Following a needs assessment, the Big Buyers Working Together secretariat has now identified 10 Communities of Practice in which public buyers will join forces to drive market demand for innovative and sustainable products and services in Europe. Public procuring authorities interested in joining one of the communities of practice can write an email to big.buyers@eurocities.eu. The deadline is 20 October.

The 10 Communities of Practice will be led by Eurocities, ICLEI and BME. Eurocities will lead the CoP’s on Digital, Zero-emission construction sites (ZEMCONS), Circular construction, and Mobility. ICLEI will lead the ones on Solar panels, Social procurement, New European Bauhaus, and Heavy-duty electric vehicles. BME will lead two CoP’s on healthcare.

Each Community of Practice will define its own objectives to effectively address sector-specific opportunities and challenges. For example, members can exchange best practices with peers from across the EU, carry out joint market engagement and share market intelligence, identify and discuss the latest guidance and technical developments and develop joint procurement criteria and strategies. Furthermore, each Community of Practice will define its own collaboration activities aimed at shaping the market to meet their ambitious needs and they will be supported by the Big Buyers Working Together Secretariat throughout the process.

The first preliminary focus group meetings with the public authorities who expressed their interest in the theme specific to each CoP have already been held. Nonetheless, the full scope and direction of each CoP has not yet been defined. New participants will still have the opportunity to shape the work of the CoP’s in collaboration with the others. More information about the Big Buyers Working Together project can be found here. Public authorities interested in joining can reach out to big.buyers@eurocities.eu