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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Green Skills Development

Explore the principles of LCA and sustainability to evaluate and improve environmental impact in agriculture and beyond.

Close-up of Leaf with Water Droplets and Life Cycle Assessment Icons
  • Duration

    10 weeks
  • Weekly study

    7 hours
  • Accreditation

    AvailableMore info
This course is part of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Green Skills Development program, which will enable you to measure environmental impact with LCA.

Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Beyond

This 10-week microcredential from Aberystwyth University offers a practical introduction to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a key tool for understanding the environmental impact of products, processes, and systems. You’ll learn how LCAs are conducted, how to interpret their outputs, and gain the foundational knowledge needed to begin developing one yourself.

There is growing demand, and a clear shortage of expertise, across sectors such as agriculture, food production, retail, manufacturing, and policy for professionals who can understand and apply Life Cycle Assessment. This skill is increasingly critical for improving environmental performance and meeting both regulatory and market-driven sustainability targets, including the UK’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines, the EU Green Deal, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

The 2024 LinkedIn Green Skills Report identified sustainability-related skills — particularly those involving carbon accounting, environmental impact assessment, and supply chain emissions — as among the fastest-growing professional competencies worldwide.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 3 seconds In today’s world, many of our production systems leave behind a trail of waste, disrupt global nutrient cycles, and deplete precious resources, triggering profound environmental and social consequences. Industries are under increasing pressure to account for their environmental impact from direct emissions to the far reaching consequences of their supply chains. That’s why it’s imperative. We shift our perspective to embrace holistic lifecycle thinking. Every step of a product’s journey matters from creation to reuse, recycling and eventual disposal. Enter lifecycle assessments the standard for analyzing environmental footprints of products and processes, but lifecycle assessments don’t stop at environmental impact. They also shed light on social implications and overall sustainability. Yet navigating the complexities of lifecycle assessments can be intimidating. That’s where we come in.

Skip to 0 minutes and 57 seconds Our lifecycle assessment courses offer comprehensive training tailored to the AgriFood sector and beyond. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, our courses equip you with the knowledge and skills to interpret and eventually produce impactful lifecycle assessments.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Setting the Scene

    • Welcome to the course

      Welcome to the course

    • Welcome to the First Week

      Welcome to Week 1

    • Value Chains and Circular Economies

      Value Chains and Circular Economies

    • Value Chains

      Value Chains

    • Life Cycle Cost Assessment (LCCA)

      Life Cycle Cost Assessment (LCCA)

    • Circular Economy

      Circular Economy

    • Material Flow Analysis (MFA)

      Material Flow Analysis (MFA)

    • Environmental Life Cycle Assessment E-LCA

      Environmental Life Cycle Assessment E-LCA

    • Week 1 Summary

      Week 1 Summary

  • Week 2

    Scope and Inventory of LCAs

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to Week 2

    • The Structure of LCA

      The Structure of LCA

    • ALCA versus CLCA

      ALCA versus CLCA

    • Attributional versus Consequential LCA

      Attributional versus Consequential LCA

    • Choosing LCA Functional Units

      Choosing LCA Functional Units

    • Defining LCA Boundaries

      Defining LCA Boundaries

    • The Life Cycle Inventory

      The Life Cycle Inventory

    • Allocation and Substitution

      Allocation and Substitution

    • Simplified Life Cycle Inventory Exercise

      Simplified Life Cycle Inventory Exercise

    • Week 2 Summary

      Week 2 Summary

  • Week 3

    Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to week 3

    • Impact Assessment

      Impact Assessment

    • Week 3 Summary

      Week 3 summary

  • Week 4

    LCIA Normalisation and Weighting

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to Week 4

    • Normalisation

      Normalisation

    • Weighting in LCA

      Weighting, Resources and Interpretation of LCA

    • The interpretation stage of LCA

      The standards associated with this phase have been designed to ensure that the various issues and complications that arise in LCA studies are communicated transparently so that results are correctly understood.

