The main strategic objective of this project is to enable more companies, particularly SMEs, to use Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) on the environmental impact of their design of new products, in conformance with the Communication on Integrated Product Policy (IPP) of the European Commission.

DEPUIS indeed aims at creating understanding of the importance of standard specifications to achieve comparability, communication and archiving of technical data to support life-cycle thinking at the design stage.

Life cycle thinking depends on the improved flow of information between different organisations, using different computer systems and using data that is sustainable, with longevity and accessibility beyond the lifetime of most computer software and hardware systems.

The project will achieve this awareness and understanding by innovative learning processes and by organising specialised workshops.

DEPUIS Fact Sheet

Please, click here to view/download the DEPUIS Fact sheet.

Activities

The project has two main actions:

• development of e-learning on the new technologies and the opportunities created by the information standards and also by ISO 14048 and other ISO 14000 standards.
  
  
• organisation of workshops to achieve interaction between users and developers of the standards to speed up the acceptance and dissemination of the new methods.

DEPUIS network management will invite software developers, environmental advisers and consultants toparticipate in the e-learning process and workshops so that they can support SMEs in the use of this life-cycle thinking.

As results of these activities, DEPUIS will:

• increase the awareness of the benefits for life cycle thinking (LCT) in the design of new products and processes.
  
  
• help SME to use standards for Product Data Technology for communication, comparison and archiving technical data.
  
  
• prepare Multimedia handbook on Product Data Technology and organise e-Learning courses with a view to enable more SMEs and software developers to adopt the IPP environmental tools such as Life Cycle Assessment and Ecodesign with the aim of achieving and marketing environmentally-friendly products.
  
  
• provide feedback to the standards developers of the perceived benefits of this new technology.
  
  
• provide basic knowledge to the software developers in order to produce better software compatible with the international standards.

Duration

The project will be running until 31 August 2008.