Départ de Sentier

Association/Agency/Cluster

www.d-d-s.chRiniken, Switzerland

About

Départ de Sentier (www.d-d-s.ch, DdS) is a Swiss non-profit association advancing quantitative sustainability assessment through open-source tools and data development. Founded in 2022, DdS began by organizing training schools for PhD researchers and professionals, teaching the latest developments in open-source sustainability assessment tools and methods, and has hosted the annual Brightcon conference since 2020. DdS was funded by three experts in the field of life cycle assessment, including the creator of the Brightway Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software framework, and in 2024 the association hired the former software team lead of ecoinvent (now also one of its board members) to strengthen its data and tool development capabilities in support of open sustainability assessment.

The core working force of DdS consists of world-leading experts in life cycle assessment and open-source tool development, committed to providing open-source software tools, services, Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) modelling, and data platforms for the global LCA and sustainability assessment community.

DdS has experienced rapid expansion since 2024, supported by new projects funded through Horizon Europe and an exclusive project grant from the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME). This growth has enabled new hires, dedicated resources for community engagement and tool development (e.g., the Sentier platform; please find its first implementation at https://vocab.sentier.dev), and preparation for the launch of institutional memberships designed to support collaborative LCI modelling and data sharing alongside its existing training activities and annual Brightcon.

Destination 1. Climate sciences and responses for the transformation towards climate neutrality

HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-01: Next generation climate monitoring and related capabilitiesHORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-04: Fighting disinformation and effectively communicating on climate changeHORIZON-CL5-2026-08-Two-Stage-D1-06: Closing knowledge gaps on Earth system science in support of global and regional assessments and climate policy

Destination 2. Cross-sectoral solutions for the climate transition

HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D2-01: Producing battery-grade materials for electrodes through sustainable processing and refining of raw materials or developing bio-based materials (BATT4EU Partnership)

Destination 4. Efficient, sustainable and inclusive energy use

HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03: Advanced data platforms to integrate whole life carbon in building information tools, assessments, and certification (Built4People Partnership)HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-04: Validating policies and business models for affordable and sustainable housing (Built4People Partnership)

Destination 6. Safe, Resilient Transport and Smart Mobility services for passengers and goods

HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07: Supporting sustainable and smart urban mobility in Europe (CIVITAS)HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-10: Enhanced resilience in multimodal passenger transport through digital technologies and generative and discriminative AI

Representatives

Director

Départ de Sentier