Spatialization in LCA : interests, feasibility and limits of eco-design

The EcoSD network is a French association whose main objective is to encourage collaboration between academic and industrial researchers so they may create and spread advanced and multidisciplinary knowledge in the eco-design fields at national and international levels. EcoSD proposes several actions with the support of the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and the French Ministry of Industry :

• Structuring EcoSD research activities in France to take advantage of the expertise of more than 200 members of this research network
• Developing knowledge among researchers in the eco-design fields, particularly better training of Ph.D. students, by organizing relevant training courses for different themes in eco-design
• Developing new methods, tools and databases to achieve complex systems design, compatible with the principle of sustainable development
• Initiating the « EcoSD label » to acknowledge the quality and inclusion of sustainable development in training, research programs, research projects and symposiums
• Helping interactive collaboration between researchers and industrial partners by organizing quarterly research seminars in Paris and an annual workshop.

Approximately 100 researchers from industry, academia and government institutions participated in the 2017 workshop on « Spatialization in LCA » and had the opportunity to exchange with experts. The associated publication contains a synthesis of the main contributions presented during this workshop.

The objectives of the workshop were to cross different visions, methods and case studies gathering the most recent researches in France, Canada and Luxembourg. Researchers were invited to present their work in various application fields : agricultural, construction, waste management and urban planning. An industrial from energy sector and a regional authority were also invited to explain how they consider spatial information in their actual practices. This book contains a synthesis of the main contributions presented during this workshop divided into three sections : existing and advanced tools, integrated approach, and, perspectives for spatialization in LCA.