Expert VS non-expert knowledge

[LouGrimal]

Context of identification: an eco-village, in France. The misalignment was observed during an experiment conducted during a Ph.D. study (4 months of observations).

Technical system observed: life cycle assessment software (openLCA)

Misalignment observed: difficulty in identifying whether carrying out an LCA makes it possible to launch a transition process within an organisation.

Direct effects: the materials used to design the computer systems on which the LCA software runs.

Enabling effects: knowing the environmental impact of a technical system which leads to the optimization of the production chain or replacement of some materials of the technical system. A direct rebound could be the increase of production (rebound effect).

Structuring effects: one structuring effects of LCA is the ideology of technological change it carries. Indeed (Sakellariou, 2018) shows that "LCA is anchored in an engineering practice based on control, and on the belief that technological practices can be improved by experts."
"This position is problematic in relation to the need for all project stakeholders to understand the environmental impacts generated by human activities and the ability to act accordingly. Thus, the values embedded in the software (structural impacts) do not necessarily allow for a democratisation of knowledge related to the environmental aspects of engineering (enabling impacts)."

Scientific production linked to this mis-alignment: to be added in April 2023.