Perspectives on Social LCA: Contributions from the 6th International Conference

Description

This book gives a selection of contributions from the 6th Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) Conference in Pescara, Italy. S-LCA is a social (real and potential) impact assessment method that aims to drive improvements in order to increase the value of products and services. It helps organizations to plan better, implement more effectively, and promote scale initiatives. More in general, the assessment activity also facilitates accountability and supports stakeholder communication. Consumers are greatly aware of the provenance of the goods they purchase. They have greater access to product information than ever before, also thanks to the new digital platforms. They are also empowered to make more responsible purchase decisions about what concerns sustainability aspects. Therefore the need to linger on the social aspects has been emerging recently. Although the business evolution of environmental methods and metrics has advanced significantly over the past decades, tools and metrics to estimate the social aspects of products and services are in progress. In this volume several sections provide methodological developments and tool focus, contextualizing S-LCA scientifically and explore the fields of applications. Through current development (conferences, articles, seminars and industry group publications), the method is spreading, evolving and gaining in maturity. However, it still is an evolving field, and main developments foresee, both at the level of methodology and results, interpretation and communication in order to find a path forward. S-LCA has been changing since the beginnings. From our observations as educators, researchers, practitioners, and peer reviewers in the S-LCA community, there are trends that are of importance us. Front Matter ....Pages i-viii Functional Unit Definition Criteria in Life Cycle Assessment and Social Life Cycle Assessment: A Discussion (Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Manuela D’Eusanio, Andrea Raggi, Luigia Petti)....Pages 1-10 Towards a Taxonomy for Social Impact Pathway Indicators (Bo P. Weidema)....Pages 11-23 A New Scheme for the Evaluation of Socio-Economic Performance of Organizations: A Well-Being Indicator Approach (Silvia Di Cesare, Alfredo Cartone, Luigia Petti)....Pages 25-34 Structure of a Net Positive Analysis for Supply Chain Social Impacts (Catherine Benoit Norris, Gregory A. Norris, Lina Azuero, John Pflueger)....Pages 35-43 Weighting and Scoring in Social Life Cycle Assessment (Breno Barros Telles do Carmo, Sara Russo Garrido, Gabriella Arcese, Maria Claudia Lucchetti)....Pages 45-52 Beyond a Corporate Social Responsibility Context Towards Methodological Pluralism in Social Life Cycle Assessment: Exploring Alternative Social Theoretical Perspectives (Henrikke Baumann, Rickard Arvidsson)....Pages 53-64 Sustainable Guar Initiative, Social Impact Characterization of an Integrated Sustainable Project (Marie Vuaillat, Alain Wathelet, Paul Arsac)....Pages 65-73 Generation, Calculation and Interpretation of Social Impacts with the Social Analysis of SEEbalance® (Peter Saling, Ana Alba Perez, Peter Kölsch, Thomas Grünenwald)....Pages 75-94 Proposal of Social Indicators to Assess the Social Performance of Waste Management Systems in Developing Countries: A Brazilian Case Study (Valeria Ibañez-Forés, María D. Bovea, Claudia Coutinho-Nóbrega)....Pages 95-103 Social Assessment in the Design Phase of Automotive Component Using the Product Social Impact Assessment Method (Laura Zanchi, Alessandra Zamagni, Silvia Maltese, Rubina Riccomagno, Massimo Delogu)....Pages 105-117 Social Life Cycle Assessment in Agricultural Systems – U.S. Corn Production as a Case Study (Markus Frank, Thomas Laginess, Jan Schöneboom)....Pages 119-129