Purpose: “Sustainable Development is defined as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” as mentioned in the Bruntland Report. Social, environmental and economical sustainability form the three pillars of sustainable development. The social aspect of sustainability has had less attention by the organizations, while previous research on sustainability mainly dealt with environmental and economic concerns. However, the interest in the social dimension of sustainable development has been growing steadily over the past decades. Thus, this work is aimed at reviewing the available literature in the field of social sustainability life cycle assessment, and at identifying the state-of-the-art research as well as research gaps. Method: A systematic literature review was conducted using keywords to search in the SCOPUS database in order to get a holistic view of the available literature related to social life cycle assessment from 2009 to 2017. To conduct this literature review, primarily, research questions were framed in order to establish a baseline on which data could be collected. The collected papers were then scrutinized in two-steps. All the papers were analyzed descriptively and on the basis of their content to answer the research questions. Results: The resulted papers consisted of case studies, reviews, frameworks and discussions which were published in journals and many other sources. All the papers were analyzed descriptively and on the basis of content which were distinguished based on the type of assessments carried on in the papers and briefly discussed few of the important methodologies which were undertaken in the selected papers. The analysis also portrayed the papers were categorized into many sectors and these provided valuable insight of the different methodologies and their limitations. Research and practical implications: Firstly, the study implies that there is a dire need of creation of alliances with stakeholders along the value chain. It also suggests a huge scope of a generalized framework for assessing the social impacts of the product. Secondly, it implies that applying the existing methodologies in various sectors is the best possible way to improve the current status of the approach towards assessing the social impacts of the product throughout its life cycle. Limitations: The findings should be interpreted considering the limitations this study has. To conduct this literature review only the documents from 2009 to 2017 were considered. Another limitation was the usage of only one search database (SCOPUS). Originality/novelty: In this study, after analyzing the papers it can be concluded that the scope for improvement in the field of social sustainability assessment is huge in terms of types of assessments or creation of new frameworks. Rigorous practice by researchers and social life cycle assessment practitioners is needed. It involves data collection, aggregation and also various ways in which a characterization model can be approached. This study concludes by providing insights useful to future social life cycle assessment researchers.
Scopo: "Lo sviluppo sostenibile è definito come lo sviluppo che soddisfa i bisogni del presente senza compromettere la capacità delle generazioni future di soddisfare i propri bisogni", come menzionato nel Rapporto Bruntland. Sostenibilità sociale, ambientale ed economica costituiscono i tre pilastri dello sviluppo sostenibile. L'aspetto sociale della sostenibilità ha avuto meno attenzione da parte delle organizzazioni, mentre le precedenti ricerche sulla sostenibilità si sono occupate principalmente di problemi ambientali ed economici. Tuttavia, l'interesse per la dimensione sociale dello sviluppo sostenibile è cresciuto costantemente negli ultimi decenni. Pertanto, questo lavoro è volto a rivedere la letteratura disponibile nel campo della valutazione del ciclo di vita della sostenibilità sociale e ad identificare la ricerca avanzata e le lacune della ricerca. Metodo: è stata condotta una revisione sistematica della letteratura utilizzando le parole chiave da cercare nel database SCOPUS per ottenere una visione olistica della letteratura disponibile relativa alla valutazione del ciclo di vita sociale dal 2009 al 2017. Per condurre questa revisione della letteratura, in primo luogo, sono state formulate domande di ricerca al fine di stabilire una base su cui raccogliere i dati. I documenti raccolti sono stati quindi esaminati in due passaggi. Tutti i documenti sono stati analizzati in modo descrittivo e sulla base del loro contenuto per rispondere alle domande di ricerca. Risultati: i documenti risultanti sono stati studi di casi, revisioni, quadri e discussioni che sono stati pubblicati su riviste e molte altre fonti. Tutti i documenti sono stati analizzati in modo descrittivo e sulla base di contenuti che sono stati distinti in base al tipo di valutazioni portate avanti sui giornali e hanno brevemente discusso alcune