Since its first edition in 2009, the practice of social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) has evolved from a small circle of academic practitioners to one that now includes stakeholders from industry, policy makers, and business. This means having updated information and guidelines that do not need prior understanding of lifecycle approaches. It also means ensuring that the right tools are in the hands of those who can inform the decision-making processes. These updated Guidelines fulfils both these objectives.

Because different S-LCA methods have diverging purposes and applications, these 2020 Guidelines do not dictate one path but rather explain the strengths and challenges of different approaches to solve multiple questions. Each section defines the main steps, provides examples and directs the user to additional resources and references.

These new Guidelines are a helpful reference regardless if you are new to S-LCA methods or an expert.