Photo: 08-Map-of-the-regions

ICLEI launches sustainable procurement website

08 January 2016

by Jonathan Andrews

ICLEI Europe has coordinated the launch of the Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) regions website to strengthen the ability of public authorities with seven European regional networks to purchase sustainably and provide and demonstrate value for money.

The regions cover Barcelona, Bulgaria, Copenhagen, Torino, Rotterdam and The Hague, South West England and West France. The networks will publish a total of 42 eco-innovative tenders focused on energy use in public buildings, vehicles and transport, and food and catering services. The goal is to achieve 54.3 GWh/ year of primary energy savings and trigger 45 GWh/year of renewable energy.

“We expect the project to encourage new and greener business and skills to be developed within the city and region, creating jobs and growth in the process,” Daniella Radice, Assistant Mayor for Neighbourhoods and Environment, Bristol City Council, the largest local authority in the South West England network, PIPEN, told Cities Today.

ICLEI Europe, which coordinates the project along with 13 partners, hopes to increase the capacity of public bodies for SPP and send a stronger signal of demand for sustainability to suppliers.

“We hope to see value for money generated through the product lifecycle costing and by the mere fact that the majority of the region’s public bodies require the same environmental standards in their tenders,” concurred Radice. “Ideally, this will help to create regional economies of scale for greener services and to make these the standard as opposed to the exception.”

Ten further networks will be announced over the course of the three-year €1.5 million programme, financed by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. Resources currently available on the website include best practices with more to be announced throughout the duration of the project.

Simon Clement, SPP Regions Project Co-ordinator, ICLEI European Secretariat
Simon Clement, SPP Regions Project Co-ordinator, ICLEI European Secretariat

“The first eco-innovative tenders will be published by the end of 2016/ beginning of 2017,” said Simon Clement, SPP Regions Project Co-ordinator, ICLEI European Secretariat. “Four state-of-the-art reports on market engagement, life cycle costing, performance-based specifications and circular procurement will be available during 2016 and 2017 and the Third Edition of the Procura+ Manual will be published by summer 2016.”

Radice from Bristol added: “We need to lead the way for the city if we’re to achieve [our own CO2 carbon reduction] targets. By making our own activities sustainable, including the way we procure services, is a really important step.”

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