delle importanti metodologie che sono state intraprese nei documenti selezionati. L'analisi ha anche mostrato che i giornali erano classificati in molti settori e questi hanno fornito informazioni preziose sulle diverse metodologie e sui loro limiti. Ricerca e implicazioni pratiche: in primo luogo, lo studio implica che c'è un disperato bisogno di creare alleanze con le parti interessate lungo la catena del valore. Suggerisce anche un enorme ambito di un quadro generalizzato per valutare gli impatti sociali del prodotto. In secondo luogo, implica che l'applicazione delle metodologie esistenti in vari settori è il modo migliore per migliorare lo stato attuale dell'approccio verso la valutazione degli impatti sociali del prodotto durante tutto il suo ciclo di vita. Limitazioni: i risultati dovrebbero essere interpretati considerando i limiti di questo studio. Per condurre questa revisione della letteratura sono stati considerati solo i documenti dal 2009 al 2017. Un altro limite era l'utilizzo di un solo database di ricerca (SCOPUS). Originalità / novità: in questo studio, dopo aver analizzato i documenti, si può concludere che le possibilità di miglioramento nel campo della valutazione della sostenibilità sociale sono enormi in termini di tipi di valutazione o creazione di nuovi quadri. È necessaria una pratica rigorosa da parte dei ricercatori e degli esperti di valutazione del ciclo di vita sociale. Comprende la raccolta di dati, l'aggregazione e anche vari modi in cui un modello di caratterizzazione può essere affrontato. Questo studio si conclude fornendo informazioni utili per i futuri ricercatori della valutazione del ciclo di vita sociale.
Social sustainability life cycle assessment : a systematic literature review
MANIVALA, BHARGAV
2016/2017
Abstract
Purpose: “Sustainable Development is defined as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” as mentioned in the Bruntland Report. Social, environmental and economical sustainability form the three pillars of sustainable development. The social aspect of sustainability has had less attention by the organizations, while previous research on sustainability mainly dealt with environmental and economic concerns. However, the interest in the social dimension of sustainable development has been growing steadily over the past decades. Thus, this work is aimed at reviewing the available literature in the field of social sustainability life cycle assessment, and at identifying the state-of-the-art research as well as research gaps. Method: A systematic literature review was conducted using keywords to search in the SCOPUS database in order to get a holistic view of the available literature related to social life cycle assessment from 2009 to 2017. To conduct this literature review, primarily, research questions were framed in order to establish a baseline on which data could be collected. The collected papers were then scrutinized in two-steps. All the papers were analyzed descriptively and on the basis of their content to answer the research questions. Results: The resulted papers consisted of case studies, reviews, frameworks and discussions which were published in journals and many other sources. All the papers were analyzed descriptively and on the basis of content which were distinguished based on the type of assessments carried on in the papers and briefly discussed few of the important methodologies which were undertaken in the selected papers. The analysis also portrayed the papers were categorized into many sectors and these provided valuable insight of the different methodologies and their limitations. Research and practical implications: Firstly, the study implies that there is a dire need of creation of alliances with stakeholders along the value chain. It also suggests a huge scope of a generalized framework for assessing the social impacts of the product. Secondly, it implies that applying the existing methodologies in various sectors is the best possible way to improve the current status of the approach towards assessing the social impacts of the product throughout its life cycle. Limitations: The findings should be interpreted considering the limitations this study has. To conduct this literature review only the documents from 2009 to 2017 were considered. Another limitation was the usage of only one search database (SCOPUS). Originality/novelty: In this study, after analyzing the papers it can be concluded that the scope for improvement in the field of social sustainability assessment is huge in terms of types of assessments or creation of new frameworks. Rigorous practice by researchers and social life cycle assessment practitioners is needed. It involves data collection, aggregation and also various ways in which a characterization model can be approached. This study concludes by providing insights useful to future social life cycle assessment researchers.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/139317