Alfio Strano

Social life cycle assessment and participatory approaches: A methodological proposal applied to citrus farming in Southern Italy.

UNLABELLED Recently, Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) has been developed under the methodological framework of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) to evaluate the social impacts that emerge during the overall life cycle of a product or service. There is not yet a standardized methodology for S-LCA as there is for environmental LCA (eLCA), due to the nature of social impacts that do not depend only on the processes themselves, but also on the behavior and context of actors (manufactures, consumers, local community members, etc.). One of the most critical steps in the application of S-LCA concerns the choice of criteria for selecting affected actors, impact categories, subcategories, and the taxonomic relation among them. Moreover, the importance (in terms of weight) of these impacts may be felt differently by affected actors, confirming the importance of the context within which impacts arise. In this sense, the integration of participatory tools can be useful in making the S-LCA more locally relevant. The aim of the present study is twofold. First, we will outline a methodology that combines S-LCA with two research tools. The first is the focus group, adopted from qualitative research. The second is the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), adopted from operational research, which belongs to the framework of Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). These have been used to make the S-LCA more locally relevant and to legitimate the criteria used. Second, we will test this methodology by applying it to a specific field, i.e., 3 production areas and 3 different crop systems of citrus growing in the Calabria region in Southern Italy. Citrus growing is one of the most important agricultural sectors at regional level, and it is also well known for issues of social concern, particularly in relation to immigrant workers. The results show a number of differences between cases and could offer useful insights to both local decision makers, such as agricultural entrepreneurs, and to those public decision makers that design and implement territorial planning strategies. Results have allowed the authors to rank the social performance of each case and to reflect on the most critical steps in conducting an S-LCA. KEY FINDINGS The integration of qualitative techniques and a multicriteria in sLCA allows catching local specificities by involving local experts and stakeholders Results highlighted that impact categories mostly contributed to performance differences Public deciders can be supported in deciding which farming practices should be encouraged, which social domains must be paid more attention, and where social problems mostly occur The methodological application allowed the authors also to foresee the feasibility of the integration of LCA and LCC results as inputs in sLCA to conduct a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA).

Life Cycle Assessment in the Fruit Sector

Fruit products are generally considered to be some of the less environmentally damaging foods in occidental diets. In fact studies investigating the carbon footprint of different food choices have reported that fruit is the category with the least environmental impact. However, these studies use data from environmental assessments of generic fruit production, which take no account of specific issues within orchard systems and fruit supply chains. Indeed, modern food production is very diverse, with high levels of specialisation and complexity. These features inevitably affect methodologies in the application of LCA to food products and agro-systems. It is therefore important to study what has already been done regarding standardisation of application protocols in order to make appropriate comparisons between products. In the present chapter, a review of LCA application in fruit systems is presented: papers from international journals, national journals, and conference proceedings have been reviewed. In particular, it can be assumed that mainstream research on the LCA applied to fruit production systems began around 2005; most of the papers were published in 2010 and 2012 in conjunction with international conferences on LCA in the agri-food sector. The review covers all the main criteria for conducting an LCA in fruit production systems. Specific issues considered are: aims and scopes, system boundaries, product considered, functional unit, data origin, life cycle-based methodology adopted, and environmental impact assessment method used. Furthermore this chapter investigates two aspects that are rarely considered in LCA studies of fruit systems: the role of nurseries in determine environmental impacts and the carbon storage properties of orchards.

Why social life cycle assessment is struggling in development

Social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) has been the last tool to be developed among its peers, environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). S-LCA is dedicated to the assessment of social impacts along all phases of the life cycle of a product or service, from planning to disposal, i.e., from cradle to grave (De Luca et al. 2015a, b). However, since the beginning in the 1990s, S-LCA has struggled to fully develop. It has not yet reached consensus on a standardized assessment procedure like LCA and LCC (this latter only for the building sector), affecting, in turn, the conceptual development of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) (Sala et al. 2013; Zamagni et al. 2013). Many methodological proposals have been set up but they are very different in terms of the following:

Eco-profiles and economic performances of a high-value fruit crop in southern Italy: a case study of bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso)

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the environmental and economic sustainability of bergamot, a citrus crop considered very significant for its long-standing peculiarities linked to a strong socio-economic role, a meaningful rooting in territorial heritage and an important function in environmental and landscape terms. A comparison between conventional and organic cropping systems has been carried out by means of life cycle assessment and life cycle costing tools in order to assess the impacts of different management practices. The results show positive performances of the organic production system, from both environmental and economic points of view. Furthermore, compared to similar studies of other citrus crops in the same area, bergamot cultivation can represent an economically sustainable choice for farmers with lower environmental impacts.

