The Inclusive Sourcing Methodology - A Guide for companies to design and implement Inclusive Sourcing policies and programs
Inclusive Sourcing has become a topic of interest as procurement activities and spend represent a significant opportunity for companies to promote inclusive practices and maximize their “inclusion footprint”. This document aims at (1) building a common definition and ambition for “Inclusive Sourcing”, and (2) sharing a “user guide” providing concrete operational advice on how to begin/construct an Inclusive Sourcing strategy.
On behalf of the EC, ICLEI is in charge of the EC training programme for the period 2022-2024. Local trainers are in charge of implementing and delivering a national training programme. It consists of four introductory sessions based on the existing GPP training toolkit and one specific session covering GPP issues of specific relevance to the country. The training activites will be carried out in ten EU member states:
- Bulgaria by Center of Energy Efficiency (EnEffect)
- Cyprus by Cyprus Energy Agency (CEA)
- Czech Republic by Adam Gromnica
- Estonia by Baltic Environmental Forum Estonia
- Greece by Nthessis
- Hungary by Business Economics Science Education Foundation (BESEF)
- Lithuania by Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania
- Portugal by Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia (LNEG)
- Romania by REPER21
- Slovakia by creatio eu
On behalf of the EC, between March 2018 and September 2021 ICLEI developed an ambitious training programme to professionalise and scale up GPP on an EU-wide level. The training was carried out by local trainers in ten EU member states:
- Bulgaria by Center of Energy Efficiency (EnEffect)
- Croatia by Projekt jednako razvoj d.o.o. (PJR)
- Cyprus by Cyprus Energy Agency (CEA)
- Estonia by Baltic Environmental Forum Estonia
- Hungary by Business Economics Science Education Foundation (BESEF)
- Latvia by the Latvian Environmental Investment Fund (LEIF)
- Lithuania by Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania
- Poland by Foundation CentrumCSR
- Portugal by Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia (LNEG)
- Romania by Ecosistemi
The Sustainable Infrastructure projects will assist the European Commission in supporting national authorities to ensure a sustainable implementation for major public infrastructure procurement projects. This goal will be achieved through the preparation of a guidance document, which will include good practices to inspire public authorities to enhance their knowledge and ultimately guarantee sustainable infrastructure projects and the highest environmental standards throughout the supply chain.
ICLEI is currently conducting 18 interviews with different stakeholders (procurers, experts from the financial sector, policy officers) on sustainable public procurement. ICLEI will also provide input for a “sustainability checklist” on infrastructure procurement projects and will organise two online events to promote the main findings and projects results. A number of case studies on procurement of sustainable infrastructure projects will also be prepared by ICLEI.
ICLEI delivers the European Commission’s (EC) GPP Help Desk service on behalf of the European Commission. Providing services such as responding to all public enquiries, publishing the GPP News Alerts, analysing national GPP websites and compiling and revising new content for the GPP Europa website. As of 2022 the Helpdesk covers socially responsible procurement as well.
COACH is a three-year EU-funded project which aims at facilitating collaboration between farmers, consumers, local governments and other actors to scale up short agri-food chains which rebalance farmers’ position, create win-wins for producers and consumers and drive innovation in territorial food systems. Besides other activities, the project collects a series of emblematic good practice examples from 12 countries which demonstrate how farmers can access consumer-driven opportunities to improve their incomes and rebalance their position in food chains and creates a ‘living library’. Moreover, COACH designs a ‘farm-to-fork procurement toolkit’ for public authorities in order to improve sharing of experience and help them design appropriate tenders for healthy and fresh food supplied by small-scale producers and also to support farmers to know how to access these opportunities. ICLEI will organise training sessions and two Breakfast@Sustainability's events will also be organised on these topics in Brussels.
Schools have the potential of being the place where young people learn about healthy diets and where a sustainable food culture can be promoted and experienced.
The EU-funded “SchoolFood4Change” (SF4C) project builds on this potential, seeing schools and school meals as catalysts for systemic change on a broad societal level. The project will provide innovative solutions and tailored, locally adaptable good practices for schools, school meal providers, responsible public authorities, and policymakers, in line with the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The focus lies on education and empowerment of children and adolescents, given their vulnerability to diet-related conditions and disadvantaged environments on the one hand, while, on the other hand, acknowledging their transformative power and ability to drive change.
To achieve the ambitious goal of enabling community-wide food system change, SF4C follows a holistic multi-level approach, based on the cumulated expertise of established European organisations and networks, sustainable food procurement and nutrition specialists, scientists, chefs, and dietitians. This involves the development of innovative and sustainable food procurement, the promotion of planetary healthy diets and cooking, and the introduction of the so-called “Whole School Food Approach”, a defined framework for municipalities and schools targeting the achievement of child-friendly food culture and involving all related actors linked to the school environment.
The SF4C project started in January 2022. It includes 43 partners (including affiliates), who contribute to the ambitious target of reaching at least two million EU citizens, by directly impacting over 3,000 schools and 600,000 young people in 12 EU countries.
With a focus on children, who are the adults of the future, and strong trust in youth action competence, SchoolFood4Change strives for a long-lasting impact on the whole food system that will benefit both the people and the planet.
Additional in
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and the UN One Planet Network published a series of podcasts called the ‘Power of the Public Plate’. Each episode explores the story of a champion of sustainable public food procurement. Listeners will discover how public authorities from around the world leverage procurement to positively impact the food value chain, and ultimately contribute to making our food systems more sustainable.
The stories come are from Quezon City (Philippines), State of Bahia (Brazil), Busia (Kenya), Italy, Minneapolis (USA), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Manta (Ecuador) and Copenhagen (Denmark).
