 LCA4Regions first birthday is coming… Life Cycle Catalyst comes back to wrap up the results of this first year of cooperation. Project partners took forward their mission to apply and expand life cycle thinking in public policies for boosting a more efficient use of natural resources in our society.
The COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a productive period for LCA4Regions. Partners moved and held all the activities online. Despite their virtual format, the exchange of good practices, regional stakeholders’ events, and the second “Transnational Learning Journey” in the Navarre region have proved to be very fruitful. Throughout the second semester, we have mainly been working on the identification of LCA good practices for the thematic pillar “resource-efficiency”. This second edition of Life Cycle Catalyst brings you updates on our journey.
To jog your memory on the project, we share for the first time the video we prepared for the Interreg Project Slam 2020 storytelling competition: |
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LCA4Regions
"Nothing is created and nothing is destroyed, but everything is transformed"
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Good practices are arriving...
Partners collected the first series of good practices focused on one of the thematic pillars: LCA for resource-efficiency. The second Transnational Learning Journey was the occasion to learn from practical examples of the application of life cycle methods for the optimisation of resources. Two good practices are already available online and will soon be joined by more!
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Life cycle toolbox: the expert's eye (episode 2)
After introducing the importance of life cycle thinking for development and the many ways of planning for regional development, LCA4Regions expert Fritz Balkau tells us more about the concept of LCA and the most common form of LCA.
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Nice to meet you, COLLECTORS!
By coupling research and innovation, COLLECTORS results can help to remove barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in introducing life cycle methodologies applied to waste and material flows, one of the pillars of LCA4Regions.
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The Life Cycle route, second stop: Navarre
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A new (virtual) adventure for LCA4Regions in Navarre
LCA for sustainable regional development has been in the spotlight of the second “Transnational Learning Journey” of LCA4Regions in the Navarre region. This online three-day event prompted an inspiring exchange of experiences focused on the LCA concept and its relation to resource-efficiency, going through seven regional good practices, virtual study visits, and a final and fruitful peer-review session.
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¡Saludos desde Navarra!
Agurrak Nafarroatik!
Greetings from Pamplona, Navarre, where we “travelled” for the second Transnational Learning Journey. This Iberic country is the leading partner of LCA4Regions. Are you curious to discover the Spanish face of the project? Check the Navarre’s ID card out to meet the team, and to know more about the local perspective on life cycle methods and expected improvements for their policy instruments.
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Learning and connecting expertise: a peer review on Navarre's policy instruments
The policy scenario of Navarre is seen as a great achievement from the regional development point of view since both the policy instruments and regulatory frameworks developed by the region led to low carbon and circular economy plans for the long perspective until 2050. Life cycle – in particular LC assessment and LC management methods – plays a good part in these policy changes, for example by targeting energy reduction measures or carbon offsets.
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Opportunities and challenges of LCA4Regions
While analysing the state of the art of local policy making processes, regarding the use, supporting environment, and potential of LC methods, partners highlighted that often a wide range of natural resources and key industrial sectors are available and could play a positive role in resource efficiency plans. On the contrary, the high cost of LC tools is a significant threat for all the regions, together with political inertia. The current situation might be seen as a necessary wake-up call, that integrating life cycle thinking into regional decision-making is essential.
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The Carbon Metric Tool, a new way to look at waste
The Carbon Metric Tool.is decision-support tool that can help policymakers in taking environmental impact into consideration when they work on new policies and strategies. In November 2019, ACR+ launched the “More circularity, less carbon” (MCLC) campaign to mobilise members of its networks and decentralised authorities in the fight against climate change while taking into account the local carbon footprint and existing dynamics.
Their goal? Reduce the emissions linked with local resource management by 25% by 2025.
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LCA in resource-efficiency #1:
Agralco - the other richness of grape -
The first virtual study visit took participants to Agralco S. Coop, founded in 1962, by a group of wineries from Navarra and La Rioja. The factory processes the sub-products of winemaking (grape residue and wine lees) and the wines delivered by the wineries to obtain different types of alcohol, lime tartrate, enocyanin, grape seed oil, biomass (degreased seed flour and dry pomace), and fertilizers using LCA.
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LCA in resource-efficiency #2: Biosasun, life cycle assessment and carbon footprint of olive organic-ecological products
During the second study visit, Biosasun shared its experience about the use of life cycle methodologies as one of the essential tools to improve the best olive processes, calculating the ecological, economic and social impacts of the classic production of extra virgin olive oil, and develop new olive-based products.
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Think globally, act locally: snaps from the partners
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Navarre commits to sustainability and the fight against climate change through its policies
Navarra is committed to sustainability and the fight against climate change. Aimed at a new socioeconomic and energy model with a low carbon economy and adapted to the effects of climate, it seeks to be a point of reference for sustainable development, with an environmentally responsible and efficient territory in the use of resources, with a balance between people, their activity and the environment in which they are based.
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Lodskie Region, Poland. LCA and construction sector
IZODOM, a Polish company in the construction sector, inspired LCA4Regions project partners with its comprehensive approach to buildings and innovative perception of life cycle assessment. The company was able to boast excellent results in preventing CO2 emissions thanks to the technologies used, based on advanced methods of product life cycle analysis, careful selection of sub-suppliers and raw materials, as well as meticulous planning of production processes, and above all thanks to an excellent team of professionals.
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Environmental footprint and public procurements in Finland
Product Environmental Footprint is a suitable method to evaluate the climate impacts of public procurements, concludes a report of the Finnish Environment Institute. The report supports an ongoing EU Life project “Towards Carbon Neutral Municipalities and Regions in Finland”, in which 22 partners around Finland (including Pyhäjärvi Institute) are seeking for new tools for observing climate aspects in public operations.
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KTU, Lithuania. Climate change and political indifference
An article published by KTU comes back to the first Transnational Learning Joruney and the key-note speech made by Fritz Balkau to explore the complex issue of climate change and what has been and is (or not) done. In order to deal with climate change, we need to see the whole picture. Life cycle assessment is a way to plan the future by considering the total impact of people activities, not only what is seen before them.
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The LCA4Regions project - Improved Environment and Resource Efficiency through use of Life Cycle Instruments for implementation of regional policies of the European Union - aims at promoting life-cycle based approach in policy instruments thought the introduction of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology.
More information about the project on www.interregeurope.eu/lca4regions
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