Initiated and co-ordinated by ICLEI, Procura+ is a network of European public authorities that connect, exchange and act on sustainable and innovation procurement. Our combined knowledge and experience allows us to provide advice, support and publicity to any public authority that wants to implement sustainable and innovation procurement. The Procura+ Network joins forces to champion sustainable and innovation procurement at the European level.
ICLEI
Implemented in
- Europe and Central Asia
Sector of activity
Public Procurement
Type of initiative
Capacity Building & Implementation, Education & Awareness Raising, Policy Frameworks & Tools
Type of lead actor
Civil society
Submitted on:
08/12/2017Objectives
The Procura+ Network has been developed by and for procurers and staff dealing with sustainability and innovation issues in public authorities. Procura+ supports public authorities in implementing sustainable public procurement, promotes their achievements and fosters exchange on good practice from public procurers and experts internationally.
The Procura+ Network was endorsed by Procura+ participants at the 2015 Procura+ meeting on 12 November 2015. Before Procura+ was known as the Procura+ Campaign for Sustainable Procurement that was founded in 2004 by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.
The objective of Procura+ is to motivate a significant number of public authorities to include environmental, social and economic considerations into their procurement policies and tendering procedures. Through this the market for cost-effective environmentally and socially responsible products and services can be stimulated.
Activities
As collected through the One Planet Reporting
Output level
Outreach and communication for SCP
-
Procura+ European Sustainable Procurement Network: network activities 2017
Procura+ European Sustainable Procurement Network: network activities 2017
Regions
Europe and Central Asia
Lead organization
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
Objective
We are a network of European public authorities that connect, exchange and act on sustainable and innovation procurement. Our combined knowledge and experience allows us to provide advice, support and publicity to any public authority that wants to implement sustainable and innovation procurement. The Procura+ Network joins forces to champion sustainable and innovation procurement at the European level. The Procura+ Network also aims to: Work Together: collectively developing policy and criteria on specific areas related to sustainable procurement in thematic Interest Groups Get Together: sharing experiences at the annual Procura+ Seminar and through regular webinars Build Relationships: creating strong links with other procurement professionals through the Procura+ Twinning programme Receive Expert Advice: the Procura+ Helpdesk provides individual advice and support with policies, strategies, ongoing and upcoming tenders Win Awards: The Procura+ Awards showcase sustainable and innovation procurement achievements on the international stage Share Achievements: sharing plans and publicizing successes with an individual participant webpage and regular newsletters Keep Up-To-Date: providing the latest criteria and policy developments, as well as opportunities to engage in dialogue, at European policy level
Achievements
Highlights from 2017 include: 1. The extension of strategic partnerships. Electronics Watch, Plan Miljo (Denmark), Copper8 (Netherlands), Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) (Germany) and Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) (UK) join long standing Strategic Partners Ecoinstitut (Spain), Ecosistemi (Italy), Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture (IFZ) (Austria) and Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia (LNEG) (Portugal). 2. The Procura+ Awards promote best practices in sustainable and innovation procurement. The 2017 winning public procurers were presented with their awards at the ceremony in Tallinn: Municipality of Hyvinkää, Finland Sustainable Procurement of the Year was awarded to the first Nordic Swan eco-labelled pre-school in Finland, which was constructed after a market dialogue process and included sustainability measures on energy use, chemical products, building products and health factors. Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands Innovation Procurement of the Year was awarded for two contracts supplying towels, cloths and overalls to Dutch military personnel. This produced estimated savings of 233 million litres of water and 69,000 kg of CO2, based on a technical requirement of textiles containing at least 10% recycled post-consumer textile fibres. Public Health Wales (National Health Service, UK) Tender Procedure of the Year was awarded for the use of a supplier open day and contracting social enterprises, Public Health Wales was supplied with over 2,500 furniture items of which only 6% were new purchases. This diverted 41 tonnes of waste from landfill with a CO2 saving of 134 tonnes, creating full time jobs for seven disabled and long term unemployed people. 3. Procura+ has now 44 participants from 14 countries representing a population of over 40 million inhabitants. In 2017 the Government of Flanders, Transport for London (TfL), Rijkswaterstaat (NL), the Government of Wallonia, Wageningen (NL) and ANCI Liguria (ITA) joined. 4. In 2018 and 2019 Ecoinstitut and ICLEI will develop the LCC tools for the European Commission and the Government of Flanders is supporting the set up of a new Procura+ Interest Group on LCC tools that will work and exchange in 2018. Another Interest Group starting soon will focus on the supply chain and verification schemes of the ICT sector. Within the EuropeAid funded project Make ICT Fair, Procura+ participants are invited to join piloting and discussing advanced criteria and verification schemes of real-life ICT tenders. The first two Interest Groups on Circular Procurement and Market Engagement will share their experiences at the 2018 Procura+ Seminar. 5. The re-design of Procura+ into a network brought even more new formats that we are currently testing. One of them is the Twinning format that involves two Procura+ Participants working in partnership to support each other in implementing sustainable procurement. We have secured funding via the UrbanWINS project and are looking into cooperation within the EU Taiex program that supports study visits for public authorities. 6. The Procura+ Case Study series was launched, showcasing tender approaches (including Procura+ Award winners), policy and strategy examples and other initiatives such as monitoring program for SPP (see attachments)
Impact and Results
Establishment of exchange mechanisms, including topic/sector specific Interest Groups, and a Twinning programme
European wide profiling for SPP and Procura+ participants through a case study series, website, and updated newsletter and an annual report
Annual Network Seminar series attended each year by over 100 people, bringing together Procura+ Network participants, practitioners, experts, and policy makers from across Europe.
Procura+ webinar series, focusing on specific topics and product/service areas
Procura+ Information Service, which allows over 500 further public authorities, experts and other stakeholders to participate in exchange activities without needing to formally join as a participants
Publication of the Procura+ Manual 3rd Edition, which provides clear, easy-to-understand guidance for any public authority on how to implement sustainable procurement.
Procura+ Case Studies showcase replicable sustainable and innovation procurement approaches and strategies by our participants. The case studies range from examples of procurement in action to procurement policies and programmes.
Next steps and how to get involved
Any public or semi-public authority in Europe can join the Procura+ Network. Simply email
procurement@iclei.org or visit www.procuraplus.org