Brightcon 2023: Shining a Light on Life-Cycle Assessment and Open Sustainability

The 2023 Brightcon conference, organized by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and Depart de Sentier, shone a spotlight on open sustainability, life-cycle assessment. This year, the conference brought together the thriving community of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) experts and enthusiasts in the field of life-cycle assessment to explore the latest advancements and developments. A standout event within the conference was the hackathon focused on makeing open databases for sustainability interoperable and improving the documentation of Brightway software.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) has become a cornerstone of sustainability efforts across industries. It is a comprehensive approach to evaluating the environmental impact of a product or system throughout its entire life cycle, from resource extraction to disposal. LCA helps stakeholders make informed decisions by considering the environmental, social, and economic aspects of a product or process. At LIST, the Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis group focuses on the development of science-based indicators and tools to assess holistically the sustainability performance of products, technologies and policies to respond to the needs of industry and policy makers.

A Nexus of Ideas

Brightway, an open-source software framework, has gained recognition worldwide for its versatility and efficiency in conducting LCAs. As a matter of fact, it allows users to model and assess environmental impacts, making it an indispensable resource for academics, researchers, and businesses striving for sustainable practices. As the demand for rigorous LCA studies grows, so does the importance of having accessible and comprehensible documentation for Brightway.

Tomas Navarrete, Research & Technology Associate at LIST, stated: “Brightway has become in the past 10 years a tool that enables LCA practitioners from the academic, industrial and consulting worlds to implement innovation in sustainability assessment, in a fast track.”

Broad Open Sustainability Community stood as the central theme to this year’s Brightcon conference. Indeed, the community has grown over the years to become a nexus for researchers, practitioners, and developers interested in advancing the field of life-cycle assessment. Tomas Navarette highlighted that “the open sustainability community has an immense power in shaping a sustainable future for our planet.”

Two awards were presented during the conference, one to Hestia for developing a database on international agriculture and one to Beatriz Rivela for her tenacious work on making the free open database from Equator https://amaru.io a reality.

The Brightway Hackathon: Bridging the Documentation Gap and connecting databases

One of the standout features of Brightcon 2023 was the Brightway hackathon. This collaborative event was organized to address the need for improved documentation of Brightway, and allow interoperability of existing databases.

Documentation plays a critical role in the accessibility and usability of software, especially in the open-source world. For a powerful tool like Brightway, clear and comprehensive documentation is essential for users to harness its full potential. The hackathon gathered software developers, LCA experts, and documentation enthusiasts to work together on enhancing the existing documentation.

Participants dived deep into the software's functionalities, identified areas requiring clarification or expansion, and created user-friendly guides and tutorials.

Tomas Navarrete explained: “The hackathon was not only an opportunity to address the documentation gap but also a testament to the FOSS community's collaborative spirit.”

Two companies, Hestia and Eaternity were present in the hackathon and along the conference. They made a common effort to make their databases interoperable, with help from a de facto standard database supplier for LCA, Ecoinvent (the innovative and strategic partner of the conference this year).

The Future of Brightway and LCA

As Brightway continues to evolve and improve, its importance in the field of LCA grows exponentially. Brightcon 2023 marked a pivotal moment in the software's journey by addressing the need for better documentation. This will undoubtedly enhance its accessibility and usability, making it even more impactful in the global sustainability movement.

Brightway, like other FOSS projects, thrives on the collective effort of its community. Brightcon serves as a shining example of how collaboration and shared passion can drive positive change. As LCA becomes increasingly critical in understanding and mitigating environmental impacts, FOSS tools like Brightway will play a pivotal role in shaping a more sustainable future.

Pictures by @Vanessa Döringer, ecoinvent