Background All industrial activity currently has a common problem: that economic growth and industrial development is linked to increasing negative environmental impacts and resource use. DG Environment - European Commission - highlights that “the consequences of our resource use in terms of impacts on the environment may induce serious damages that go beyond the carrying capacity of the environment.” The Sixth Environment Action Programme of the European Community (2002-2012) strongly promoted the principle of sustainable development. One of the associated seven Thematic Strategies was specifically on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. It sought to reduce the environmental impact of resource use, decoupling economic growth and environmental pressures. Industry value chains provide an interesting perspective for analysing and reducing impact on the environment. Extending beyond the value chain for individual products, they can incorporate the often complex interactions of many economic actors and local value chains. By considering costs and impact incurred along the value chains, it is possible to identify efficiencies and improvements that would not be possible for one company acting alone. Objectives The LIFE+ project TOSCA aimed to facilitate the efforts of industry to reduce its negative impacts on the environment and social issues in the European Union. It sought to achieve this by creating and demonstrating a framework for combining existing tools for improving sustainability, supported by the promotion of accurate data management and improved communication paths. The approach chosen by the project was to address value chains in the industrial sector, rather than individual enterprises or Member States. This hoped to provide results that would be relevant across Europe and be more widely taken up, increasing the knowledge base and deepening the commitment of industrial value chains in matters of sustainability. Results The TOSCA project made an important contribution to increasing the availability of tools and awareness all along the industry value chain of how to achieve greater sustainability. The project has disseminated methodologies, strategies and general awareness to many companies, although it may take a while for the direct environmental benefits to be seen. The project undertook initial research on the current practices within the partner companies. This covered tools used to support sustainability and different systems for handling and managing data within an organisation. It also examined the inclusion of social aspects into appropriate tools and data management. This enabled it to deliver reports of analysis and recommendations on tools and data management systems for sustainable development. The approach was partly built on the tools demonstrated in the DANTES project (LIFE02 ENV/S/000351) previously funded by LIFE with the objective of using these developed tools into the wider context of sustainable development. Complementary work focused on communication, examining existing structures and practices for communication within the partner companies and between the companies and the rest of the value chain. The project examined state-of-the-art in models for communication within larger companies and value chains and provided recommendations for improved communication within companies and within a value chain. TOSCA examined current practices for developing and implementing sustainable development strategies in companies, specifically procedures for defining company core values and policies and how these are implemented, monitored and followed up. It also researched best practice models for working towards sustainable development and success stories from the implementation of such models. The research led to the production of a framework of working procedures and tools for sustainable development. This importantly helps provide a common language, shared definitions and general information exchange on sustainability. As well as being implemented in the partner countries, the project and framework were introduced to about 2 500 external people through conferences, workshops and seminars. The project successfully demonstrated that a process covering sustainability in value chains extended both upstream and downstream can be integrated into the business practices of large companies. A key message is that sustainability issues can be discussed very openly with several players in the value chain, requiring the active involvement of suppliers and client organisations. Good sustainability practice can be used increasingly as a marketing tool. Although the project did not deliver tangible environmental benefits during its lifetime, it can expect in the longer-term to positively influence companies’ policies and practices around issues such as the purchase of raw materials, selection of suppliers and transportation arrangements. The partner, the Technical University of Chalmers is integrating learning from the project in its academic curricula on business and industrial topics. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).