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12 November 2019

MUPASS 2019 - our three take-aways

The MUPASS Dialogue Forum 2019 took place in Bonn, Germany. The three-day Forum enabled a fruitful exchange on the topic of sustainable public procurement (SPP) with many interactive formats for senior officials from Europe, Africa and South America. The event was jointly organized by the German Development Institute, Engagement Global, Service Agency Communities in One World and the German Federal Ministry for Economy Cooperation and Development. Our colleague Philipp Tepper attended the event to share ICLEI’s work on enabling socially responsible public procurement (SRPP) through the Procura+ Network or the Global Lead Cities Network (GLCN) as well as the opportunity to submit good practice cases as part of the #WeBuySocialEU Project.

Back in 2018, the German Development Institute started organizing international dialogue on SPP, finding that despite regional differences, key challenges in implementing SPP are similar. Thus, mutual exchange and learning beyond borders appears extremely beneficial for public procurement experts.

Our three key take aways from this year:

1. SRPP benefits from a curated space and time for practitioners from different cultural contexts to exchange on its meaning and implications. This international exchange emphasized the spectrum of what social responsibility can entail e.g. tackling corruption across supply-chains, supporting local employment schemes, to fair working conditions and gender equality.

2. Social responsibility is a topic where public authorities hold leverage to makeshift. Procurement is a tool to act on the public responsibility of buying fair, just and for public benefit. GLCN cities such as Oslo, Ghent or Buenos Aires have put in place policies, strategies and processes that implement SRPP across sectors.

3. Lighthouse stories from cities such as Bonn, Freetown or the state of Sao Paulo inspire momentum and efforts towards replication. SPP is not yet mainstream. However, exchanging experiences and identifying common challenges strengthens the sense of direction and future collaboration.


Looking beyond the MUPASS Forum, the Procura+ Network offers thematic City Matches for a select group of procurers to connect and foster exchange.

Watch a recap of the MUPASS Forum 2019.