Rethinking the environmental impact of engineering research, based on life cycle analysis of research projects

Abstract:

Facing environnemental challenges, French scientific research will have to adapt and accelerate its transformation. CNRS Ingénierie, Aix-Marseille University, the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC), the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers (ENSAM), INSA Lyon and Sorbonne University have jointly launched the UTOPII Support and Research Unit (UAR) – Transdisciplinary Unit for Guidance and Forecasting of Environmental Impacts. The UAR, created in January 2025, aims to comprehensively assess, through life cycle analysis (LCA), the environmental impacts of French research, particularly in the field of engineering and emerging technologies, with the aim of identifying ways to reduce this environmental footprint. Taking a forward-looking approach, the aim is to estimate the environmental impacts of research results, and not just research practices. During this seminar, I will detail the organisation and trajectory of the UAR, the work it has carried out since its creation, and present an overview of LCA-based methodologies for application to research projects. I will discuss how these methodologies can enable the research community to better evaluate its activities and guide its academic work.

https://fr.linkedin.com/pulse/utopii-pour-repenser-limpact-environnemental-de-la-recherche-q8vre

https://www.insa-lyon.fr/sites/www.insa-lyon.fr/files/20250401_cp_utopii.pdf

About the speaker:

Myriam SAADE is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and holds a PhD in geosciences and the environment. She was a researcher at the Navier Laboratory and academic head of the Civil Engineering and Construction Department at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. Her work focuses on prospective life cycle analysis applied to infrastructures, as well as natural and secondary resources management. She has been an associate researcher at the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO), at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and she has also been a consultant for the Aga Khan Foundation. Since 1st of January 2025, she has been Director of the UTOPII (Transdisciplinary Unit for Guidance and Forecasting of the Environmental Impacts of Engineering Research) Support and Research Unit (UAR), and Scientific Manager of the environmental impact assessment of research projects at CNRS- Institute of Engineering