30th Anniversary and Network Conference 2026
We are celebrating 30 years as a center! We look forward to celebrate at this year’s Network Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, highlighting past achievements, current developments, and inspiration for future ventures. The day will start with Network Conference and end with a celebration dinner. We hope you will join us for a full day of learning, celebration, and networking together with colleagues and partners across our network!
The conference will take place at Chalmers Conference Center, Gothenburg and the anniversary dinner will be held at Universeum.
Preliminary program
Registration at Chalmers Conference Center opens at 8.
Opening
Susan Iliefski Janols, chairperson in the Swedish Life Cycle Center board and Maria Rydberg, Director Swedish Life Cycle Center opens the conference.
KeynoteMaria Wolrath Söderberg, Associate Professor in Rhetoric at Södertörn University We know the dire state of the climate, and we have the technology. Moreover, most people want to leave behind a better world—or at least not a worse one. Yet the transition is moving too slowly. What sustains this inertia, and what can spur us into action? |
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Coffee, tea and a sandwich will be served in the Volvo Foyer at Chalmers Conference Center.
What’s cooking in EU regulations
Can calculation rules in the regulations ensure both relevance, feasibility, and robustness?
EU regulations such as ESPR, the Battery Regulation, PPWR, ELV, CPR, ETS, and CBAM are driving new requirements for product carbon footprints and recycled content. Through expert presentations and interactive discussions, this session explores the trade-offs between robustness, environmental relevance, and practical feasibility in the calculation rules underpinning these regulations.
The session will have both presentation and discussions and it will be lead by Tomas Ekvall, TERRA and Björn Spak, IVL.
AI and automation in LCA
The picture of the current AI for LCA landscape – where do we stand?
Presentations and interactive discussions on the topic. We will hear from SKF, AB Volvo and Essity on how they work with automation and AI in LCA.
The session will be lead by Emilia Ingemarsdotter and Malin Johansson from Knowit together with Pietro Bartocci from RISE.
The Human Side of Sustainability Work
How do experiences, setbacks, and unexpected turns shape a sustainability career?
Sustainability work is about more than methods and metrics. In this session, four sustainability professionals – Emma Rex, Diego Peñaloza, Hanna Angel and Johan Widheden – share personal experiences that have shaped their careers and perspectives on sustainability. The experiences span the search for jobs with more impact, switching back and forth between industry and research, fighting for change in a controversial industry, and challenging the system from the outside.
The session will be lead by Frida Røyne, Swedish Life Cycle Center.
Life cycle thinking and the financial sector
How can life cycle thinking help the financial sector accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable society? This session explores how financial institutions can address emissions across their supply chains, assess the environmental impacts of investment funds, integrate avoided environmental impacts into sustainability reporting and investment analysis, and promote more sustainable insurance and investment practices. Through different perspectives and practical examples, the speakers will highlight how life cycle approaches can support more informed financial decisions and contribute to environmental improvements.
- Jakob König, Founder of Fair Finance Guide Sweden
- Ioana Popescu, Product Manager, Investment Funds at ÖKOWORLD
- Pontus Cerin, Affiliate Researcher and Teacher at Stockholm School of Economics
- Agneta Zandén, Product Manager, “Bra Miljöval” Insurance
The session will be lead by Anna Wikström, Swedish Life Cycle Center.
Lunch will be served in the Volvo Foyer at Chalmers Conference Center.
KeynoteGöran Finnveden, Professor of Environmental Strategic Analysis at KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sustainable consumption, sustainability assessment, and societal transformation are closely connected. A systems perspective reveals how different parts of society interact, and what changes are needed to accelerate more sustainable futures.
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Transport perspectiveAnders Nordelöf, Professor of Environmental Systems Analysis at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) Anders research focuses on the environmental assessment of emerging transport technologies and mobility systems, with particular expertise in vehicle electrification. Through life cycle assessment of batteries, electric vehicles and future transport solutions, he explores how life cycle thinking can support sustainable transport transitions and inform decision-making.
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Textile perspectiveSandra Roos, Vice President Sustainability at KappAhl Sandra Roos has a PhD from Environmental Systems Analysis at Chalmers University of Technology and roots in the Swedish Life Cycle Center/CPM from 2003. Her journey from research within life cycle assessment and chemicals in textiles, to leading sustainability at Kappahl Group gives her a valuable perspective on how complex sustainability data can inform decisions, strategy and communication, and how these can be translated into action across an organisation.
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Food system perspectiveMichael Martin, Senior Researcher and Adjunct Professor at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology Michaels research focuses on applying life cycle assessment, life cycle management, industrial ecology, and circular economy approaches to sustainable food systems, including emerging and novel foods, urban agriculture, circular food systems, and sustainable food procurement. Combining environmental systems analysis with policy, governance, and future pathways analysis, he explores how life cycle thinking can support sustainability transitions, inform decision-making, and address potential environmental trade-offs. |
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Coffee, tea and a something sweet will be served in the Volvo Foyer at Chalmers Conference Center.
Award ceremony for Swedish Life Cycle Center Research Excellence Award
Keynote
Llorent Mila I Canals, UNEP Life Cycle Initiative will provide a global outlook on key trends, challenges, and opportunities that are likely to influence the future of life cycle thinking and practice to set the scene for the panel.
Panel on 30 years of life cycle thinking – what will happen in the future?
Closing speech, TBA
The exhibition in the Volvo Foyer will be open until 18:00, stay and mingle before the dinner.
Keynote speakers
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Sponsors
Gold sponsors
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Silver sponsors
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Our history
Join the network conference
When: November 18, 2026
Time: 08:00-18:00 (CET), followed by a celebration dinner, 19:00–late.
Where: Chalmers Conference Center, Gothenburg and dinner at Universeum
Registration
Swedish Life Cycle Center partners have a limited number of free places allocated to their organisation. Additional places are available at a discounted partner rate.
Price
Partners: 2000 SEK, Partners with dinner: 2815 SEK.
Non-partners: 2500 SEK, Non-partners with dinner: 3500 SEK.
Partners and collaboration organizations can register here:
Registration for non-partners and partners who have filled their allocated free seats:
