The 5th Interdisciplinary Symposium on Public Procurement will take place in Cagliary (Italy) from 28-29 September. The Symposium aims to bring together economists, engineers, lawyers, management scholars and professionals in the field of public procurement through dialogue and discussion. The organizers have the ambition to reduce the terminology barrier between all interested parties, bridging the cross cultural divide and reaching a joint wider understanding of practical issues in public procurement.

The Symposium will this year focus on the following topics:

• Preferences and Political Economy in Public Procurement
• Climate Change in Public Procurement
• Defence Procurement
• Human Rights in Public Procurement

The Symposium attempts to suggest reform measures for better rules of acquisition for Public Administrations and provides a platform for the discussion on the challenging issues of the modern practices in public procurement. While topics and references will certainly involve the European Union environment, the Symposium shall not be limited to this area, taking advantage of best practices worldwide

The Symposium is organised by the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Previous editions took place in Rome (2011), Budapest (2014), Belgrade (2016), and Paris (2018). For more information on this year's edition, visit the website.

During the European Week of Regions and Cities, ICLEI Europe, together with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, the European Committe of the Regions, and the Turkish Association of Social Democratic Municipalities, will co-organise the session "Promoting social innovation through public canteens". The event will highlight the power of public procurement and thereby call for a better use of public money to help Europe transition to a healthier, more resilient and equitable food system.

The workshop will advocate for the implementation of healthy and sustainable school meals and food education for every child in Europe. The goal is to achieve more resilient food regions and communities. The sustainable food systems law and the revision of the EU school scheme this year are decisive opportunities. This session will show the power of the public plate combined with social innovation as a way to improve the welfare and well-being of individuals and communities in Europe.

The session is the culmination of several previous joint sessions, projects and initiatives advocating for transformative and concrete minimum standards in public canteens through the EU, building on the shared goal of creating more socially just and resilient food regions and communities.

To register (EU Login required), and get more information on the programme and the speakers, click here

The EU Urban Agenda Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement, together with URBACT, EIC and ICLEI will present a workshop session during the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels. The in-person workshop will take place on 11 October (16:30 - 17:30 CET) and integrate the EU funded projects PROCEDIN, PROTECT and LIFE Future Proof Artificial Sport Pitches in the presentation.

The EU Urban Agenda, the EIC, URBACT, PROTECT and PROCEDIN all explore synergies for the benefit of both cities and regions and use innovation procurement as a strategic tool. During the workshop they will present how cities and regions across Europe could use innovation procurement in practice.

The workshop will feature present concrete examples, e.g. of how the challenges faced by local and regional stakeholders could attract the interest of top-notch European innovators, and promote developed tools and training. Among the speakers will be Mara Inzaina (ICLEI), Vasilis Tsanidis (EIC) and Jenny Koutsomarkou (URBACT).

Register here for the workshop (EU Login required). The registration deadline is 28 September - please note that the availability of seats during the workshop is limited to 91.

On 17 October Bus-GoCircular will organise its first of four webinars on how different stakeholders can join forces to reskill and upskill the building sector workforce with circular skills. This first webinar will present the guidance for policymakers as well as training materials that the BUS-GoCircular project developed.

The webinar will also highlight how public authorities can use the Fundamentals Training Packs for SMEs in their requirements in tenders. Furthermore, Toulouse Metropolis will explain how they have stimulated circular skills in the construction sector at the local scale, by showcasing the tools and innovative training materials, such as hackathons and escape rooms, they developed in the context of the Life Waste 2 Build project.

Public authorities have an important role to play in the transition towards a more circular built environment and have a range of policy levers at their disposal to stimulate demand for circular skills. Using circular strategies in the built environment can help to reduce the embodied emissions of building materials by 50%. This interactive webinar is aimed at public authorities and will present how they can train their own staff, but also how they can collaborate with stakeholders to train the whole value chain to promote circularity.

The webinar will be led by Helena O'Rourke Potocki (procurement expert at ICLEI Europe) and Leslie Petitjean (senior circular economy expert at ICLEI Europe). The full programme can be found here. Click here to register.

Demand-side policies targeting the carbon footprint of products are promising instruments for the much-needed rapid decarbonization of industry and construction. The built environment has become a testing ground for path-breaking policies in the form of maximum carbon footprint procurement specifications for building products and maximum whole life carbon thresholds for buildings.

At this international conference, inputs from key actors involved with the Buy Clean movement in the USA (public procurement of building products) and mandatory maximum carbon threshold standard setting for buildings in Denmark and the Netherlands will be complemented with interactive sessions on the limitations and potentials of these approaches and the transfer of lessons learnt.

The conference will further explore the connections with the US Inflation Reduction Act and public and private pledges to buy ultra-low carbon products through the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative (IDDI) and the First Movers Coalition, highlighting potentials for coordinated action.

The programme can be found here.

