The Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS) of the Trier University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) successfully organised and coordinated the LCA-Care Summer Events, held online on 15, 19, and 22 June 2026 in partnership with Instituto Europeu de Estudos Superiores (IEES), Portugal, bringing together representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), higher education institutions, business associations, researchers, and sustainability professionals from across Europe.
The Summer Events were organised under Work Package 6 (WP6) – Scaling up the LCA-Care Approach, led by TUAS-IfaS. The events aimed to raise awareness of the LCA-Care approach, promote the project’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool and educational resources, strengthen collaboration between academia and industry, and better understand the challenges SMEs face in implementing Life Cycle Assessment and environmental labelling.
Across the three event days, around 170 participants attended six interactive sessions, comprising three Expert Roundtables led by TUAS-IfaS and three practical demonstrations of the LCA-Care Tool delivered by the Instituto Europeu de Estudos Superiores (IEES), Portugal.
The Expert Roundtables, presented by Eng. Jackeline Martínez, M Sc., International Project Manager at IfaS, introduced the objectives of the LCA-Care project and explored the role of Life Cycle Assessment in supporting sustainable decision-making within the agri-food sector. Discussions covered environmental labels, the GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard, ISO 14040/14044, and life cycle approaches such as cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave. Practical examples, including Govindas GmbH, Birkenfeld, illustrated how SMEs can begin applying Life Cycle Assessment principles within their own organisations.
The practical workshops, led by IEES, provided participants with a live demonstration of the LCA-Care Tool, showcasing how the platform supports greenhouse gas calculations, environmental impact assessment, and reporting through a user-friendly digital interface. Participants explored the platform’s key functionalities and discussed its potential to support sustainability assessment and environmental decision-making within SMEs.
A key feature of the Summer Events was the interactive engagement with participants. Following each session, attendees joined multilingual breakout rooms in English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Bulgarian, and Lithuanian, where they exchanged experiences, discussed practical challenges, and provided valuable feedback directly to the consortium. Each event concluded with participant satisfaction surveys, and the insights collected will contribute to the next phase of the project, supporting the further development of the LCA-Care Tool and practical guidance for SMEs under Task 6.2.
The successful completion of the Summer Events marks an important milestone for the LCA-Care project. By combining expert knowledge, practical digital solutions, and active stakeholder engagement, the consortium has strengthened collaboration between academia and industry while supporting European agri-food SMEs on their journey towards more sustainable and environmentally responsible business practices.