Posts in category: Events

The World Hemp Forum, held in Troyes on November 19-20, showcased the ALIGNED project’s recommendations for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) and spatially explicit GHG inventories through a hemp-to-biobased materials case study. The presentation is now available online for those interested in exploring the latest developments in these fields.

The event, organized by Pôle Européen du Chanvre, brought together researchers and practitioners from the hemp and bio-based sectors, including notable figures such as Lorie Hamelin, an LCA partner in the ALIGNED project and Professor Chair at INRAE, based at INSA Toulouse (part of the Federal University of Toulouse). She presented on ‘Life Cycle Assessments for Hemp-Derived Products: Do We Need Them, Why, and How? Learnings from Bioeconomy.’

The forum with Stefano Amaducci, Pierre Bono, Claire Isierte, and Estelle Delangle provided a unique opportunity to engage with a well-established community, rich in decades of experience, practical insights, and a shared dedication to advancing the low-fossil carbon economy. It underscored the immense potential of bio-based solutions in fostering a sustainable future.

Massimo Pizzol, Project Coordinator of the ALIGNED project, took part in a webinar titled ‘LCA Framework Developments of Bio-Based Materials: How to Integrate Them in New EU Projects?’ hosted by BIO4HUMANProject. The session spotlighted developments in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) frameworks for bio-based materials, offering deep dives into the challenges and opportunities of crafting robust LCA methodologies tailored for bio-based systems.

ALIGNED’s innovative methodologies took center stage, complemented by contributions from the CALIMERO Project and LCA4Bio Project. Missed it or want a recap? Catch the full recording here. You can download ALIGNED’s presentation here

Damien Arbault from INSA, partner in the ALIGNED project, delivered two presentations at the 3rd Summer School of GREEN-MAP project on Materials Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Hospitals. The event organized by Ecoinnavazione and University of Bologna, took place last June 26-28, at Bologna, Italy, and brought together early-stage researchers and experienced scientists.

In the first presentation, ‘Consequential Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Bio-based Production of a Platform Organic Compound,’ Arbault explored the environmental impacts of producing bio-based materials, focusing on how these processes can be optimized for sustainability.

The second presentation, titled ‘Carbon Footprint: Recent Advances and Issues,’ delved into the latest developments and challenges in measuring and reducing the carbon footprint, particularly within the context of healthcare facilities. 

Damien was one of the 30 participants to the 3rd Summer School were discussing different aspects of Life Cycle thinking methodologies and biocompatible material systems, innovative biobased materials and design for improving sustainability. The topics have been covered by 15 lectures and 8 posters presented during two thematic sessions and one poster session. 

More information here

The ALIGNED Project participated at the ‘Buyer Meets Supplier’ event held on June 11, 2024, in Leopold Barracks, Ghent, Belgium. This event focused on fostering a circular economy within the commercial textiles and professional clothing sectors.

Jean-Luc Derycke, representing CENTEXBEL, delivered a captivating presentation (download the PDF here) in how the textile chain can contribute to a more sustainable future. 

Several stakeholders, including businesses, industry associations, educational institutions, and training centers, actively participated in the event. The focus was on providing practical guidance for circular procurement, along with actionable tips and tricks for successful implementation. Companies and buyers also shared their experiences with sustainable solutions, showcasing real-world examples of how circular economy practices are being integrated into the textile sector.

This exhibition of sustainable and circular solutions further emphasized the importance of these practices within the textile industry.

The International Conference on Life Cycle Management 2023 conference held in Lille, France witnessed the remarkable joint presentation between ALIGNED and CALIMERO projects.

These two Horizon Europe-funded projects presented the side event ‘Improving sustainability performance of bio-based industries using advanced life cycle thinking approaches’, at the 11th International Conference on LCM and made significant strides in enhancing sustainability practices in the construction, woodworking, biochemicals, pulp and paper, and textile sectors.

Massimo Pizzol, professor at Aalborg University and the Project Coordinator of the ALIGNED project together with some other members presented the workshop aimed to maximize the project’s impact and foster widespread adoption of sustainable practices within the bio-based sector.

Also, Nariê Rinke D. de Souza from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) presented an overview of the European chemical sector, highlighting the sustainability practices and bio-based opportunities with the poster “Assessing biomass sustainability potentials in the chemicals and materials sector”.

These projects not only drove innovation but also fostered collaboration among diverse stakeholders to create a more sustainable future.

The ALIGNED project and SUSTRACK project continue their partnership to provide better, shared knowledge about standardisation, certification, labelling and monitoring the Life Cycle Assessment and other related disciplines. Last week, in the context of the EU Green Week, Massimo Pizzol, from Aalborg University, took the floor to represent ALIGNED during the workshop “Limits, barriers and solutions to boost the transition towards a circular bio-based economy” organised by the SUSTRACK project.  

