IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i18p10335-d636567.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trends and Challenges in Regional Life Cycle Management: A Bibliometric Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Alberto Bezama

    (Department of Bioenergy, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Nora Mittelstädt

    (Department of Bioenergy, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Daniela Thrän

    (Department of Bioenergy, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
    Bioenergy Systems Department, Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ), 04347 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Fritz Balkau

    (Sustainable Solutions, 75004 Paris, France)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Bezama & Nora Mittelstädt & Daniela Thrän & Fritz Balkau, 2021. "Trends and Challenges in Regional Life Cycle Management: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10335-:d:636567
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10335/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10335/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Irene Huertas-Valdivia & Anna Maria Ferrari & Davide Settembre-Blundo & Fernando E. García-Muiña, 2020. "Social Life-Cycle Assessment: A Review by Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-25, August.
    2. José Potting & Wolfgang Schöpp & Kornelis Blok & Michael Hauschild, 1998. "Site‐Dependent Life‐Cycle Impact Assessment of Acidification," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 2(2), pages 63-87, April.
    3. Abdullah Yıldızbaşı & Cihat Öztürk & Deniz Efendioğlu & Serol Bulkan, 2021. "Assessing the social sustainable supply chain indicators using an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods: a case study of Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4285-4320, March.
    4. Hendrik Marx & Silvia Forin & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2020. "Organizational Life Cycle Assessment of a Service Providing SME for Renewable Energy Projects (PV and Wind) in the United Kingdom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Jakob Hildebrandt & Sinéad O'Keeffe & Alberto Bezama & Daniela Thrän, 2019. "Revealing the Environmental Advantages of Industrial Symbiosis in Wood‐Based Bioeconomy Networks: An Assessment From a Life Cycle Perspective," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(4), pages 808-822, August.
    6. Rosalie Arendt & Till M. Bachmann & Masaharu Motoshita & Vanessa Bach & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2020. "Comparison of Different Monetization Methods in LCA: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-39, December.
    7. Nuri Cihat Onat & Murat Kucukvar & Anthony Halog & Scott Cloutier, 2017. "Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-25, April.
    8. Trin Thananusak, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Entrepreneurship, 1996–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, June.
    9. Misganu Endriyas & Abraham Alano & Emebet Mekonnen & Aknaw Kawza & Fisha Lemango, 2020. "Decentralizing evidence-based decision-making in resource limited setting: A case of SNNP region, Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-11, July.
    10. Cezar-Petre Simion & Ciprian Nicolescu & Mihai Vrîncuț, 2019. "Green Procurement in Romanian Construction Projects. A Cluster Analysis of the Barriers and Enablers to Green Procurement in Construction Projects from the Bucharest-Ilfov Region of Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-25, November.
    11. Jakob Hildebrandt & Alberto Bezama & Daniela Thrän, 2020. "Insights from the Sustainability Monitoring Tool SUMINISTRO Applied to a Case Study System of Prospective Wood-Based Industry Networks in Central Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-30, May.
    12. Yi-Ming Guo & Zhen-Ling Huang & Ji Guo & Hua Li & Xing-Rong Guo & Mpeoane Judith Nkeli, 2019. "Bibliometric Analysis on Smart Cities Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-18, June.
    13. Yunpeng Yang & Zhiqiang Liu & Hongmin Chen & Yaqiong Wang & Guanghui Yuan, 2020. "Evaluating Regional Eco-Green Cooperative Development Based on a Heterogeneous Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Model: Example of the Yangtze River Delta Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, April.
    14. Donald T. Hawkins, 1977. "Unconventional uses of on‐line information retrieval systems: On‐line bibliometric studies," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 28(1), pages 13-18, January.
    15. Chris Mutel & Xun Liao & Laure Patouillard & Jane Bare & Peter Fantke & Rolf Frischknecht & Michael Hauschild & Olivier Jolliet & Danielle Maia de Souza & Alexis Laurent & Stephan Pfister & Francesca , 2019. "Overview and recommendations for regionalized life cycle impact assessment," Post-Print hal-02177362, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fritz Balkau & Alberto Bezama & Noemie Leroy-Parmentier & Guido Sonnemann, 2021. "A Review on the Use of Life Cycle Methodologies and Tools in Sustainable Regional Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-41, September.
