Integrating Social Aspects into Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD): A mapping of European Project Contributions

The article, “Integrating Social Aspects into Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD): A mapping of European Project Contributions”, analyses how European research projects are contributing to the integration of social aspects into SSbD methodologies, with a particular focus on emerging technologies and industrial innovation.

Publication details

• Authors: Federica Silveri, Manuela D’Eusanio, Luigia Petti (University “G. d’Annunzio”, Italy)

• Context: Horizon Europe – ANALYST Project

• Focus: Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) within SSbD frameworks

  
  

Research overview

While SSbD has made significant progress in addressing safety and environmental impacts, the social dimension remains less mature and inconsistently applied. This study investigates how EU-funded projects are addressing this gap by mapping current methodological and applied approaches to social sustainability.

A total of 66 European projects were reviewed, of which 18 demonstrated meaningful integration of social aspects, using methods such as:

• Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA)

• Stakeholder engagement and acceptance studies

• Social hotspot analysis

• Behavioural and socio-economic assessment models

The analysis highlights a lack of harmonisation, limited case studies—particularly in the plastics and chemicals sectors—and challenges linked to data availability at early innovation stages.

Key findings

The study identifies several critical needs for advancing SSbD implementation:

• Stronger and more harmonised S-LCA methodologies

• More applied case studies, especially in industrial value chains

• Better adaptation of social assessment tools across Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs)

• Improved transparency and accessibility of project results

• Relevance for the ANALYST project

These findings directly support the objectives of the ANALYST project, which aims to strengthen the integration of social and socio-economic dimensions alongside environmental, safety, and economic assessments. By contributing to a more holistic SSbD framework, ANALYST helps bridge existing methodological gaps and supports informed, sustainability-driven decision-making.

👉 Read the full article (Open Access): https://zenodo.org/records/18254092

This publication is part of the ANALYST Project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 101138548.