To register, click here

The European Urban Initiative sees urban areas as crucial for the shift towards a greener future. However, navigating this change is not without challenges. In response, the EUI is gearing up to host its new capacity-building event dedicated to boosting the green transition forward. 

The event will take place in Tourcoing (France), part of the Lille Metropole. It aims to equip public authorities with the skills and knowledge required to guide the green transition through the complex issues of reskilling and upskilling, financing, affordability, while ensuring participatory engagement.

The discussion will be based around three key topics:

• Anticipating Tomorrow's Green Skills: we’ll be sharing tools and examples on how urban authorities can forecast the skills needed and identify crucial gaps in practitioners' expertise.
• Financing a Green Tomorrow: We'll provide urban authorities with some custom-made tools to navigate funding mechanisms, making it all accessible and understandable.
• Nurturing a Green Mindset: Building a sustainable future isn't just about policies; it's about transforming behaviour. We'll explore the cultural shifts needed to scale up and mainstream green transition approaches.

ICLEI Europe's Dominique Sandy (Head of Team, Sustainable and Innovation Procurement) will highlight the role public procurement can play in the green transition. The full agenda can be found here. 

The industrial cleaning, private security and contract cateering sectors provide essential services to millions of European citizens that are fundamental for their health, security, wellbeing. They are very labour-intensive, and rely significantly on public clients – from hospitals and courthouses to school canteens and airports. According to the European Commission, every year more than 250.000 public authorities spend around 2 trillion € on works, goods or services, an amount that corresponds to a seventh of the EU GDP.

At EU level, public procurement is mainly regulated by a set of directives adopted in 2014. Over the last years, social partners – trade unions and employers alike – have discussed the implications of these provisions on the industries mentioned above, highlighting shortcomings and agreeing on possible solutions via joint declarations, EU-funded projects and other documents.

This joint event is organized to discuss with policymakers, stakeholders and other representatives of the sectors what the consequences of the EU provisions regulating public procurement are on their work (especially in the current macroeconomic context of high and persistent inflation) and what could be done in the future to improve them.

To register (deadline 10 November) and find the full programme, click here.

Cities are a crucial ally for social economy enterprises whose collaborations permit them to achieve even greater social and environmental impact for the general interest. This workshop aims to underline public procurement best practices and policy interventions in support of the social and circular community.

This session is part of the European Social Economy Congress (13 - 14 November, San Sebastian, Spain) and the main social economy event within the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. RREUSE, the European network of social enterprises active in re-use, repair, and recycling, organises the workshop together with its member and Spanish network AERESS.

This European Social Economy Congress is a call for action to activate the full potential of major milestones, such as the United Nations Resolution on Social Economy and Solidarity and the European Social Economy Action Plan, as well as strengthening the visibility of these collective, solidarity and democratic models of entrepreneurship. More information about the Congress can be found here.

Swedwatch, ClientEarth and The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) are hosting a new webinar on Sustainable Public Procurement on 24 November 2023 from 10h to 12h. This webinar will focus on practical experiences in Stockholm (Sweden) and Barcelona (Spain) with regard to sustainable public procurement and address potential legal issues public buyers may encounter.

The webinar will discuss barriers to sustainable public procurement practices experienced by contracting authorities. Participants will also explore both the challenges and opportunities with the legal landscape, the inclusion of social and environmental criteria contract clauses, and what would be needed in terms of political changes to be able to use public procurement as a more effective tool to support sustainable development across EU member states.

Discussion during the webinar will be guided by two key questions:

• How to unleash the potential for sustainable public procurement by integrating both environmental and social dimensions?
• Is the current European policy framework conducive for sustainable public procurement?

For more information and to register, click here

Public procurement is becoming an increasingly important tool to strengthen European resilience, enhance innovation and growth in sustainable ways. Used strategically, public procurement will contribute to solve big societal challenges through public-private partnerships.

Norway’s National Program for Suppliers Development (LUP) is set up to accelerate innovations and development of new solutions through the strategic use of public procurement, while at the same time contributing to new market opportunities for these innovations. The program is a joint collaboration by the public and private sectors and fosters public-private partnerships through innovative public procurements throughout the country.

LUP is currently focusing on new and more powerful ways of supporting both the public buyers and the suppliers through innovative public procurement by acting as a broker and facilitator in joint procurement initiatives and through Pre-commercial procurement (PCP) and Innovation Partnerships. LUP is eager to learn more from what is taking place within the EU on innovative public procurements, as well as share ideas and thoughts on how to ensure innovations move from pilots to scale. During the event the following issues will be addressed:

• To what extent can innovative public procurements accelerate new technologies and solutions to more effectively deal with larger challenges we are facing within health care and climate change?
• How to move beyond pilots and prototypes and move to innovation uptake at scale?
• To what extent are joint innovative procurements or innovation partnerships relevant tools, processes or procedures to this end?

To register, and find the full programme, click here