Course
CHALLENGES AND TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT
Teacher
GÜLŞAH YILAN
The aim of this course is to present the challenges and tools to assess the three spheres of sustainability, namely environmental, economic, and social. By the end of this course, the students will have the opportunity to acquire:
Knowledge and understanding: The students will become familiar with the concepts of life cycle thinking, the current status of the sustainability assessment methods and the importance of the holistic assessment of sustainability.
Applying knowledge and understanding: The students will be able to use the tools on cutting edge topics such as, sustainable development, circular economy, etc.
Making judgements: The autonomy of judgment is developed through a critical study of the scientific literature on the topic. This ability will be particularly refined through interactive teaching, namely, the course will be organized as a combination of lectures, reading and group discussions.
Communication skills: The students will be able to explain clearly and comprehensively the issues addressed using the acquired knowledge in an appropriate manner. In particular, they will be able to deal with everyday working issues with appropriate terminology that will allow them to show communication and interaction skills, also useful for professional working environments.
Learning skills: The students will develop a critical ability to understand the results of sustainability assessments and will have the basic knowledge how to interpret environmental, economic and social impacts on various topics.
This lecture will present the challenges and tools to assess the three spheres of sustainability, namely environmental, economic, and social. Specifically, the lecture starts with the fact that the sustainability of an innovative product or process (and superiority to the current linear fossil-based economy) must be proved in a rigorous way, making use of improved methodologies and scientifically sound assessment tools regarding all relevant aspects. To this end, this lecture aims to provide an overview of the approaches for an environmental, economic, and social assessment of sustainability via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), respectively. Furthermore, a potential combination of these evaluation tools will be covered in a holistic way using, for example, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) or life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), closely in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Text book: Morone, P., D'Amato, D., Befort, N., & Yilan, G. (2023).The Circular Bioeconomy Theories and Tools for Economists and Sustainability Scientists, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009232586, Publisher: Cambridge University Press Print, 2023. €26.83
Scientific literature: Articles, essays and reports concerned with the above topics will be provided.
Further reading: The readings are not compulsory, but are recommended to improve your preparation and extend of your knowledge of the topics.
Baumann, H., & Tillman, A.M. (2004). The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA: An Orientation in Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and Application.
UNEP/SETAC. (2011). Towards a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment.
UNEP. (2020). Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations.
The course is organized as a combination of lectures, readings and writing of essays. The course will be conducted and related materials will be provided in English. The students are required to submit their assigned works and the final examination in English.
A self-assessment test is published on the course web page (didactic path) to optimize the preparation of the exam. This test will allow students to ascertain the degree and the actual understanding of the acquired knowledge.
The exam evaluation will be carried out by an oral examination. An adequate knowledge of the topics included in the self-assessment test is a valid basis for evaluating the knowledge of the students. Participation in the interactive activities (possible reading and writing of essays, group discussions and webinars) will be taken into consideration during the final grading.
The course aims at providing a basic understanding of the emerging sustainability discussions from an interdisciplinary point of view. The course aims to enhance the capabilities of economists, sustainability scientists, practitioners as well as sustainability managers on the cutting edge topics such as, sustainable development and circular economy.