Learning Outcomes
Competencies:
• Introducing sustainability into business models
• Application and implementation of Life Cycle Management (LCM) in industrial organizations
• Development of full LCA studies, perform basic sensitivity and uncertainty analysis and interpretation and communicate LCA results
• Expertise in analysing inventory models and in adapting models and software to specific application areas
• Developing new data and impact pathways
Knowledge:
• sustainability aspects to be considered when developing new technologies.
• Progress measurement (e.g. by defining performance indicators)
• Theoretical foundation of and handson practice with LCA methodology
Skills:
• Operate and communicate in multidisciplinary teams that seek to tackle and find innovative solutions to the complex sustainability challenges society and business face.
• Apply a number of tools (e.g. simple LCA, actor network analysis, strategy canvas etc.)
• Application of instruments e.g. ecolabels, ISO standards, Carbon Footprints, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems
• Application of common LCA software tools and databases
Programme
• Sustainability in management (5 ECTS)
A brief introduction to sustainability; the sustainability strategy and CS(E)R framework of companies, including Organisational aspects, legislative framework/Regulatory context; Business related aspects, i.e. Technology and innovation, Sustainability Innovation, Business models/Sustainable business models, etc.; Circular economy and how it is increasingly becoming a strategic area for companies, Regulatory tendencies, introduction of C2C, Recycling issues for different types of materials, potentials of industrial symbiosis etc.; Life Cycle Management; Introduction of LCA, identification of product systems and supply chain actors, stakeholders analysis etc.
• Sustainability challenges I, Systems thinking (7.5 ECTS)
Earth system & planetary boundaries; Production systems & system thinking; Business interaction systems
• Sustainability challenges II, Specific systems and capstone project (7.5 ECTS)
Transforming energy systems; Waste and recycling systems; Natural resources, food and agriculture systems
• Sustainable development of emerging technologies (5 ECTS)
Project based course designed to deepen students’ knowledge on sustainability aspects while creating innovations
• Life Cycle management in industry (5 ECTS)
Introduction to the concept of life cycle thinking and to Life Cycle Management (LCM) incl. its history; Examples of applications of LCM in industry and public organisations, incl. related to Circular Economy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Introduction to the implementation processes of LCM in an organisation, incl. design and use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); Review of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and their use as an assessment tool for environmental effects, incl. simplified versions such as Screening LCAs, MECO analyses (Materials, Energy, Chemicals, Other), and Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting/Carbon Footprinting; Introduction to stakeholder analysis and its application; Review of tools to support typical decisions in the various stages of the product life cycle - both quantitative calculation programs for environmental and rough economic assessments - and qualitative environmental tools such as design guidelines.
• Life Cycle Assessment of products and systems (10 ECTS)
Introduction of the life cycle concept and the history of life cycle assessment; Application of LCA in industry and public organisations; Level of institutionalisation of LCA in an organisation; Purpose of using LCA in industrial production and management in a life cycle perspective; Presentation of methodological foundation of LCA step by step from goal and scope definition over inventory analysis and assessment of impacts on environment, resources and working environment to interpretation and sensitivity analysis; Operational parameters representing environment, work environment, resource use (energy, materials etc.), and social aspects; Introduction to the practical applications of LCA (eco-labelling, environmental management, product development, policy development etc.) Introduction of software tools supporting the practical performance of LCA
• Advanced life-cycle assessment (5 ECTS)
Advanced product system modelling and construction and application of coupled parameterized product system models; Input-Output and hybrid-LCA in order to perform large scale assessments and for data gap filling; characterization models and differences among recognized Life-cycle impact assessment methodologies (e.g. ReCiPe, ILCD, Impact World+, etc.); model sensitivity and uncertainty; Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment (AESA)
• Health, environmental, and life cycle impacts in different assessment frameworks (5 ECTS)
overview, understanding and modeling steps of different impact assessment methods; principles, analysis and development of impact pathways and quantification of environmental fate, exposure and effects; rank and recommend best-in-class solutions based on quantified impacts and communicating results in a consistent, reliable and transparent way to decision makers and stakeholders
Teaching Methodology
Lectures, exercises, project-based group work, problem-based learning, case-based learning
Examination Methodology
Evaluations of exercises, reports, written assignments, presentations