Environmental sustainability of the clementine production systems in Italy and Spain:. an approach based on Life Cycle Assessment

The first step towards a sustainable agriculture is to know the impacts that it generates. Although this is a complex task, since the environmental impact of agriculture depends not only on the production system (e.g. conventional or organic) and farmer practices, but also on the production site (soil and climate conditions). The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impact of clementine production farming systems (conventional, CFS, and organic, OFS) in Italy (Calabria region) and Spain (Comunidad Valenciana) through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The functional unit to which the results were referred was 1 hectare (ha -1 ). The system boundaries considered were from “farm gate to farm gate”, which included the production of the machinery, fertilizers and pesticides and also the field operations. The study is based on one year of primary data, collected from surveys of 19 Italian and 23 Spanish farmers. Ten impact categories were assessed by CML2001 and USEtox methods. No significant differences were found between CFS and OFS in both countries and the impacts present a high variability depending on the farm. In CFS the fertilizers production is the stage most impacting in almost all categories (Global Warming Potential: Italy 92% – Spain 89%; Acidification: Italy 91% – Spain 80%) with the exception for the Ecotoxicity in which field operations have a great contribution (Spain: 97%; Italy:

Strategie di sviluppo del settore ittico in un’importante marineria calabrese

The fishing sector in Calabria presents specific problematics according to the environmental and socio-economic differences of the various maritime compartments. Bagnara Calabra, in the Costa Viola area, plays an important role in terms of consistency of fisheries structures and professionals involved, with particular reference to catch swordfish. The aim of this study is the definition of an integrated development plan (idp) for the fishing sector of the area conducted through an interdisciplinary research. The idp, through specific analysis and with the involvement of local stakeholders, identifies possible lines of action in view of public funding sources provided at the regional level, particularly those related to eu Structural Funds. The idp includes different measures and interventions for structures and services, promoting a first integration process of the territorial interests and creating a synergy between public and private actors. The study promotes the development and diversification of the fishery activities in the area, and considers the possibility of establishing a fish production district in the Costa Viola area. Furthermore, the methodology outlines a process of territorial animation and sensibilization that could integrate the analysis already done and facilitate the definition of a broader Local Development Plan for the area carried out by a specific Coastal Action Group (cag), the public/private socio-economic partnerships introduced in the Fourth Axis of the European Fund for Fisheries in order to extend the Leader Initiative in fisheries and coastal management.

Evaluating the Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability of Agro-Food Systems Through Life Cycle Approaches

Abstract The topic of agro-food sustainability has been faced extensively, over the years, by researchers from different disciplines. The distinctive features of agro-food systems, in comparison with other fields, request necessarily a significant knowledge effort aimed to define new methodologies, by moving towards a holistic evaluation of problems. The life cycle conceptual framework and its operative and methodological instruments can offer useful guidelines and practical recommendations to address private and public subjects on sustainable pathways. This chapter provides an overview of life cycle tools: life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and social life cycle assessment by highlighting their meanings and principal characteristics and tracing a brief review of applications in agro-food contexts.

Life cycle assessment applied to different citrus farming systems in Spain and Italy

ABSTRACT The increasing environmental awareness of the actors of agro-food supply chains has led to the implementation of new tools to analyze the impacts generated during agricultural practices. The impacts depend not only on the production system but also on the farmer’s management choices, in terms of input allocation, and on the production site, in terms of soil and climate conditions. In order to assess the environmental impact of conventional and organic farming systems on citrus growing in Italy and Spain, a life cycle assessment method has been implemented. The results show the organic system to be more sustainable than conventional and they could be useful indicators for correcting and modifying agricultural practices.

Social Life Cycle Assessment for agricultural sustainability: comparison of two methodological proposals in a paradigmatic perspective

The purpose of the present research is to provide an explanation about the diversity of methodological approaches proposed until today for SLCA, tracking down its roots in the cultural and scientific heritage of social sciences, especially sociology and management sciences. This will help to shift the current methodological debate in SLCA to an epistemological level, through a critical review about the underlying paradigms that have been applied in SLCA literature until now. Secondly, the research highlights the possible consequences of different paradigmatic stances in SLCA by means of the application, to an important agricultural sector in Calabria, of two different methodological proposals set up from opposite paradigms (post-positivism and interpretivism) and compared in terms of research process and typology of insights.

L’approccio Life Cycle Costing (LCC) come strumento di supporto alle decisioni: la valutazione economico-finanziaria di un impianto di produzione del miele in Calabria

The aim of the research is to contribute to the experimentation of methodologies for cost effectiveness and economic sustainability assessment concerning investments in agri-food sector, and testing the applicability of the method to supply chains of minor produces. Elaborations have been made integrating Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methodology, that allows to analyse in detail outflows linked to every phase of lifespan investment (planning, implementation, management and disposal), and financial analysis through specific indicators consenting to formulate evaluations of economic sustainability. Results show that the integration of these methodologies can be a useful tool to support investment choices, but also to improve management performances, from an economic perspective, of actors operating in supply chains of minor produces. The application to the case study highlights how integrated LCC methods can be exported and applied to similar supply chains.