Page 92 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

4.5 Outlook: Perspective and opportunities 87
sustainability assessment. An interval gray relational analysis method was then applied for
the prioritization activity. The results obtained from a system analysis of alternatives, giving
rise to a prioritized, multicriteria assessment, is regarded as a robust and reliable decision-
support tool, highlighting the vocation of LCSA to be applied at the design stage.

4.5.3 Broadening of impacts and scope
In a context of growing application and implications of the LCSA framework, the broad-
ening of impacts and scope addressed by the tool (or set of tools) and how to harmonize a
deeper and wider assessment are widely regarded as open challenges (Schaubroeck and
Rugani, 2017). Guin’ee (2016), for instance, suggests that LCSA should not be limited to
the product or organization’s level, but should be used also for analysis encompassing entire
systems and economies.
In addition to this, due to the extreme complexity of systems underpinned even to the sim-
plest LCSA, dynamicity of models and results and their adaptability are key elements for the
overall reliability of the assessment. As both natural and anthropic systems are evolutionary
by definition, a static LCSA may only return an instant picture of something that is either
changing before the eyes of the analyst or not mimetically representative of the phenomenon
as a whole. For these reasons, a dual-dimensional trajectory must be followed, as suggested
by Wu et al. (2017), following the development of the indicators on scales both temporal, i.e.,
on different interval of time, and spatial, i.e., in terms of spatially distributed simulation
(Fig. 4.18).
Under these premises, how to define the new boundaries for the LCSA and how to account
for direct and indirect interactions among the new level of analysis (e.g., technological, eco-
nomic, and political) remain still open issues (Gloria et al., 2017).

4.5.4 Final remarks
Concluding this overview of the ongoing pathway of LCSA, two further elements for dis-
cussion are worth mentioning, related to the scale of application of LCSA, namely at global
and immanent level, i.e., the overall context of sustainability, and on the local and contingent
dimension, i.e., the diffuse application of LCSA.
With regard to the context of sustainability, the relationship between LCSA, as decision-
support tool, and sustainable development goals (UN SDGs), as a widely recognized frame-
work for decision-makers, has been evaluated by a few authors (Gloria et al., 2017; Ramos,
2019). As LCSA comprises also socio-economical assessment into an integrated tool, in fact,
it actually responds directly to the call for a supportive and trans-disciplinary approach pro-
posed by UN SDGs. Thus, promoting a pro-active attitude towards the planning of activities,
operations, processes, programs and policies, based on quantitative and comprehensive as-
sessment of impacts. As stated by Zamagni et al. (2013), LCSA, in this sense, as many
predictive-modeling activities, is inherently permeated with self-denying prophecies (“e.g.,
in predicting undesired consequences, which will be combated before they have the chance
to develop,” Zamagni et al., 2013: 1637), which may actually represent a double edged
weapon for the diffusion of LCSA at the decision-making level.