Two SEED researchers receives the Formas Career Grant for Early-career Researchers
Two young researchers from Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED) receives the Formas Career Grant for Early-career Researchers. The funded researchers are Jean-Baptiste Thomas and Hampus André.
The grant gives funding to individual research projects, where the researcher formulate his or her own research question within Formas’ areas of responsibility: Environment, Agricultural Sciences, and Spatial Planning.
About the projects
Title: Advancing Green Claims in the Blue Economy with Participative LCAs
Amount: 3.826.000 SEK
Abstract: Automation through AI will likely reshape Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) practice in the coming decade. AI assisted modelling could be an opportunity for practitioners to bring more focus on bridging complex modeling tools with real-world concerns, by strategically involving key stakeholders to elevate LCA literacy and enhance credibility, relevance, and legitimacy of results. This project contributes to preparing for this shift by developing a more learning- and process-oriented, participatory LCA methodology, contributing to filling a critical gap in LCA practice literature. The project will document the application of this approach across seaweed and mussel aquaculture, beach-cast biomass management, and coastal restoration case studies, while attmepting also to integrate the latest of marine impact categories (including biodiversity).
Mapping current practices and engaging stakeholders in case studies will provide robust foundations for green claims and offset certifications, aligning with evolving EU regulations such as the Green Claims Directive. By convening producers, policymakers, and researchers, the project will demonstrate how transparency and stakeholder engagement can bolster environmental literacy and trust in assessments. Ultimately, it offers a replicable blueprint for ensuring that LCA remains a collaborative, future-proof tool, taking full advantage of AI’s potential while prioritizing humancentered decision-making.
Title: “If less is more, how you keeping score?” – Towards assessing environmental and well-being outcomes of sufficient consumption
Amount: 5.997.000 SEK
Abstract: Environmental sustainability requires a combination of efficiency - reduced impact per consumption level – and sufficiency, which rather seeks reduced impact through “living well with less” consumption. The project aims to advance a novel approach to the widely used life cycle assessment (LCA) method, Sufficiency-LCA, which unlike conventional LCA can assess the effects of sufficiency. Central to the sufficiency strategy is that reducing consumption does not necessarily lower functional output reaped by consumers in terms of consumer satisfaction, happiness, or well-being. Therefore, Sufficiency-LCA uses a broad selection of such functional output indicators, ultimately addressing which types of consumption we can “live well with less of” while reducing environmental impact.
First, we identify and refine indicators for functional output, ranging from tangible properties (e.g. m of housing) to subjective aspects (e.g. effects on happiness from one’s housing). Second, we test these indicators in practical case studies—spanning consumers, businesses, and policymakers—to identify their suitability in each decisionmaking context. Third, we develop recommendations and guidelines for robust and meaningful assessment in these contexts. By expanding the scope of LCA to allow for the assessment of sufficiency, this research fills a crucial gap in sustainability science and contributes to global efforts of attaining environmental sustainability and human flourishing.