The learning objectives represent the endpoints for the course and are formulated as main competences, and sub-competences:

Main competences

• You understand the concepts and methods that are used to assess the life cycle assessment of products and services.
• You are able to select and interpret relevant data from scientific research and to use these data to quantify the environmental pressure of human activities.

Sub-competences

1. You have insight in the structure of environmental life cycle assessment and are able to identify its strong and weak points
2. You are able to conceptually develop and interpret a life-cycle inventory model
3. You are able to analyse an environmental problem via a cause-effect chain and quantify the impacts
4. You are able to identify, quantify, and analyse uncertainties in life cycle impact assessment models.
5. You are able to interpret the results of life cycle assessment methods

Sustainable production and consumption is the use of goods and services, while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle. The challenge is to improve the overall environmental performance of products throughout their life-cycle, to boost the demand for better products and production technologies and to help consumers in making informed choices. All products cause environmental degradation in some way, whether from their manufacturing, use or disposal. The life-cycle of a product covers all the areas from the extraction of natural resources, through their design, manufacture, assembly, marketing, distribution, sale and use to their eventual disposal as waste.

The environmental assessment of production and consumption of products and services can be done applying the life cycle assessment methodology. This course will provide insights into this methodology, from inventory and impact assessment modeling, to uncertainty assessment and finally a full case study will be performed.