Life Cycle Approaches to Sustainable Regional Development

Stefania Massari, Guido Sonnemann, Fritz Balkau, Stefania Massari, Guido Sonnemann, Fritz Balkau

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138940604
• eBook ISBN: 9781317378525
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Urban Planning & Landscaping

Life Cycle Approaches to Sustainable Regional Development explains the ways life cycle methodologies and tools can be used to strengthen regional socio-economic planning and development in a more sustainable manner. The book advocates the adoption of systematic and long-term criteria for development decision-making, taking into account the full life cycle of materials and projects. It describes life cycle practices from both a scientific and a practitioner point of view, highlighting examples and case studies at regional level. The applications are relevant to key economic sectors, as well as for internal planning and administrative procedures. It concludes with a synthesis chapter that distills the key messages from the authors into practical guidance points on how best to use such approaches to enhance sustainability in regional development. The book is essential reading for regional and urban planners who are integrating life cycle thinking into their policy regimes, as well as for researchers working to further evolve life cycle methodologies.

Part I
Introduction – Providing the Context

1
Summary

This book is about sustainability, or, more precisely, it is about how to move towards sustainability at the regional level through the use of methodologies and tools that are based on life cycle thinking. The book has two chief axes of vision – the capacities of various regional actors to address the sustainability challenge more systematically and the applicability of various life cycle procedures and approaches to help achieve this goal.

The book is divided into six interrelated parts – Introduction, Methodologies, Implementation instruments, Regional applications, Economic sectors, and a Synthesis and Summary – giving a glimpse of how life cycle approaches can support sustainable, socio-economic development at regional level. No major attempt has been made to describe the sustainable development agenda in detail, nor has there been a lengthy description of regional frameworks and administration. These aspects are woven into the various chapters in a general way, and further details can be found in specialist literature on these subjects. Regions are very loosely defined as territorial entities that have a high degree of control over their economic, social, and environmental futures. The definition does not include clusters of nation states grouped into global regions, as in, for example, UN ‘regions’, even if some of the methodologies could be interesting also at that level.

The Introductory part explores some important issues that form the backdrop to regional sustainability. The editors – Balkau, Massari, and Sonnemann – describe how regional development is influenced by the globalised nature of the world economy, technology development, and demographic changes. Regions need to have an eye on both their own sustainability and that of the world as a whole, as regions cannot exist independent of their native countries or of the wider global context. Porrini and Striani describe the origins and actual situation regarding regional sustainability. They discuss the framework as well as the key drivers at the macro level, where the priorities and guidelines originate, their relationship with supranational frameworks in the UN (also mentioning policies at EU level), and how they cascade to lower levels in regions within nation states. As territorial development depends on the degree and conditions of financing, Balkau and Rivenbark explore the way some current financing principles and mechanisms can support sustainability policies in regions and in local government. They highlight that regional governments themselves need to exercise financial responsibility if they are to manage sustainability programmes that have positive longer-term outcomes in line with the strategic vision of the region. They describe some financing and investment mechanisms specifically designed to assist in the uptake of high-profile sustainability programmes such as biodiversity and energy. Sustainable investments consider the entire project life cycle, not just the productive phase of service delivery and profitability. As business and industry will always be the motor of economic development, Sonnemann and Balkau review the principles of resource efficiency as an important factor in simultaneously reducing environmental (and social) impacts, while concurrently improving production efficiencies. Such an approach aims to achieve, to the maximum extent possible, the often talked about win–win strategies in development, in particular through innovation and optimisation of technologies and consumption patterns. They also highlight the importance of the current high level of resource and product consumption worldwide as a causal factor of the serious environmental stress that is compromising the future of many social and economic systems. In this context, they also introduce the concept of resource criticality, meaning a situation where an expected shortage of certain key resources – mineral and agricultural, for example – limits the possibility of technological solutions to adapt to future challenges. Life cycle management (LCM) refers to the efficient management of the entire span of the life of a product or process so as to properly take account of the upstream and downstream causes of both environmental and socio-economic impacts. LCM is thus indispensable in preventing point source intervention from merely shifting the problem up or down the life chain. Balkau and Sonnemann review the place of LCM in a regional framework, highlighting the experience so far in business and industry but with applicability also at regional level. They explain that, far from being an approach for product optimisation only, LCM can contribute meaningfully to more effective project planning and management, administration, and financing.

