The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) through Working Group 4B on "Supporting SPP through Ecolabels and Sustainability Standards" as part of the UNEP-led 10YFP SPP Programme, will host a webinar on the EPA’s Draft Guidelines for Environmental Performance Standards and Ecolabels.

In response to public comments received during November 2013 – April 2014, the US EPA is announcing plans to test an approach to helping the federal government further identify “environmentally preferable” products via private sector standards and ecolabels. EPA has revised draft guidelines and will be launching a pilot to assess and recognise private sector environmental standards and ecolabels.

The webinar will be hosted by Alison Kinn Bennett, the US EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Senior Advisor for sustainable products and purchasing.

Participants are invited to register via the link below. Once registered, participants will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

*Siehe unten für Text auf Deutsch*

The project "Creating landmarks" offered a customised and user-oriented training concept for teachers and curriculum leaders from administration training academies (Train-the-trainer seminars). The opening event for this project offered representatives from training academies, public authorities and interested decision-makers the opportunity to learn about the services offered in the project and to discuss relevant issues.

The project is funded by the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) and Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) of Germany and implemented by ICLEI and the Öko-Institut e.V. The event took place in cooperation with the Federal State of Hesse, and included contributions from the project "Hesse: Leading in sustainable and fair procurement".

During the event, participants had the opportunity to ask their specific questions and make the connection to existing units in their curricula. The participatory train-the-trainer seminars, that formed part of the project launched in Wiesbaden, were expanded and specific topics were addressed by our experts.

____________________________________________________

Landmarken setzen: Verankerung des Themas umweltfreundliche öffentliche Beschaffung in Aus- und Fortbildung

Das Projekt „Landmarken setzen“ bietet ein maßgeschneidertes und nutzerorientiertes Schulungskonzept für Lehrkräfte und Lehrplanverantwortliche von Verwaltungsakademien (Train-the-trainer-Seminare). Mit Blick auf die Bereiche Ökologie und Ökonomie wird darüber informiert, welche Möglichkeiten das aktuelle Vergaberecht der öffentlichen Hand bereits bietet, umweltfreundlich einzukaufen. Dabei wird auch auf aktuelle Methoden zur integrierten Lebenszykluskosten- und CO2-Emissionsberechnung eingegangen.

Weiterhin wird der Dialog zwischen Verwaltungsakademien und deren Zielgruppe (Beschaffungsstellen und Bedarfsträger) zu diesem Themenkreis gefördert und über aktuelle Entwicklungen beim öffentlichen Beschaffungswesen informiert werden.

Die Auftaktveranstaltung für dieses Projekt bietet Vertretern von Verwaltungsakademien, öffentlichen Beschaffungsstellen sowie interessierten Entscheidungsträgern die Möglichkeit, sich über die im Projekt angebotenen Dienstleistungen zu informieren und die Thematik zu diskutieren.

Das Projekt wird vom Umweltbundesamt (UBA) und Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU) gefördert und von ICLEI und dem Öko-Institut e.V. durchgeführt. Die Veranstaltung findet in Kooperation mit dem Land Hessen statt und beinhaltet Beiträge aus dem Projekt „Hessen: Vorreiter für eine nachhaltige und faire Beschaffung“.

Während der Veranstaltung haben Teilnehmer die Möglichkeit, ihre konkreten Fragen zu stellen und Anknüpfungspunkte zu bestehenden Unterrichtseinheiten zu identifizieren. Dies wird in den partizipativ ausgerichteten Train-the-Trainer Seminaren des Projekts vertieft, wo auch spezifische Fragen durch unsere Experten geklärt werden. Verschaffen Sie sich die Chance, ein aktuelles Thema in Ihren Lehrplan aufzunehmen und dadurch frühzeitig auf veränderte Vorgaben zu reagieren. Gleichzeitig befähigen Sie Ihre Lehrgangsteilnehmer in Zukunft Kosten zu senken und Klima- und Umweltziele zu erreichen.

*Siehe unten für Information auf Deutsch*

The event aimed to facilitate the networking of decision makers and procurers interested in green public procurement in southern Bavaria. The exchange of experiences between cities and towns aimed to strengthen environmentally-friendly public procurement in the future.

