Objective
LCA approaches are part of the broader field of sustainability assessment often connected to different disciplines. To increase the efficacy of sustainability decision making, LCA is to take into account broader externalities, broader interrelations and different application/user needs with often conflicting requirements (dynamic models; integration of environmental, economic, and social aspects; accessibility and user friendliness, etc). Roughly, development should be oriented to:
- "deepening", to improve reliability and usability by more adequately incorporating empirical mechanisms
- "broadening", to improve the significance, by expanding the scope of sustainability impacts and better linking to neighbouring models
- "leaping forward" by a revision/enrichment of foundations, through the crossing with other disciplines for sustainability evaluation.
CALCAS develops analysis and development along two lines: 1 science framework; 2 user needs (Industry, Research organisations, Government, Consumers, NGO s); the results are crossed to draw up mid-long-term research lines and road maps, including measures for implementation. Advanced results will often not be in line with the current ISO14040 series definitions and requirements on LCA, creating a need f or reformulation. Partnership combines LCA "producers" and "users" and involves, with different responsibilities, a significant and highly qualified part of European scientists. Thus, the project promotes the networking both "cross", among the scientific sectors, and "vertical" between them and users. Expert working groups, cross-fertilisation workshops, and an open consultation of all scientific sectors and users, based on a Blue Paper combining intermediate proposals are inputs to the final results, both as described models and tools and as research tasks to be accomplished. They also promote dissemination and joint actions for training, knowledge exchanges and common projects.
Fields of science
Keywords
Call for proposal
FP6-2005-GLOBAL-4
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Funding Scheme
CA - Coordination actionCoordinator
ROMA
Italy