The Environmental Footprinting training is an excellent opportunity to learn everything about calculating the impact of food products along the entire value chain. It may be your first time learning about life cycle assessment (LCA), or you want to refresh your knowledge or deepen your understanding of a specific food-related topic.

Our experts introduce you to the topic of environmental footprinting, but go in-depth quickly. Like this, the training is suitable for most backgrounds and offers great value for both beginners as well as more experienced sustainability experts.

What topics are covered

First, our experts introduce you to Environmental Footprinting and LCA, their role in sustainability efforts, and current developments. We then dive further into the step-by-step methodology of LCA, and we discuss different frameworks and guidelines. We also explore methodological developments, such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

Finally, you can choose between various Specialist Sessions: Arable Crops and Horticulture, Animal Production Systems, and Retail & Novel Foods. You will dive deeper into the more advanced methodological topics and latest developments. Case studies, practical examples, and an assignment will further illustrate and substantiate the topics covered in this training.

Setup of the training

Sessions

The training exists of a minimum of three sessions. The first two are meant as the "core" of the training: they are the same for everyone. In the next session(s), you will dive deeper into a more specific product category, the one(s) most relevant to you.

Each session is held on a seperate day of the week, and lasts 3-4 hours.

Day 1 - session 1

Landscape of Environmental Footprinting in the Agri-food sector

In this section you will learn about the main principles of environmental footprinting and LCA. We will dive into questions like: what are the main drivers for sustainability and what is the role of life cycle environmental management? What are the current developments in EU context and policy-making, with regards to for instance the EU Green Deal, “Green Claims” and the EU Farm-to-Fork strategy? We will also demonstrate case studies of companies that embrace LCA in their sustainability strategy.

Day 2 - session 2

Landscape of Environmental Footprinting in the Agri-food sector

In this section, you will be introduced to the step-by-step methodology of LCA and to the differences between ISO compliant LCA studies and PEF studies. You will deepen your understanding through examples of crucial, sometimes controversial decisions that need to be taken when performing an LCA. We will also outline limitations that are often encountered when performing an LCA. Finally, you will explore methodological developments on topics such as carbon sequestration, plastic soup, and biodiversity. This session includes an assignment.

Day 3-5 - specialist sessions

One or more topics of choice

We offer specialist sessions in the topics:

• Arable crops and horticulture
• Animal production systems
• Farm to Fork analysis