BETA TC, meeting point of the expert community in Life Cycle Analysis
A key meeting to promote innovation and collaboration in Life Cycle Assessment
The BETA Technological Centre of UVic – UCC held the Spanish Life Cycle Assessment Conference on November 19th and 20th in Vic (Barcelona), focusing on the transition to a sustainable agri-food sector. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a scientific methodology for fully evaluating the environmental impact of a product, service, or process throughout its entire life. The event was coordinated by CT BETA as a member of the coordinating committee of the Spanish LCA Network, together with AZTI – the Marine and Food Research Centre of Vizcaya (Basque Country) and the University of Cantabria . It was also sponsored by Mérieux. NutriSciences – Blonk dedicated to food analysis, safety, quality and sustainability sponsored the event.
Objectives of the Conference
The aim of this event, part of the Network’s annual meeting, was to connect the experts within the Network and foster the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and best practices in this field. It also sought to highlight innovations in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sustainability in the agri-food sector.
This year, the event also included a technical session on the Horizon project. Europe FOODTURE to understand its critical points and the adoption of the Product Environmental Foodprint (PEF). The adoption of the PEF refers to integrating and using the European methodological framework to calculate the environmental impact of products in a harmonised, comparable and science-based manner.
“Holding this meeting at our institution is an important step because we want the network to become an association that allows it to have a formal structure, with the capacity to coordinate projects, exchange knowledge and promote common initiatives among the members,” says Nancy Peña, coordinator of the event and member of the CT BETA team.
Agenda for the day
The first day included the assembly and internal activities of the Network, followed by a networking dinner to foster exchange among participants. On the second day, a technical workshop was held to present innovations and case studies, as well as to share knowledge derived from national and international research projects. The content focused on sustainability and LCA in the agricultural and food sectors.
“It has been a very useful meeting where the future prospects of life cycle analysis have been clearly shown, such as the use of different Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools applicable to our context”, explains Nancy.
The program was organized around three main sections: methodological advances, success stories, and policies, ecolabeling, and communication. There were 10 oral presentations, 14 short presentations, and 7 posters. In total, more than 70 people from 41 institutions participated in the activities planned over the two days.
He adds, “the day has been a success. We had people from all over Spain, some of whom participated in person and others online.”
The Spanish Life Cycle Assessment Network conference held at BETA TC highlighted the center’s role as a key node in the national network of LCA experts. It also reinforced its commitment to leading collaborative projects and driving the transition to more sustainable practices in the sector.
