Public authorities and social economy entities are invited to take part in training activities organised as part of the WeBuySocialEU capacity-building efforts. The training events – delivered in the national languages – are designed to help stakeholders not only gain much-needed expertise in socially responsible public procurement but also to establish participants as the go-to person within their organisation for advice and expertise in this increasingly important field. These national training sessions are specifically tailored to professional and particular contexts, thanks to in-depth research and interviews conducted by national experts in autumn 2023.

For civil servants or public authority employees: You will learn how to design tendering procedures that are accessible to the social economy and include social aspects. You will learn how to include different types of social considerations across the procurement process, how to monitor their execution, as well as improve the knowledge of social economy entities in your country – how and in which markets they operate - to be able to design public tenders that are accessible to them.

For social economy entities: You will learn how to better compete for public tenders that include social considerations. You will discover how to form consortia among social economy entities and with conventional businesses, as well as how to participate in tenders as subcontractors.

The full agenda of the Belgian (French language) training session can be found here.

The European Commission's WeBuySocialEU initiative seeks to enhance social responsibility in public procurement by building capacity and awareness across the EU.The initiative aims to involve a broad spectrum of stakeholders, starting with public authorities and social economy entities across Europe, through tailored training events and comprehensive outreach on social media platforms. WeBuySocialEU encourages contracting authorities to integrate social considerations into their purchasing policies and practices. Simultaneously, it supports social economy actors in understanding and participating effectively in public procurement procedures. This effort also aims to foster collaboration and mutual understanding between the social economy and the public sector across the EU.

More information about the initiative can be found here.