Part II examines the Analytical basis for life cycle approaches. Much of this part deals with various assessment techniques that provide better information for decision-making. Analytical techniques have been developed for a variety of purposes, many of them relevant to the activities that support regional development. Ruberti and Massari commence with a description of ecological footprinting as a way of understanding a region’s current level of sustainability. Footprints may be calculated for specific issues of importance or for the entire sustainability agenda (the latter is more difficult to interpret). The footprint concept is useful at many levels, including that of an individual, but regional bodies will find that footprinting data are especially useful in highlighting action priorities for sustainability policies. Gemechu, Butnar, Llop, Castells, and Sonnemann continue by highlighting the value of environmentally extended input–output tables. Such tables allow a region to better understand the flow of materials and pollutants, thus helping to set priorities for intervention and education programmes. In a related chapter, Femia and Campanale expand on this concept by explaining how material flow accounts provide a detailed appreciation of substances and materials, and their embedded impacts, that flow through the region. Insofar as most imported materials in a region end up as local wastes that need to be disposed of properly, such studies contribute significantly to the improvement of waste management, with subsequent benefits for the long-term health of the population. In view of the complexity of individual materials and products now in common use in society, their proper management at national, regional, and local levels depends on a detailed understanding of the life cycle of such materials and of their impacts. Such knowledge is fundamental in preparing and understanding eco-labels and product declarations, as discussed by other authors in Part III.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is described in some detail by Tassielli, Renzulli, and Notarnicola. LCA can be used to clarify the environmental and other impacts of selected materials and products that we purchase or approve for use, as well as which targets might be affected. In subsequent chapters, we see that the scope of LCA can be expanded beyond a purely product focus. In two of these, Jeswani, Loubet, and Sonnemann explain in more detail how LCA techniques can be used to understand regional carbon emissions, both direct and indirect, and also water use and release. Both these issues are major preoccupations for many regions, with a complex set of causes and effects that need careful evaluation. Whereas many LCA studies assume a static situation, Laratte and Sonnemann discuss the way in which dynamic and spatial modelling can contribute insights into how a product system functions and the dependency on time and space of such assessments. Mazijn takes the assessment methodologies to the next level by showing how additional issues can be incorporated into conventional assessment procedures to produce a ‘total life cycle sustainability assessment’. This includes social and economic impacts, in addition to the traditional environmental assessments. The expanded method can thus be used to give a bigger picture of the sustainability situation.

The last chapter in this part looks beyond a purely materials flow picture. Martínez-Blanco, Inaba, and Finkbeiner expand the LCA horizon to describe the new procedure of organisational life cycle assessment (O-LCA), which allows calculation of an organisation’s sustainability footprint. Although this calculation still includes a look at materials and products handled by the organisation, it specifically examines the functioning of the organisation itself – its consumption patterns and waste flows, its management of project cycles, and so on. In view of the broad strategic reach of regional administrations, this technique can be invaluable in identifying the success and challenges of meeting sustainability goals at the regional level. Taken together, the assessment methodologies described in this part can provide valuable information on sustainability hot spots to underpin longer-term regional planning.

Part III, on Converting analysis into life cycle tools, looks at the way in which intervention and action tools can be constructed to act on the data from the various assessment procedures previously mentioned. As a way of building confidence in the reliability of sustainability-oriented tools, Reho and Wiche describe the international systems of standardisation and certification that provide a common framework for such tools. They explain how the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has provided a family of standards and recommendations designed to ensure compatible application of management tools and procedures around the world. Among the many intervention tools, eco-design is a potent concept to avoid the many impacts implicitly embedded in the various products with which we surround ourselves. Walker explains the principles of eco-design that can be applied at many levels, by a variety of actors. As an extension to this, Walker also describes the use of eco-labels as a recognition instrument for well-designed, responsibly manufactured products. We have already mentioned how eco-labels depend critically on a reliable application of LCA. It is pointed out that eco-labels have value for regions promoting their own sustainable products, linking local suppliers with distant customers who share the same values. The use of environmental product declarations, as described by Fet, takes labelling one step further through a formal procedure to reveal the embedded impacts in major products, allowing potential purchasers an insight into the total footprint of the items in question. The above play a fundamental role in (sustainable) purchasing decisions. Balkau describes the growth of sustainable purchasing around the world, as customers everywhere – individual and corporate – increasingly specify sustainability characteristics they want to see embedded in the products they purchase. Sustainable purchasing links producers with ‘green’ end-users, including agencies that have in-house environmental objectives. Sustainable supply-chain management is already practised by major corporations. Green purchasing can also add sustainability factors to the criteria in common use by public bodies and civil society. Beyond helping to meet sustainability objectives, green purchasing ensures significant economic outcomes for regional organisations by achieving best value over the asset life cycle, rather than just lower initial cost. It also creates a basis for more innovative local industrial and commercial development.

