Abstract
Life cycle management has become increasingly important in the formulation of regional sustainable development policies and programs, while research on and the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies are predominantly conducted in a business context or for materials and product-related issues. In light of the growing importance of regional policymaking, this article discusses the current scientific landscape of regional life cycle management approaches. It conducts a bibliometric analysis using the Scopus database and integrates a co-word analysis to highlight important linkages. Our analysis reveals that an increasing number of papers have been published on regional-level LCAs in recent years; however, they remain focused on issues related to the traditional materials-oriented aspects. Conversely, little research appears to be conducted on regional life cycle management issues and activities. The research is strongly centralized, with a clustering of regional LCA studies within a relatively small group of countries, institutes, journals and authors. Despite a rapid increase in recently published papers, our analysis reveals a gap in research and knowledge transfer of regional LCA results to public policymakers and regional planners.
Highlights
As has been the case for corporations, research institutions and professional associations for years, public authorities are increasingly being confronted by complex decisionmaking processes in a fast-developing political, economic and social environment [1,2,3,4].The increasing responsibilities and budgets of regions in various countries demand integrated responses if they are to truly deliver on their often high-profile sustainability objectives
Interconnected regional issues and problems require a more holistic approach that takes into account entire life chains and which cuts across multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs)
It can be generally stated that the publications currently have no common terminology such as the term “regional life cycle assessment (LCA)” or any other formulation
Summary
As has been the case for corporations, research institutions and professional associations for years, public authorities are increasingly being confronted by complex decisionmaking processes in a fast-developing political, economic and social environment [1,2,3,4].The increasing responsibilities and budgets of regions in various countries demand integrated responses if they are to truly deliver on their often high-profile sustainability objectives. The current management approaches, based as they are on singleissue policies and programs, often struggle to deal effectively with the complex agendas they face [5]. Interconnected regional issues and problems require a more holistic approach that takes into account entire life chains and which cuts across multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs). Life cycle approaches have emerged as the most effective framework within which such tools can be applied in order to ensure that the key SDGs are properly considered [8,9,10,11,12]. The use of various life cycle tools for regional sustainability management is still evolving and suffers from a lack of general awareness about them and experience in using them [13,14].
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