    • Week 4 Summary

      Summary

  • Week 5

    Learning through examples - LCA agricultural case studies

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to Week 5

    • Example Case Studies - Part 1

      Example Case Studies

    • Example Case Studies - Part 2

      Example Case Studies

    • Week 5 Summary

      Content

    • Formative Assignment

      This step introduces you to the first formative assignment where you will work through a task relating to the content so far that will prepare you for the assignments should you choose to convert for the 20 credits

  • Week 6

    The Environmental Impact of Livestock Farming

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to week 6

    • Carbon and Nitrogen

      Carbon, Nitrogen, and the Greenhouse Effect

    • Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

      Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    • Greenhouse Gases and Calculating Emission Impacts

      Greenhouse Gases and Calculating Emission Impacts

    • Global warming potential (GWP)

      Global warming potential (GWP)

    • Emissions From Livestock

      Emissions From Livestock

    • Consider Carefully

      Consider Carefully

    • Evaluating Online Carbon Footprinting Tools

      Evaluating Online Carbon Footprinting Tools

    • Week 6 Summary

      Content

  • Week 7

    Modelling GHGs from Livestock Farming

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to the week

    • Modelling and Carbon

      Modelling and Carbon

    • Intro to Modelling

      Intro to Modelling

    • Process-based or Empirical Models Interaction

      Process-based or empirical models interaction

    • Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock Systems

      Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock Systems

    • Challenges to Modelling Agricultural Systems

      Challenges to Modelling Agricultural Systems

    • Land use change (LUC) and LCA

      Land use change (LUC) and LCA

    • Week 7 Summary

      Summary

  • Week 8

    Implementing change & the role of eco-labelling

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to Week 8

    • Challenges to Change

      Challenges to Change

    • Trade-offs

      Trade-offs

    • Decision making impacts and trade-offs

      Decision making impacts and trade-offs

    • Barriers to change

      Barriers to change

    • Implementing change

      Implementing change

    • Eco-Labelling

      Eco-Labelling

    • Complexities and Problems of Eco-Labelling

      Complexities and Problems of Eco-Labelling

    • Week 8 Summary

      Content

    • Formative Assignment

      This activity introduces you to the final formative assignment where you will work through a task relating to the content so far that will prepare you for the assignments should you choose to convert for the 20 credits

  • Week 9

    Introducing Social LCAs

    • Welcome to the Week

      Welcome to the week

    • The Social LCA Framework

      The Social LCA Framework

    • Goal & Scope Definition Phase of Social LCA

      Goal & Scope Definition Phase of Social LCA

    • The Inventory Stage of Social LCA

       The Inventory Stage of Social LCA

    • Challenges for Social LCA

      Challenges for Social LCA

    • Week 9 Summary

      Summary

  • Week 10

    Introducing Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSAs)

    • Welcome to the Final Week of the Course

      Welcome to the final week of the course

    • LCSA and its' Challenges

      LCSA and its' Challenges

    • Simpler LCSA?

      Simpler LCSA?

    • LCSA Today

      LCSA Today

    • LCSAs for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

      LCSAs for achieving sustainable development goals

    • Stakeholders in Life Cycle Studies

      Stakeholders in Life Cycle Studies

    • Week 10 Summary

      Summary

Who is this accredited by?

The CPD Certification Service
The CPD Certification Service:

The CPD Certification Service was established in 1996 and is the leading independent CPD accreditation institution operating across industry sectors to complement the CPD policies of professional and academic bodies.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Describe and assess life cycle thinking and life cycle assessment as approaches to improving the sustainability of systems
  • Evaluate the key characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of the four stages of environmental LCA
  • Apply life cycle thinking to food production systems
  • Critically assess online agricultural carbon footprinting tools used to evaluate food production systems

Who is the course for?

Relevant job roles that would benefit from this course include:

  • Farmers / Land Managers
  • Sustainability Officers / Managers
  • Farm Business Advisors
  • Agri-environment Consultants
  • Supply Chain Managers
  • Environmental Analysts
  • Carbon Auditors
  • Agronomists / Agri-tech Specialists
  • Food Retail Sustainability Coordinators, Agronomists/Agri-tech Specialists, and Food Retail Sustainability Coordinators.

What software or tools do you need?

You don’t need any prior experience or knowledge to join this microcredential. All you need is an internet connection sufficient to stream videos and an interest in Life Cycle Assessment. All other software is open access.

Who will you learn with?

I currently work in the field of agricultural research dissemination with a focus on technological innovations and a keen interest in environmental sustainability.

Who developed the course?

Aberystwyth University

Aberystwyth University has a proud reputation for leading edge research, teaching excellence and an exceptional student experience. It’s a place for the adventurous, the curious and the creative.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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Join the conversation on social media

You can use the hashtag #LCA to talk about this course on social media.