Further chapters extend the focus beyond physical products. Many regions are responsible for industrial promotion and land management. Vallés explains how the clustering of companies in industrial zones creates significant opportunities for collaboration on sustainability (and of course also production) issues. Such an industrial ecology approach can facilitate meaningful service linkages with the surrounding districts and expand the development dimension, beyond the boundary of the zone and over a greater time period. The expected stability of an industrial zone over an extended time frame allows more permanent links to be established with the wider community, including local suppliers and service companies, all of whom have an interest in a longer cycle for industrial development.

Toma, Massari, and Miglietta describe the application of measures to enhance natural resource efficiency and economic productivity within industrial zones, but also for activities elsewhere. A variety of procedures and tools have been designed in recent years to achieve more with less, effectively reducing waste and other impacts and creating more profitable (and, hence, sustainable) companies. This chapter focuses on an economic analysis of resource efficiency that allows the design of more productive industrial systems and activities, linking also with the economic analysis in the later Chapter 25. Beltramo expands the life cycle vision to look at environmental and landscape management systems that allow regions a better appreciation of the visual quality of their land. This is a vital factor for economic activity sectors such as tourism and recreation, as well as enhancing a region’s attractiveness for companies more generally.

When applied in a life cycle framework, the above constitutes a powerful set of instruments for regions to work towards their sustainability objectives and targets. The application of these life cycle approaches is described in more detail in the following two parts.

Part IV gives concrete examples of how life cycle-based approaches can be used at regional levels. Several chapters are based on actual cases studies where an assessment step preceded the intervention and programmatic phase. The ecological footprinting concept in particular is a powerful tool for analysis and communication to focus attention on issues and their priorities. Miglietta, De Leo, and Toma examine the policy perspective of ecological footprints with a view to a closer integration with regional development objectives. Such an analysis can also provide input to an economic analysis of regional sustainability, as described by Szita Tóthné and Roncz for the case of Hungary. Adibi et al. describe a case study from northern France where an initiative to revitalise the regional economy is taking place. This uses LCA applied to the building sector as a way to foster local innovation throughout the supply chain. This chapter is complemented by the analysis of Loiseau and Roux, who look at how LCA can take a geographical focus instead of a product focus. Sonnemann et al. use site-dependent life cycle impact assessment to identify health impacts from fixed industrial installations (in this case, a waste incinerator). Bezama describes a similar study in Chile to give decision-makers in remote regions improved in-depth, life cycle-oriented information about waste disposal options. Zhang and Mekonnen, and Jeswani present examples of footprint studies for water and energy, respectively, looking at allocation issues and fuel substitution options that are of direct interest to many regions. Mazijn expands the earlier description of sustainable procurement in Chapter 19 to show how life cycle costing can be an important and desirable element in purchasing decisions. Vallés also expands on his earlier chapter, describing actual examples of sustainable management of eco-parks in several different regions in Europe and elsewhere. Finally, Whitbread-Abrutat’s description of the challenges and means of redevelopment of degraded areas (many regions have these) builds on the earlier chapter by Beltramo by showing how a consideration of the land’s life cycle (and that of its occupiers) is important to achieving a satisfactory and sustainable outcome to such redevelopment.

Part V looks more closely at a number of selected economic sectors to see how the integrated use of life cycle approaches can help identify the most effective potential actions and make choices from among multiple sustainability options. Regional ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of boxes
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I: Introduction – Providing the context
• Part II: Analytical basis for life cycle approaches
• Part III: Converting analysis into life cycle tools
• Part IV: Using life cycle approaches at regional level
• Part V: Integrated use of life cycle approaches in key economic sectors
• Part VI: Life cycle perspectives for regional socioeconomic development
• Index