It took place within the framework of the Landmarken Setzen (Setting Landmarks) project, jointly funded by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Department for the Environment, and implemented by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and the Öko-Institut e.V.

____________________________________________________

Die Veranstaltung soll der Vernetzung von beteiligten und interessierten Mitarbeitern und Entscheidungsträgern aus dem Bereich des öffentlichen Auftragswesens in Südbayern dienen. Zudem soll der Erfahrungsaustausch zwischen den Städten und Gemeinden dazu beitragen, die Möglichkeiten und Chancen umweltfreundlicher öffentlicher Beschaffung in Zukunft noch besser zu nutzen.

Das Vernetzungstreffen findet im Rahmen des Projektes „Landmarken setzen“ statt, welches vom Umweltbundesamt (UBA) und Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU) gefördert und von ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) und dem Öko-Institut e.V. durchgeführt wird.

National conference aimed at promoting and sharing experiences on sustainable procurement in Belgium, with inspiring best practices presented from the Netherlands, France and Belgium

The aim of the conference was to present the legal foundations, environmental criteria, issues related to the social economy and practical examples of green and socially responsible public procurement. The conference was attended by representatives of the Polish contracting authorities, representatives of the European Commission and national experts from member states in the field of green public procurement. The conference was preceded by a meeting of experts organised under the European Commission.

Suppliers and customers are now innovating together to seek more growth by focusing on efficiency, productivity, and stability. Public and private sectors are in new partnerships to address the scarcity of resources, human rights issues and global welfare.

- How 21st-century-proof is your company?

- Where is your future growth?

- Is your value chain ready for a changing world?

Based on the success of the first ISMC in 2010, the 2011 Congress addressed these burning issues to help you bring your business into the present and make it ready for the future.

International experts were invited to attend the workshop which discussed a set of draft procurement recommendations for central IT equipment (servers, storage devices, network equipment, cooling systems and monitoring devices). These recommendations were produced within the PrimeEnergyIT project.

To deliver a truly sustainable offer to their ever demanding customers, Action Sustainability must work with their suppliers to address key sustainability impacts. The Action Sustainability Annual Conference gave participants the chance to discover the answers to some of the BIG challenges we all face with the help of an exciting pool of leading procurement and sustainability experts.

This prestigious one-day event helped empower participants to bring down costs whilst delivering sustainability, develop an effective sustainable procurement strategy aligned to their organisational goals, align their procurement processes to ensure engagement from their suppliers and effectively monitor the sustainability progress and competence of their supply chain.

Denmark will chair the European Council Presidency in 2012, with one important aspect being the modernisation of the current legal EU Public Procurement framework. With this conference, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority and the Law Department at Copenhagen Business School wish to address various subjects regarding public procurement rules in order to determine if modernisation of the procurement framework will inspire more innovation and growth.

The Conference will focus on:

Modernisation - A revision of the EU Public Procurement Directives is one of 12 key actions identified in the Single Market Act, which will help to leverage growth and employment in Europe.

Growth - Public procurement plays a key role in the Europe 2020 Growth strategy. Increase of cross-border trade both within EU and with non-EU countries is essential to improve competition and get best value for money.

Innovation - It is the common understanding that the private sector creates more innovative solutions. This section of the conference seeks to elaborate on how the public sector can involve a private party through the use of PPP´s, concessions and pre-commercial procurement.

Green public procurement can be implemented at many levels from the use of recyclable paper and office equipment made of environmentally sustainable products to the construction of energy efficient buildings and environmentally friendly public transport. It is clear that the policy can be beneficial both for the environment and it can help reduce running costs. However the development of a successful policy depends on careful planning and strategies.

This seminar will address how to implement a Green Public Procurement strategy. Under revised EU directives and the growing complexity of procurement procedures, public procurement is now governed by a comprehensive regulatory and legal regime. It is essential that public servants charged with public procurement have a clear understanding of the legal framework of Public Procurement and how Green Public Procurement interacts with this framework. The seminar should be attended by anyone in the public sector involved in public procurement now or who expects to be involved in a procurement function in the future.