From Material Flow Analysis to Material Flow Management: What can - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

• Prof. Dr. Claudia R. Binder

3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management August 27 to 29, University of Zürich, Switzerland

From Material Flow Analysis to Material Flow Management:

What can social science contribute?

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

The issue

• MFA-Analyses provide a broad understanding
• f the material system (static, dynamic, etc.)
• Enterprise / firm level
• Regional level
• National level

⇒ Costs / LCC ⇒ Driving variables, trends ⇒ Multistakeholder & - goals

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Research question

How can social science approaches contribute to a better implementation of results from material flow analysis at a regional level?

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Interaction betw een

social structure, individuals & environment

After Binder, 2007

Environment

(Material consequences)

Individual Social structure

Rules

• Signification (status)
• Legitimation (norms)

Resources

• Authoritative (power)
• Allocative (capital)

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Social Struture

Signification

Meaning and interpretation

• Traditions
• Culture
• Status, etc.

Legitimation

Explicit and implicit moral rules

• Legislation
• Cultural norms
• Group norms

Authoritative R.

Non-material resources involved in the generation of power

• Religion
• Social capital / networks
• etc.

Allocative R.

• Material resources involved in the

generation of power

• Capital
• Market influence
• etc.

After Giddens 1994 and Binder, 2007

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Social structure and disciplines

Social structure Discipline

Signification Psychology Sociology Legitimation Law Psychology (groups) Sociology Authoritative Sociology Psychology Economy Allocative Economy

Resources Rules

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Approaches from Economy (I)

Source: Binder, 2007

Modeling approach Purpose Advantages Disadvantages

Input/Output models (cash flows)

• Economic system

⇒ environment

• Assessment of

changes in eco- nomic structure

• Quantitative

model

• Simulation

model

• Depends on

country statistics

• No dynamic

analysis

Examples: Hybrid Waste I/O: Nakamura this session Paper value added chain: Nathani, 2003 Food value added chain: Faist, 2003; Kytzia et al. 2004

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Approaches from Economy (II)

Source: Binder, 2007

Modeling approach Purpose Advantages Disadvantages

Micro- economic models

• Variables affecting

behavior (incl.

environmental variables)

• Policy input
• Quantitative

simulation models

• Effect of policies
• n behavior
• Variables e.g.,

norms, culture difficult to include

• Often snapshot

Examples: Drivers for copper flows: Binder et al., 2005 Driving factors for land use change: Costanza et al., 1996 Farmers management behavior: Abdulai and Binder, 2005 Effect of market based climate change policies on capital intensive industries: Ruth et al., 2002

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Integrative approaches

• Analyze the relationship among social structure (including

additional aspects of social system, i.e. culture, social norms),

individual decisions and material consequences

• Allow for determining restrictions and facilitators for

action

• Support investigation of transition processes with

heterogeneous stakeholders groups

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Modeling approach Purpose Advantages Disadvantages

Integrative approaches

• Coupled human-
• env. models
• Social structure

constraints on env. action

• Structural changes

necessary for change

• Multistakeholder

and -goal analysis

• Time and scale

differences

• Relative easy to

link with MFA

• Qualitative or
• nly binary model
• Region and

culture specific

Examples: Quantification of Luhman’s theory (binary model): Grant et al., 2002 Structural Agent Analysis: Binder, 2007

Source: Binder, 2007

Integrative approaches

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Regional w ood flow (AR, 2002)

3,550 + 42 Energy production

Systemborder: AR

220 CO2 17.4 4.4 7.4 1.9 6.8 6.4 9.4 6.4 2.5 2.3 3.9 3.4 6.4 5.8 15.8 24.6 1

550 + 5 0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 2

11 CO2 1.4 CO2

Forest owner consumption Sawmill industry Wood processing industry Household consumption Forest ecosystem

Source: Binder et al, 2004

Agent or agent group Characteristics Timeframe Planning horizon Goals Needs Structure of regulation Forest

• wners

75% private Size: 1 ha 50-100 years Comply with law No deficit Legislation Organizational structure Market Sawmills & Wood processing industries Family to medium enterprises 1-5 years Economic benefit Market Organizational structure Consumers & Construction industries Individuals Enterprises 1-10 years Semi-assembled goods Wood quality Lifestyle Market Cantonal and federal government 10-20 years Sustainable forest and wood management International treaties

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Conclusions

• To improve the implementation of MFA-results at a

regional or higher level it is necessary to link MFA with social science approaches

• The link with economic models can provide a good

understanding of one aspect driving human decisions : Focus: allocative resources

• Integrative approaches are required to understand:

– Options and restriction of social structures – Time and scale dimensions – Conflicts among involved stakeholders

C.R. Binder 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management, August 27-29, 2007

Thank you for your attention!

For more information:

• Prof. Dr. Claudia R. Binder

Social and Industrial Ecology

• Dept. of Geography

University of Zurich, Switzerland

claudia.binder@geo.uzh.ch