Interdisciplinary workshop at UNG: students learn about the LCA approach to developing sustainable frozen desserts

As part of the PUŠ project “From the Lab to Sustainability: An LCA Approach”, Rudolfovo contributed knowledge transfer and support in designing the LCA study. Our colleague Assoc. Prof. Jelena Topić Božič, PhD, introduced students from three faculties to the fundamentals of Life Cycle Assessment and hands-on modelling using the open-source tool openLCA.

At the University of Nova Gorica (UNG), training in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method took place within the interdisciplinary workshop “Innovative Solutions for a Sustainable Future” – one of the key approaches for assessing the environmental impacts of products and services from raw materials to end of life.

The workshop was delivered as part of the PUŠ project, Package B: “From the Lab to Sustainability: An LCA Approach to Developing an Innovative Frozen Dessert”, carried out in cooperation with UNG, FINI and Rudolfovo. The project focuses on the development and sustainability optimisation of a frozen dessert, with LCA serving as a central tool for identifying key environmental burdens and opportunities for improvement.

Rudolfovo’s role in the project is knowledge transfer and support in designing the LCA study. Assoc. Prof. Jelena Topić Božič, PhD, first delivered an online workshop on LCA fundamentals, where students from three different faculties became familiar with the core concepts (functional unit, system boundaries, life cycle inventory, and interpretation of results). On Wednesday, 4 February, this was followed by a workshop in Vipava, where students gained practical insight into LCA modelling in the open-source tool openLCA – from structuring the system and entering data to generating the first results and interpreting them in the context of sustainable development.

The LCA method enables us, when developing new products, not to guess where the greatest environmental impacts occur, but to measure and compare them. This makes it possible to improve processes in a targeted way – for example by reducing energy use, optimising raw materials, packaging and logistics, and developing more sustainable business models.

The final goal of the collaboration is to prepare an LCA study that will help identify the key sources of emissions and resource use in the development of the frozen dessert and provide recommendations for further optimisation. At the same time, the workshop strengthens students’ practical competencies and connects academic knowledge with real-world development challenges.