    2. Pradeleix, L. & Roux, P. & Bouarfa, S. & Bellon-Maurel, V., 2023. "Multilevel life cycle assessment to evaluate prospective agricultural development scenarios in a semi-arid irrigated region of Tunisia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    3. Badr Moutik & John Summerscales & Jasper Graham-Jones & Richard Pemberton, 2023. "Life Cycle Assessment Research Trends and Implications: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-45, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberto Bezama & Jakob Hildebrandt & Daniela Thrän, 2021. "Integrating Regionalized Socioeconomic Considerations onto Life Cycle Assessment for Evaluating Bioeconomy Value Chains: A Case Study on Hybrid Wood–Concrete Ceiling Elements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Di Letizia, Gerardo & De Lucia, Caterina & Pazienza, Pasquale & Cappelletti, Giulio Mario, 2023. "Forest bioeconomy at regional scale: A systematic literature review and future policy perspectives," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Tianran Ding & Bernhard Steubing & Wouter Achten, 2022. "Coupling optimization with territorial LCA to support agricultural land-use planning," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/352783, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Escobar, Neus & Laibach, Natalie, 2021. "Sustainability check for bio-based technologies: A review of process-based and life cycle approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    5. Tianran Ding & Bernhard Steubing & Wouter Achten, 2022. "Coupling optimization with territorial LCA to support agricultural land-use planning," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/359529, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Johnson Ankrah & Ana Monteiro & Helena Madureira, 2022. "Bibliometric Analysis of Data Sources and Tools for Shoreline Change Analysis and Detection," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, April.
    7. Marwa Hannouf & Getachew Assefa, 2018. "A Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment-Based Decision-Analysis Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-22, October.
    8. Kucukvar, Murat & Haider, Muhammad Ali & Onat, Nuri Cihat, 2017. "Exploring the material footprints of national electricity production scenarios until 2050: The case for Turkey and UK," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 251-263.
    9. Shuangqing Sheng & Wei Song & Hua Lian & Lei Ning, 2022. "Review of Urban Land Management Based on Bibliometrics," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-25, November.
    10. Melike Torun, 2023. "Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Research in the Field of Green Economy (1993-2023)," Journal of Economic Policy Researches, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 10(2), pages 587-603, July.
    11. Emblemsvåg, Jan, 2022. "Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    12. Vibeke Grupe Larsen & Valentina Antoniucci & Nicola Tollin & Peter Andreas Sattrup & Krister Jens & Morten Birkved & Tine Holmboe & Giuliano Marella, 2023. "A Methodological Framework to Foster Social Value Creation in Architectural Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, January.
    13. Gemina Quest & Rosalie Arendt & Christian Klemm & Vanessa Bach & Janik Budde & Peter Vennemann & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2022. "Integrated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Power and Heat Supply for a Neighborhood: A Case Study of Herne, Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.
    14. Kledja Canaj & Andi Mehmeti & Julio Berbel, 2021. "The Economics of Fruit and Vegetable Production Irrigated with Reclaimed Water Incorporating the Hidden Costs of Life Cycle Environmental Impacts," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, September.
    15. Catherine Houssard & Dominique Maxime & Scott Benoit & Yves Pouliot & Manuele Margni, 2020. "Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Five Greek Yogurt Production Systems: A Perspective beyond the Plant Boundaries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, November.
    16. Saveria Olga Murielle Boulanger, 2022. "The Roadmap to Smart Cities: A Bibliometric Literature Review on Smart Cities’ Trends before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-19, December.
    17. Oriana Gava & Fabio Bartolini & Francesca Venturi & Gianluca Brunori & Angela Zinnai & Alberto Pardossi, 2018. "A Reflection of the Use of the Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Agri-Food Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    18. Vahakn Kabakian & Marcelle McManus, 2024. "From private to social cost-benefit analysis: life cycle environmental impact cost internalization in cement production fuel switching," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 25527-25548, October.
    19. Gebara, C.H. & Laurent, A., 2023. "National SDG-7 performance assessment to support achieving sustainable energy for all within planetary limits," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    20. Yang, Yunpeng & Yang, Weixin & Chen, Hongmin & Li, Yin, 2020. "China’s energy whistleblowing and energy supervision policy: An evolutionary game perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10335-:d:636567. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.