Sustainability (Impact) Assessment - for Assessing and Guiding in Research

1. Sustainability (Impact) Assessment- for Assessing and Guiding in Research Magdalena Svanström Associate Professor, Chemical Environmental Science Director, Chalmers Learning Centre

2. Rational • There is a need for methods that canassess the sustainability of different technologies or options (not onlyenvironmental performance as in life cycleassessments, LCAs) • Sustainabilityassessmentneeds input from different knowledge areas and stakeholders • Sustainabilityassessmentcan guide technologicaldevelopment • Sustainabilityassessmentcan be part of a learning process that improves the assessmentitself and alsobuildscompetence in individuals and organizations (education for sustainabledevelopment, ESD) • With a starting point in LCA methodology, and addingexperiences from ESD work, …

3. LCA – Life Cycle Assessment • Well-known methodology – international standards • Most suitable for existing technologies with existing data on processes and the larger system

4. The Life Cycle Environmental Impact Raw material acquisition Transports Emissions Processes Transports Resources Manufacturing Waste Transports Use Waste management

5. LCA methodology Procedures, System boundaries, Purpose Definition of Goal and Scope Inter-pretation Data on input and output for the system Classification Characterization Valuation ImpactAssessment InventoryAnalysis

6. Problems? • Normally, LCAs are performed by LCA experts, providingresultsneeded by othergroups • Transparency is often a requirement, but it is still verydifficult to understandifresults are relevant and whattheymean • If you are in earlyphases of technology development, you normallydon’tknowwhat the system looks like and you don’thaveany data • And if you want to address the full range of potential sustainabilityimplications, you need a broaderassessment

7. Ethanol from corn? A life cycle perspective is important

8. A holistic perspective is also important!

9. Sustainability (Impact) Assessment • Someframeworks for broaderassessmentexist – relymostly on an expanded LCA methodology • They almost alwaysrely on predetermined sets of indicators – not on a case-specificdescription of sustainabilitychallenges • Stakeholderinvolvement is oftenlow or non-existent • Results are ofteneven less transparent thanmost LCA studies

10. Example: The BASF methods

11. Example: The BASF SeeBalancemethod

12. Example: The BASF SeeBalancemethod

13. Example: The BASF SeeBalance method

14. Howcanwe make sustainabilityassessmentsomething that: • provides relevant and usefulresults, understandable by all? • can guide technicaldevelopment, also in earlydevelopmentphases? • leads to learning that willbothboost the assessment process and have spin-off effects in parallell and futuredevelopmentefforts? By stakeholderinvolvement and by using the sustainabilityassessment to alsoachieveeducation for sustainabledevelopment (ESD)

15. Commonalities in desiredlearningoutcomesin ESD Systemic thinking, holistic view Integration of different perspectives Problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, communication skills Participatory decision-making, life-long learning, commitment for active participation, self-discipline in order to become an effective change agent! “Learning outcomes for sustainable development in higher education”, Magdalena Svanström, Francisco Lozano-G and Debra Rowe, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 9(3), 339-351, 2008

16. To understand the opportunities and challenges in the complex system Natural systems Problem-solving Technical systems Complexity – systemicthinking Criticalthinking Economic systems Creativethinking The engineer Technology Human behaviour Communication and cooperation Societal structures Human needs Different perspectives Commitment

17. Analysis of industry needs of engineering competences in sustainable development- A comparison to the education at Chalmers University of TechnologyMaster Thesis in Industrial Ecology; Andreas Hanning, Anna Priem Abelsson AB Volvo, ABB, Akzo Nobel DHL, Electrolux, E.ON Ericsson, Hifab, Husqvarna IKEA, Scania, Skanska SKF, Sweco, Vattenfall, ÅF Text analysis Text analysis Student questionnaire Focus group Interviews (16 companies) Alumniquestionnaire

18. Some conclusions: Industry: • Sustainability is not something only for experts • All engineers need a comprehensive basic understanding of sustainability issues. • All engineers need a systems perspective, not only those working directly with sustainability issues. • All engineers should be aware of the underlying reasons as to why sustainability issues are important in the business world. Students: • This is prioritized and understood best by students that have SD embedded into their programs, not only single separate courses • Especially, the (company) economic (and social) perspective of sustainability is lacking

19. Guidingdevelopment in research usingsustainabilityassessment – methodology under development • Different stakeholders need to be involved in selecting indicators, in providing input and in interpreting results • All communication should focus not only on receiving input but also on achieving learning – important to reach many actors that may influence development

20. Stakeholder involvement in all steps Many loops throughout the project Definesustainability Define system boundaries, Select indicators Goal and Scope Interpretation, visualization Data/information on sustainability impacts Multi-criteria analysis InventoryAnalysis ImpactAssessment

21. Learningwhat is important in driving and how to manouver and manage the vehicle Deciding on the target, the direction and the route together Visualising the performance for important parameters - dashboard Empowered drivers

22. Sustainability assessment within the Woodi project (the wood based diaper) ? Material development Sustainability assessment WooDi ? ? Sustainability profiles (fictitious) ? Environment Environment Economy Economy Social Social

24. Literature studies provide input to discussions

25. Multicriteria analysis

26. Example: Last resultscommunicated ”No, that is too low, the use of incontinence diapers is much higher!” ”Oh, I thought population was decreasing and therefore also the need for diapers!” ”Good, competition from Asia and Europe is decreasing the need for simple fibre products” ”Hey, this is almost all our forests – and pulp is really only a by-product of timber production!” ”But what happens when we also get an increased need of bioenergy and biomaterials?” ”And what about food production globally? Can we really look at the use of just the Södra forest without considering global demands and trends?”

27. Some lessons learned • Time – a restrictedresource - discussions and learningtakes time • Make their time feeluseful - alwaysbringsomethinguseful - make sure that there is an exchange of information • Confidentiality – always a problem whencompanies, perhapsevencompetingcompanies, are involved • Company image – companies that have high sustainability ranking are the mostvulnerable • Make sure that you understandcompanygoals, culture, knowledgelevels, earlierexperiences etc.

28. Guidingdevelopment in research usingsustainabilityassessment- Somecurrentprojects WOOD-LIFE – More durable coated and glued wood products WooDi– The Wood-Based Diaper MATERIALS L CHEMICALS ENERGY ECOBUILD – Ecoefficient and innovative wood-based materials LIGNIMATCH - Lignin from wood

29. Sustainability assessment Technology development Learning

30. Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat, seventh secretary-general of the UN, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.”

31. seeeesd10.org

32. BACK-CASTING 1. Criteria for sustainability 2. Today’s situation in relation to these 3. Solutions; futurepossibilities (that fulfill the criteria) 4. Strategies for getting there – steps needed SCENARIO PLANNING 5. Test robustness of solutions and strategies • Identify factors that might be really important for your strategies and solutions • Put in graph: Impact vs Predictability. • Pick the ones with highestimpact - mostpredictableones are trends in all scenarios. Two (unrelated) with lowpredictabilitybecomecriticalfactors. • Describe extremes of the criticalfactors. • Make four scenarios using ”trends” in all and different ”criticalfactor” extremes. • Test your solutions and strategiesagainst the four scenarios - Which work well in all scenarios? Whatcan be changed in order to make the strategies and solutions more robust?