastructures (e.g.
related to transportation)
– To achieve well-being and improve quality of life for all through awarenessraising, education and capacity-building across all sectors of society (SLE 2015 )
Capabilities on LCSM have been acquired by professionals in companies in
industrialized countries as well as consultants and academics working for these
companies. Actors in emerging economies are beginning to develop those capacities as well, supported by training programmes like the CMM implementation in
developing countries between 2012 and 2013 (Swarr et al. 2015a , b ). While local
capacities are now available in the developing world, especially in rapidly growing
and emerging economies, the implementation and changes of current practices
toward improved performance is still insuffi cient (Valdivia et al. 2014 ; Sonnemann
et al. 2015 ). This chapter seeks to present the current conditions for mainstreaming
LCSM based on an analysis of available knowledge and infrastructure on life cycle
approaches in 18 selected rapidly growing and emerging economies based on four
criteria.
3 Furthermore, the chapter aims to discuss the results, propose a framework
to develop LCSM capacities and provide conclusions and an outlook with
recommendations.
2 Potential for Mainstreaming Life Cycle Sustainability
Management in Developing Countries: A Global Status
Assessment
The term “mainstream” can be understood as “ideas, attitudes, or activities that are
shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional” (Oxford Dictionaries
2015 ) or as “products and services readily available and appealing to the general
public, as opposed to being of interest only to a very specifi c subset of the public”
(Business Dictionary 2015 ). The authors acknowledge that the connotation of
mainstreaming can be negative if the ideas, attitudes, products or activities ignore
the individual and group values that are essential in free societies or, in a broader
sense, that become obstacles in a path toward sustainable development. In order to
reach substantial socio-economic changes in societies, mainstreaming is a key
instrument, but cultural diversity and different backgrounds need to be taken into
account before designing and implementing measures.
To illustrate the existence of different mainstreaming perceptions in a country
and the ways to implement changes, the case of India is described as follows.
3 (a) training activities in place, (b) local LCA studies available, (c) national LCA databases
in place, (d.1) an active national network and aspects such as (d.2) size of the network and (d.3)
gender balance.
19 Mainstreaming Life Cycle Sustainability Management in Rapidly Growing…