Integrating Safety and Sustainability: Dr Lisa Pizzol (GreenDecision) on SUNRISE Project’s Vision

Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Dr Lisa Pizzol (CEO of GreenDecision)

I have always been fascinated by and deeply concerned about the challenging task of making our environment free from toxic chemicals, while supporting more sustainable development. I still remember being 9 years old when my teacher introduced the concept of greenhouse gas emissions and their potential consequences for the environment. Around the same time, I read in the newspaper about the creation of a new degree program in Environmental Science at the University of Venice, focusing on protecting the environment from contamination. From that moment, I knew that would be my future.

Indeed, 10 years later, I applied for the Environmental Science program, followed by a PhD in Environmental Science, which I successfully completed. I am now the CEO and President of Greendecision Srl, an innovative company that provides methodologies and tools to integrate sustainability principles into the development of chemicals, materials, and products.

I did not begin my research with product sustainability assessment. Instead, my initial focus was on applying risk assessment methodologies to contaminated sites, both at site-specific and regional levels, followed by the sustainability assessment of remediation technologies. Then, I shifted my focus from the risk assessment of chemical substances to the risk assessment of nanomaterials, and ultimately to the sustainability assessment of chemicals and nanomaterials through the application of the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework developed by the Joint Research Center (JRC).

What do you do to contribute to the objectives and development of SUNRISE?

I was part of the core team of experts that developed SUNRISE, and I currently serve as the WP1 leader. My primary responsibility is to guide the development of the Integrated Impacts Assessment Approach (IIAA), a logical structure that combines various Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) assessment levels (Tiers). For each Tier, the IIAA evaluates safety, environmental, social, and economic impacts, integrating these aspects using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methodologies. The approach also incorporates different stakeholder profiles, reflecting their specific relevance to the assessed impacts. The ultimate goal of the IIAA is to provide an SSbD score for the alternatives under evaluation at each assessment Tier. This is a co-creation process developed in close collaboration with experts and stakeholders, who are invited to share their perspectives on weighing technical indicators alongside potential trade-offs between safety and sustainability. 

As the leader of the Integrated Impacts Assessment Approach (IIAA) for advanced materials in the SUNRISE project, how does GreenDecision ensure alignment with the European Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework? Can you explain some of the key challenges and innovative strategies involved in this process?

The main objective of SUNRISE is to support the operationalisation of the SSbD framework developed by the EC's Joint Research Centre by providing a logical structure with different assessment levels (Tiers), tailored to the various stages of the innovation process and requiring different levels of data and expertise. Each tier must align with the SSbD framework. MCDA methodologies need to be developed for each Tier, integrating the identified safety, environmental, social, and economic impact indicators. Furthermore, specific experimental methods and computational tools must be identified to evaluate these indicators, and, where possible, specific thresholds should be established to support decisions on individual indicators. This process is quite complex and requires alignment among all partners involved in SUNRISE, including experts from the JRC, who are actively monitoring the process to ensure it aligns with the requirements of the JRC framework.

Get to know GreenDecision

To learn more about the role of GreenDecision in SUNRISE, please click here.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact SUNRISE.