Greetings from the conference chair

Dear EcoBalance 2018 participants

Shinsuke Murakami

On behalf of the conference committee, I would like to welcome all of you participating in the 13th Biennial International Conference on EcoBalance (EcoBalance 2018). As an international conference with the main theme of life cycle assessment, the first International Conference on EcoBalance was held in 1994. After celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2014, at the last conference, we went out of the Tokyo metropolitan region to Kyoto, one of the oldest cities in Japan, with a rich history and traditions. This year we return to Tokyo, Ryogoku.

In Ryogoku, the participants will feel both the traditional elements of Tokyo, such as Kokugikan, the sumo stadium, and the newest part of Tokyo in Tokyo Skytree. The combination of these two Tokyos creates new values in the town of Ryogoku. Similarly, EcoBalance 2018 will also try to link different ideas to create innovative solutions for sustainable development. Recently, issues relevant to sustainability have become diversified, while individual study areas have become highly specialized. EcoBalance 2018 seeks to share and promote innovation by linking ideas from different research fields through life cycle thinking towards unraveling sustainability issues which are highly intertwined. The conference theme was therefore set as "Nexus of ideas: Innovation by linking through life cycle thinking".

I sincerely thank all of you for participating in the conference, as well as our sponsors, reviewers, and International Advisory Board members for providing support and cooperation in holding the conference. I earnestly hope that this conference, through all of the time you spend here, and the people you meet in Ryogoku will provide you with a fruitful and rewarding experience.

We look forward to seeing you in Ryogoku, Tokyo.

Shinsuke MurakamiThe University of Tokyo
Chairman, EcoBalance 2018