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Congrès International sur l’Analyse du Cycle de Vie Lille, Novembre 2011
Moving towards the socio-eco-design
Ecodesign Institute and Life Cycle Management
contact@eco-conception.fr
www.eco-conception.fr
Keywords: Socio-Eco-design, societal dimension
Introduction
Taking into account the environment in product design is a first step in the direction of a responsible
design. However, this first step, while necessary, is insufficient to enable a design that is fully consistent
with sustainable development criteria. Traditionally, in the drafting of the specifications of a product, the
company takes into account technical and economic criteria. Past ten years the tools in the service of an
eco-design or incorporating the environment have been developed and perfected. But what about the
social and societal dimension? How to evaluate the impacts of a company's stakeholders, whether
employees, users or stakeholders in the supply chain?
I. The Ecodesign Institute an international resource center
The Ecodesign Institute and Life Cycle Management plays a critical role of information and
awareness on eco-design and assists companies wishing to develop steps in this direction. Unique in
France, it has set itself the goal of becoming a real resource center for organizations and companies
nationally and internationally. After accompanying companies in eco-design, the cluster runs the diagnostic
socio-eco-design in collaboration with the CIRIDD.
II.
From eco-design to socio-eco-design
The socio-eco-design is presented as a solution to integrate all the sustainable development
criteria in product design. It is built on the principles outlined below.
Adopting a life cycle approach:
The socio-eco-design is characterized by a holistic
approach of the lifecycle of products and services. It
takes into account all the environmental and social
damages in each phase of the life cycle, from the
extraction of raw materials to the disposal. Beyond,
the consideration of these aspects at the level of the
design aims to produce positive externalities. We're
talking about positive externality when the action of
producing of an agent has beneficial effects on other
agents without their having to pay in compensation of
the benefits received. Taking into account the positive
externalities can encourage performance beyond
strict compliance with the legislation.
Knowledge of stakeholder categories:
Proposed by the Life Cycle Initiative (an initiative of the UNEP / SETAC) these stakeholder
categories are quite broad and may include many different actors. The reality they designate may vary
depending on the context. By stakeholders one understands the individuals or groups that may "affect or
be affected by the achievement of organizational objectives"3.
Precursors in this field Pole Eco-design and CIRIDD have developed a thesis via a diagnostic tool
for socio-eco-design with more than 500 items. This tool is compatible with the ISO 26000 standard on
social responsibility, and ultimately with the repository X30-29, Methodology for identifying relevant fields
of policies and important social responsibility for an organization.
3 Freeman 1984
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