Institutional Repository
Technical University of Crete
Technical University of Crete
EN
|
EL
| URI: | http://purl.tuc.gr/dl/dias/302283A1-E073-4E01-88D0-23D9781FE19D | ||
| Year | 2018 | ||
| Type of Item | Master Thesis | ||
| License |
|
||
| Bibliographic Citation | Ifigeneia Nikolozaki, "Life cycle assessment: a sustainability tool for local authorities", Master Thesis, School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece, 2018 https://doi.org/10.26233/heallink.tuc.79163 | ||
| Appears in Collections |
Over the last decades Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widespread and constantly evolving tool for assessing the environmental impact of a product, a process or a system. It is a multi-criteria assessment methodology which covers a wide range of pressures and impacts associated with human health and well-being, ecosystems health and resources. At decision-makers’ level, it can be applied in order to compare alternatives or scenarios, but also to evaluate the impacts and benefits of different policy options.At a time when sustainable development is required, local authorities are called upon to take up the responsibility of their development planning within their own spatial boundaries. Life cycle tools, such as LCA, can be particularly useful to local authorities not only in their competency issues management but also in defining their long-term local sustainable development strategy. LCA has some key features that are particularly significant when evaluating issues under the prism of sustainability, such as: (i) life cycle perspective; (ii) possibility to identify the most significant burdens and lifecycle stages that contribute the most to the environmental impact; (iii) possibility to identify environmental hot spots; (iv) possibility to identify unnecessary burdens shifting between environmental impacts and also between the life cycle stages.Through a systematic review of scientific literature case studies on the implementation of the LCA methodology at local level are gathered and classified into a range of local authorities’ activities: water, waste management, infrastructure, mobility, land use planning, procurement etc. The plethora of findings substantiates the wide application of LCA methodology on local sustainable development. Finally, ways of adopting Life-Cycle-Thinking at a local level are proposed.
Copyright © DIAS 2013
