On 18 & 19 June, ICLEI was present at the Intelligent Cities Challenge Conference on Local Green Deals where members of its Sustainable and Innovation Procurement Team provided a training on how to define the role of public procurement in the implementation of the Local Green Deals. The training emphasised that public procurement should be considered in step 3, "Identify existing commitments, strategies and action plans", of the implementation process.

The SIP team highlighted that public authorities should assess whether any changes need to be made in their public procurement strategy to facilitate the implementation and approval of their Local Green Deal. The session further noted that public procurement can be a key tool to implement the objectives fixed in the signed Local Green Deal, which must be in line with the European Green Deal´s goals.

The potential of public procurement was further highlighted during a Mayor-Business Forum, which provided an opportunity for political and business leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges for city-business collaboration. The discussion focussed in particular on advancing cleantech innovation and competitiveness as an enabler for cities’ climate neutrality roadmaps and sustainable economic growth.

To learn more about the Local Green Deals, click here. The Intelligent Cities Challenge is an initiative of the European Commission, dedicated to advancing LGDs across 65 participating European cities. The Conference in Porto brought together 298 participants, including around 60 ICC core cities as well as 8 ICC mentor cities.