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Abstract

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On August 30, 2001, the first in a series of planned
global workshops on Life Cycle Management was organized in
Copenhagen by UNEP in cooperation with dk-TEKNIK. The
workshop provided an international forum to share experiences
on LCM. The specific purpose of the workshop was to define
the focus of a possible UNEP programme on Life Cycle Management
under the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. Life Cycle
Management has been defined by the SETAC Europe Working
Group on LCM as an integrated framework of concepts,
techniques and procedures to address environmental, economic,
technological and social aspects of products and organizations
to achieve continuous environmental improvement from a life
cycle perspective. Life Cycle Management has been requested
as an additional component for the Life Cycle Initiative by business
organizations as well as governments in order to provide
practical approaches for management systems in this area. The
breakout groups of the workshop focussed on the role of integrating
environmental management practices, concepts and tools
in a life cycle perspective, on the integration of socio-economic
aspects of sustainability in life cycle approaches, including the
definition of adequate indicators for these aspects, on the communication
strategies to promote life cycle thinking, and on the
demand side of LCA. The workshop closed with a consensus
that the UNEP/ SETAC Life Cycle Initiative should really include
a programme on Life Cycle Management with the proposed
areas of work. UNEP in cooperation with SETAC should
function as a global catalyser of knowledge transfer and cooperation
on life cycle approaches. The key issue behind all activities
would be the promotion of Life Cycle Thinking since all
break-out groups mentioned the importance of well-prepared
communication strategies. Another interesting outcome of the
workshop is the clear interest of different stakeholders in the
consideration of social and institutional effects of products, in
addition to environmental and economic impacts, i.e. a sustainable
development perspective.