Sustainability Theatre at UTB: Decision-Making on Battery Sustainability

Have you ever thought about combining science, storytelling, and technology decision-making into a single interactive format? As part of the TwinVECTOR project, we collaborated with the German institute KIT (Karlsruhe Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis) to present a unique “Sustainability Theatre” on May 21, 2025, at the Centre of Polymer Systems at Tomas Bata University in Zlín.

This format translates insights from life cycle assessment (LCA, LCC, S-LCA) into a live decision-making process — participants took on the roles of researchers, industry representatives, and policymakers who together evaluated the sustainability of various battery technologies. The theatrical decision-making platform uses multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods and the interactive HELDA tool developed at KIT.

Participants first defined their preferences regarding environmental, social, and economic criteria, which they then weighted and compared in team-based discussions. The outcome was a shared dialogue on how different perspectives influence the final sustainability assessment.

Sustainability Theatre not only fosters critical thinking and collaboration but also demonstrates how LCSA methods can be practically applied in real-world decision-making.

Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the European Research Executive Agency can be held responsible for them. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and the European Research Executive Agency under Grant Agreement No. 101078935.