Science Approach to Close Sustainability

The SUSTRACK work is looking for the development of a comprehensive literature research on the limits of the linear fossil-based economy, and barriers to the sustainable transition. Within this framework, the ALIGNED project, as a focus group participant, had the opportunity to share its findings, and insights associated with its approach related to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in five different bio-based sectors. Several stakeholders that took place in this event had the opportunity to make their voices heard and identify, discuss, consolidate, and prioritize the identified barriers, acquiring valuable insights about a sustainable transition in several industries.

In the words of Massimo Pizzol, the ALIGNED project technical coordinator: “The EU Green Week provides us with a special framework to highlight our efforts to develop a common, and enhanced knowledge of different scientific methodologies. We want to express our congratulations to the SUSTRACK project for this workshop, which has provided many valuable insights to all the stakeholders involved in this joint effort that is a sustainable transition in different industries”.

Last week, Massimo Pizzol, professor at Aalborg University and the Project Coordinator of the ALIGNED project had the opportunity to participate in the SEAMARK project Forum to introduce the Aligned Project in the framework of “LCA for the emerging blue and green bioeconomy: application to seaweed products and beyond”.

The event was organised by the European Project SEAMARK (Horizon Europe under contract no. 101060379), due to its First Consortium Meeting in Aarhus (Denmark), in the Aahrus University Facilities. During its intervention, Prof. Massimo Pizzol showcased an overview of LCA of seaweed-based products, shared some good practices in LCA of emerging technologies (blue-bioeconomy and beyond), and highlighted several connections between SEAMARK, ALIGNED and other related initiatives that are facing LCA assessment.

In the words of Pizzol: “We are delighted to join the First Consortium Meeting of the SEAMARK project. Join forces and efforts to enhance the LCA assessment and current methodologies will help us to make better, and more sustainable decisions in all industries. From the ALIGNED project, I want to thank the SEAMARK project coordination for the opportunity to share our best practices and learnings. We will look forward to joint actions”.

The SEAMARK project aims to upscale circular ocean seaweed cultivation and land-based integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems and develop novel processing methods involving fermentation and biotransformation into twelve innovative seaweed-based products. The partners of SeaMark are from 12 countries in Europe and each has in-depth specialist expertise in one or more areas that are required to develop the seaweed value chain. The active involvement of 9 SMEs and 3 larger enterprises guarantees the commercial exploitation and implementation of the results generated by the SeaMark project through a market-driven approach.

Last week, Massimo Pizzol, professor at Aalborg University and the Project Coordinator of the ALIGNED project had the opportunity to participate in an online seminar to introduce the Aligned Project in the framework of “Aligning life cycle assessment methods and bio-based sectors for improved environmental performance”.

The event was organised by Bioeconomy for Change, one of the largest research societies in France in the Bioeconomy sector. The intervention was due to the participation of the ALIGNED project in the workgroup “LCA for Bio-based groups and its methodology”.

Bioeconomy for Change has a team of 35 specialists working for more than 500 members, from upstream agriculture to the marketing of finished products. The ambition of the B4C network is to make France one of the world’s leaders in the development of biomass, among other Bioeconomy fields of action.

During the first days of May, Agneta Ghose, Assistant Professor at Aalborg University and ALIGNED project member participated in the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33rd Annual Meeting in Dublin, representing the initiative about the latest trends of LCA and Science management. This event is the largest meeting on environmental toxicology and chemistry in Europe.

ALIGNED: A framework for the LCA of bio-based products

In the framework of poster presentations, the ALIGNED project was showcased on May 1 in the Forum-Exhibition Hall in the Convention Centre of Dublin. There, Agneta Ghose presented the goals, purpose and actions of the initiative and made a solid networking with the attendees.

ALIGNED in the session “LCA as an Effective Tool in Decision-making”

On May 2, Ghose participated in the platform presentation “LCA as an Effective Tool in Decision-making” celebrated in the Liffey Hall from the Convention Centre of Dublin, with the title: “Is data sharing in LCA FAIR?”, presented the project and the importance and needs for FAIR data sharing in the LCA domain.

In the words of Agneta Ghose, from Aalborg University: “The presence of the ALIGNED project at the last SETAC Annual Meeting was fantastic. Having the opportunity to chair different sessions and have fruitful discussions on the importance of using LCA as an effective tool for decision-making, will be helpful for the progress of our project. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to discuss and share our views on methodologies, tools, and interpretations of the complexities of the results in order to make better decisions”.