Organized events

Organized events#

Upcoming events#

No upcoming events at the moment. If you are organizing an event or you have event ideas, please contact us at: complexity.lca@gmail.com

Past events#

[21/11/2025] Advancing LCA by Integrating Socio-Technical Complexity through Agent-Based Modelling#

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This event has resources (slides, videos), access here

Special session at the online event of IE day. The event is open for members and non-members of the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE)

Date: November 21, 9:00-10:00 Central European Time (CET)

Venue: Online

The session is composed of the following presentations and interactive discussions (moderator: Gustavo Larrea, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology):

Introduction (5 min) Introduction of Life-Cycle Thinking for Complex-Systems Initiative (presenter: Agnese Fuortes, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) & Leiden University)

Introduction to complexity (10 min) What is complexity? Why do we need complexity science methods in industrial ecology? (e.g., emergence, feedback, heterogeneity, spatio-temporal dynamics) (presenter: Jonathan Cohen, Chalmers University of Technology)

Interactive session & discussion (5 min) Participants were invited to share the sustainability topics they work on and to reflect on the types of complexity they encounter in their research. (moderator: Kasper Lange, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences)

Contribution of Agent-Based Modelling in Different Advancement of LCA (10 min) Dynamicity and temporality: Prospective and Dynamic LCA; Causality: Consequential LCA; Scale: Territorial LCA (presenter: Kasper Lange, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences)

Paradigm Shifts in IE Research through Integrating Agent-Based Modelling (10 min) Decision-makers in complex socio-technical systems; Endogenised modelling of policy interventions; Decision making under deep uncertainty (presenter: Ryu Koide, National Institute for Environmental Studies / Technical University of Delft)

Interactive session & discussion (10 min) Participants were asked which benefits of agent-based modelling they consider most promising for advancing LCA, what they would need to integrate AB-LCA into their own work, and which next steps should be taken collectively to strengthen and advance AB-LCA within the community. (moderator: Kasper Lange, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences)

Description of the event: https://is4ie.org/events/event/international-industrial-ecology-day-2025/program/137

[26/08/2025] Integration of circularity and life cycle assessment tools into social simulation#

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This event has resources (programme overview), access here

We organised a special track session at the Social Simulation Conference (SSC) 2025 of the European Social Simulation Association (ESSA) in Delft, the Netherlands. The session featured seven contributions addressing simulation studies on the socio-technical complexity of the circular economy and methodological developments for coupling multiple modelling techniques or enhancing stakeholder engagement.

A transition to a circular economy requires a tool to investigate its complex social interactions and dynamic linkages with product life cycles. Alongside resource extraction, manufacturing, transport, use, and end-of-life management of products, decision-making by consumers, producers, and other stakeholders and various policy options and uncertainty factors play roles, making social simulation using ABM a promising approach. However, diving into the complexity of circularity requires an interdisciplinary collaboration to model circularity and environmental impacts. The application of ABM in the circular economy is increasing, but further conceptual and methodological development and application are needed. For instance, it requires coupling with other methods like material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA), which are not yet fully integrated into the social simulation. In this session, we seek contributions about simulation studies on the socio-technical complexity of the circular economy and/or methodological development to couple multiple modelling techniques or stakeholder engagement.

The session was composed of the following seven contributions:

Extended Producer Responsibility to Reduce Plastic Waste Pollution: An Agent-Based Modelling Study to Analyze EPR Instruments in Indonesia (Mira Groot, Jaco Quist, Martijn Warnier, Eline Leising, Michiel Kort)

Framework for Metamodel-Driven Integration of Life Cycle Assessment and Agent-Based Modeling (Agnese Fuortes, Carlos Felipe Blanco Rocha, Joris Quik, Lynn de Jager, Willie Peijnenburg)

Coupling Agent-Based Modeling and Life Cycle Assessment to Explore the Environmental Effects of Biodiversity-Sensitive Actions in Farmer Clusters (Gustavo Larrea-Gallegos)

