Life Cycle Summer School (LCSS2026)

Designing Solutions vs. Shifting the Problem: Using Life Cycle Management to Anticipate Consequences and Shape Sustainable Regional Innovation

Driving regional sustainable transformation through LCM

The Summer School 2026 is a four-day program, taking place in Malmö, Sweden from August 26 to 29, 2026, designed to explore how life cycle management (LCM) tools can drive regional sustainability in a practical, policy‐oriented manner. The event brings together researchers, industry professionals, and regional managers to develop strategies that integrate sustainability into regional planning and decision-making. Building on this foundation, this year’s program places innovation under the spotlight to address how the very mechanisms of progress can be better managed. 

Regions play a pivotal role in creating the conditions under which innovation thrives — through policy frameworks, investment decisions, institutional partnerships, and the governance structures that shape what gets built, scaled, and sustained. Yet this enabling role comes with responsibility: regional actors must not only foster innovation, but actively steer it toward outcomes that are ecologically sound, socially equitable, and long-term viable. A significant gap exists in regional development today — innovation is frequently measured by short-term economic or functional success, without accounting for the "problem shifting" that occurs when impacts are pushed further down the supply chain or into different ecological categories.

In response to these dynamics, this program champions a holistic life cycle perspective. With 17 interconnected SDGs at stake, life cycle thinking is vital for sustainable, preventive decision-making at the regional level. We focus on how LCM can anticipate critical consequences before decisions are locked in — equipping participants to assess innovations before they scale and to design solutions in harmony with systems, resources, and society.

Through deep dives into regional ecosystems, we will uncover how stakeholders can collaborate to identify potential pitfalls before they are locked into the infrastructure. The summer school is based on short lectures relating to the above subjects followed by intensive workshops and discussion sessions to explore the issues and options in more detail. Participants are encouraged to reflect on how the classroom experience relates to real-life situations in their respective regions. The Summer School experience is intended to give participants insights and understandings that can be immediately applied in their ongoing professional activities whether in research, business or in public institutions.

Audience

Registration is open to undergraduate, doctoral, post-doctoral students, and young professionals —including researchers and professionals under 40 — who are eager to explore life cycle assessment, sustainability, and circular economy strategies. In addition, officials from regional institutions are strongly encouraged to register. This diverse audience will benefit from the practical insights and innovative approaches presented, enabling a cross-sector dialogue between academia, industry, and public policy.

Program

To learn more about the summer school and the program, please download our info brochure!

Registration

The registration fee is 500€ for students & regional officials and 650€ for young professionals. An Early Bird Rebate of 100€ is offered which can be combined with a rebate of up to 30€ (student) / 120€ (full) for FSLCI members. The registration fee covers access to all lectures, workshops, webinars and as well as the online collaboration platform and downloadable course material. In addition all lunches and one networking dinner during LCSS 2026 are included.

Deadlines

• 31.05.2026 – Early Bird Registration Deadline
• 15.08.2026 – Registration Deadline

Application

More more information on the program will be published soon. In the meantime you can apply by filling out the application form below:

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