MUSA (MUlti agent Simulation for consequential Life Cycle Assessment of Agrosystems) Intermediate workshop

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), le Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), the Centre wallon des recherches agronomiques (CRA-W) et CONVIS Luxembourg organise the 4^th March 2015 and intermediate workshop on the MUSA project.

The project MUSA (Multi agent Simulation for consequential Life Cycle Assessment of Agrosystems) is a follow up of a previous project, called LUCAS (Indirect land use change effects in consequential Life Cycle Assessment of bioenergy), where a methodology based on economic modelling was developed to assess the consequences of increased biogas production in Luxembourg, focusing on direct and indirect land use changes linked to biomass cultivation.

In MUSA, this perspective is extended to add additional elements to the modelling exercise. In particular, MUSA will explore the future possible scenarios linked to normative decisions, social models changes, farmers' decisions, etc. The project proposes a methodology for exploring future possible evolutions of the agro-system and analysing their consequences on the economic side, rather than an alternative to the economically-based one. The effects of these future evolutions will in fact be used to estimate their consequences on the market and trigger the so-called "consequential modelling" in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

The main outcomes of the project will be the development of a practical methodology for consequential Life Cycle Inventory (CLCI) based on agent based modelling (ABM), and an on-line applet, that is destined to external users (e.g. other researchers, stakeholders, etc.). Following the development and validation of the ABM-LCA methodology, the results will be shared with the scientific community, as well as with biogas production stakeholders, including farmers and policy makers, in Luxembourg.

MUSA is cofinanced by the National Research Fund (FNR).

The workshop is divided in two sections. The morning session will host two keynote speakers, who will shed light on the use of ABM (including ABM to model geographical systems) to steer policy. The keynote speakers are Armando Geller from Scensei (see abstract) and Alison Heppenstall, from the University of Leeds (see abstract). The afternoon session will present the preliminary results of the project with a first feedback of the project team, including a demonstration of the on-line applet prototype.

Download the detailed programme.

Participation to the workshop is free of charge but registration is required.

Please address your registration request to Mrs Céline Goncalves (celine.goncalves@list.lu) until 27^thFebruary 2015.