*Siehe unten für Informationen auf Deutsch*

The aim of the seminar is to provide practical advice on how to implement sustainable timber procurement. This includes direct guidance on criteria which may be applied within tenders for timber products or construction contracts. The course also gives an overview of the environmental and social impacts unsustainable consumption practices can cause. There is a limit of 15 participants, who should be directly involved in procurement within public authorities or other public authority staff who acts as internal facilitators in introducing sustainable timber procurement. The seminar is free of charge.

Die eintägige Weiterbildungsveranstaltung ""Holz Nachhaltig Beschaffen“ wird Module zu nachhaltiger Waldbewirtschaftung, Produktkettenzertifizierung (CoC) und nachhaltiger Beschaffung von Holzprodukten enthalten, die Methodik wird praxisorientiert und interaktiv sein, weshalb die Teilnehmerzahl auf 15 begrenzt ist. Angesprochen sind Beschaffende, Beschaffungsstellen und Multiplikatoren, die in öffentlicher Beschaffung involviert sind. Die Schulung ist kostenfrei.

On 17 May 2013, within the context of the "international fair - Exhibition of Sustainability", AREA will organise a specific event related to the MARIE Business Network, focused on "Pre-commercial procurement and public procurement of innovation as tools to support innovation in the field of energy efficiency of buildings". The event will target public administrations and companies from the MED region.

The event will be a mixture of workshop presentations and "speed dating" meetings with experts. The public administrations participating will have the chance to receive specific advice about pre-commercial procurement procedures and potentialities, while SMEs will participate in an event focused on technologies for energy efficient buildings, organised by the Enterprise Europe Network.

This International workshop will focus on pre-commercial procurement, procurement for innovation to promote the activation of R&D, and innovation processes in the MED area.

The event aims to facilitate public authorities in the fast delivery of services and innovative solutions, providing companies with the opportunity to take a leading role in the new markets of energy efficiency in buildings.

The afternoon session will help to enable companies of the MED area to lay the foundations of business and technology collaborations.

The workshop is organised in the framework of the Strategic Project MARIE www.marie-medstrategic.eu, co-financed by the MED Programme.

The forthcoming European Forum on Eco-Innovation will take place from 23 - 24 May in Prague (Czech Republic), and will gather key players from European and national institutions, innovators, SMEs involved in energy, mobility and ICT, citizen consumer associations, city representatives, and high-level financial managers from across the European Union.

The Forum will explore how participants can overcome barriers to achieving cleaner air in our cities by presenting the latest evidence on urban air quality and why it has assumed a high political priority; examples of effective urban strategic planning; innovative solutions to financing urban infrastructure programmes; and partnerships and networks with citizens that create a better quality of urban living.

Innovative procurement will also be discussed at the event, with ICLEI's Mark Hidson a key note speaker.

The conference is held in conjunction with the European Commission, Directorate General for the Environment, and the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, you are invited to participate in

This event will explore information and ideas, and generate discussion, on the legal decisions in procurement taken within Europe.

Taking place in the Caixa Forum, Madrid (Spain), this conference will explore the opportunities for mobilising regional, national and European governments to discuss a path towards the effective implementation of Sustainable Timber Public Procurement (STPP).

Results and upcoming opportunities will be presented from some of the most relevant initiatives: Madera Justa campaign, Sustainable Timber Action and the newly created EU Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition.

For more information, contact the address below.

Innovation is a key factor in the performance of Europe's healthcare system. Hospital procurement, which amounts to €123 billion at European level, plays an essential role in the development of the industrial ecosystem and its capacity to produce innovative solutions. Actively involved at each stage of the acquisition process, the purchaser is in the ideal position to bring innovative solutions forward in hospitals.

Organised by Resah-idf, the European Forum for Public Procurement of Healthcare Innovation will provide an opportunity to create, for the first time at European level, a dialogue between public procurers in the healthcare sector, industries and representatives of public authorities aiming to promote innovative products and services.

To register, follow the link below.

This event aims to create a much needed space to discuss the opportunities and risks of the role of the private sector in development. It will also introduce the concept of a people-centred business model and its added value within partnerships.

Keynote speakers will include: Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner, DG Development and Cooperation, Gay Mitchell, Hosting MEP, EPP Coordinator of the Development Committee, Brendan Rogers, Director General, Irish Aid (tbc), Harriet Lamb, CEO, Fairtrade International, Tadesse Meskela, General Manager Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union - Ethiopia, and many more.

The Impacts and Innovation conference will focus on how standards are using new approaches to take the next great leap towards addressing the world’s most pressing sustainability issues. The conference will also look at ways for sustainability standards to scale up their impact.

Before the conference begins, a unique full-day training workshop is being offered on 11 June to standard-setters of the ISEAL community. ISEAL experts will speak on a range of topics that cover the essentials of an effective and impactful standards system.

A networking evening will be held on 11 June, allowing participants the opportunity to interact with the diversity of organisations in the sustainability standards movement.

Sessions held on 12 June will cover topics such as working together on deepening poverty alleviation, using pioneering technology to engage producers and supply chain actors and bring about “radical transparency”, collaborating to make certification more efficient and accessible and much more.

13 June is the Community Day of the conference, a special opportunity for ISEAL members and subscribers to convene on issues of common interest and learn how impacts and innovation are driving each other’s work.

Registration for the conference is available online.

Reducing deforestation while maintaining tropical forests requires joint responsibility between producer, processing and consumer countries, as well as between the public and private sector. The Forests for Future Generations Conference will bring together participants from governments, private sector management, civil society, sustainability initiatives and development organisations around the world to identify options for alliances between the public and private sector on sustainable forest management in the tropics.

The event aims to increase the market share of sustainable wood products and preserve remaining tropical forests. On the first conference day key note speeches and two high level panel discussions will discuss a variety of topics including synergies of regulatory approaches and private standards initiatives in existing regulations and policies, such as public procurement and sustainable building.

During the second conference day participants will break into working groups to engage in in-depth discussions on practical approaches and ways forward to implement sustainable forest management and competitive trading of verified sustainable timber.

More information is available at the link below.