Policy package discovery using the patient rule induction method (PRIM) applied to circular business models (Ryu Koide, Patrick Steinmann, Gabriel Sher, Shinsuke Murakami, Jaco Quist, Emile J. L. Chappin)

Accounting for environmental awareness in wheat production through Life Cycle Assessment (Gianfranco Giulioni, Edmondo Di Giuseppe, Arianna Di Paola)

Enhancing textile reuse in the Netherlands: An Agent-Based Modelling Study Towards Reuse Rebound Effects and Value Changes in the Textile Industry (Britt Ingeborg Zandbergen, Jaco Quist, Martijn Warnier, Nicolien Blanksma, Wouter de Waard)

Simulating Behavioral Transitions and Environmental Outcomes of the Sharing Economy: Case Study Bike-Sharing (Christian Clemm, Tatsuki Watanabe, Yusuke Kishita)

[21/11/2024] Showcasing the potentials of agent-based modelling for Industrial Ecology research: challenges and perspectives for future pathways#

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This event has resources (slides, videos), access here

Join our special session at the online event of ISIE day. The event is open for members and non-members of the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE)

Date: November 21, 14:00-15:00 Central European Time (CET)

Venue: Online

The session is composed of the following presentations and interactive discussions:

Introduction (5 min) Why do we need complexity science methods in industrial ecology?: overview of agent-based modelling and simulation methods and introduction of Life-Cycle Thinking for Complex-Systems Initiative (moderator: Gustavo Larrea, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology)

Presentation 1 (12 min) Where if? Using spatial, building-stock-driven simulations to explore construction circularity strategies in Gothenburg, Sweden (presenter: Jonathan Cohen, Chalmers University of Technology)

Presentation 2 (12 min) Coupling agent-based modelling with territorial LCA to support agricultural land-use planning (presenter: Tianran Ding, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology)

Presentation 3 (12 min) Empirical agent-based modelling of circular business models: incorporating dynamic LCA and MFA from a consumption perspective (presenter: Ryu Koide, National Institute for Environmental Studies / Technical University of Delft)

Interactive session & discussion (15 min) Key takeaways and Q&A on presentations Interactive session focusing on expectations, limitations, and ways forward

Description of the event: https://is4ie.org/events/event/international-industrial-ecology-day-2024/program/112

[07/06/2024] Introducing complexity-oriented methods into life-cycle thinking enhancing the study of sustainable socio-technical systems#

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This event has resources (slides, videos), access here

The initiative was launched with this webinar with more than 100 participants from Europe, Asia, and Americas. Three keynote presentations by three experienced researchers in the field were meant to provide an introductory view of the main characteristics, benefits, and difficulties of using complexity-oriented approaches in combination with LCA studies.

Agent-based modelling and simulation for the circular economy by Julien Walzberg, PhD

Julien Walzberg is a researcher from the Strategic Energy Analysis Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the United States. He works on circular economy and sustainability research projects including the integration of agent-based modeling and simulation and life cycle assessment.

Addressing Algorithmic complexity and computational challenges in linking ABM to LCA by Tomás Navarrete Gutiérrez, PhD

Tomás Navarrete Gutiérrez works at the Environmental Research & Innovation (ERIN) department of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). He does research in Agent-Based Simulation, Computer Communications (Networks) and Computational LCA.

Applications of agent-based modelling in energy transitions for industrial networks and urban systems by Koen Van Dam, PhD

Research Fellow at Imperial College London’s Urban Energy Systems group at the Faculty of Engineering specialized in agent-based models for city systems. He utilizes spatial and temporal data from various sectors and scales, particularly energy and transport, providing valuable decision support for designing new services, technologies, and policies. Having worked on national and international sustainability projects, he is currently part of the FCDO-funded Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme and member of the secretariat of the Energy Transition Council (ETC) working in close collaboration with the UK’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to deliver coordination and technical assistance in partner countries.

The webinar was concluded with participatory discussion to list out challenges we face in our complexity-oriented life cycle research and expectations to the initiative.

Description of the event: https://www.list.lu/en/event/introducing-complexity-oriented-methods-into-life-cycle-thinking/

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