At last week’s Mannheim2020 conference, we explored what is means to procure products and services socially responsible. Procura+ Participants cities of Copenhagen, Stavanger, Oslo, the Government of Catalonia as well as the European Commission (DG Grow) shared their experience with the topic. 

New to socially responsible procurement? This video will help you understand what the topic is all about. 

Participants had the opportunity to dive deep into examples on how procurement can

• help improve working conditions in global supply-chains such as electronics
• tackle local social dumping issues in the construction sector
• contribute to gender equality 

Recently the EU Commission published #WeBuySocialEU - 71 Case Studies on Socially Responsible Procurement - check it out here. 

A clear message from the session is that in order for local governments to buy social:

• buyers need to set priorities on what they want to tackle next
• collaboration between cities is key to exchange and support one another
• fruitful dialogue between buyers and their suppliers is vital
• measuring the impact of the interventions is important, just as much as being mindful which indicators determine the success 

Mannheim2020 catalysed a number of transformative actions. Most notably, on 1 October, we presented the "Mannheim Message", the local response to the EU Green Deal, to the European Commission. This conference may be over, but our message for solidarity, core systemic changes and key policy shifts are critically relevant. Endorse the Message and join the Mannheim process.