Competence Center for Sustainable Public Procurement
The Competence Center for Sustainable Procurement aims to ensure that sustainable criteria are increasingly included in public procurement. While the federal, state and local governments receive expert advice from it, non-governmental organisations and potential bidders from industry are also involved. The competence center has the task of ensuring that sustainable criteria are increasingly embedded in public procurement. The first pillar of the competence center is the provision of expert advice to purchasers at federal, state and local level. This is done individually by telephone hotline or e-mail or even by means of tailor-made advice and on-site training. The second pillar of the competence center is the information platform "The central portal for sustainable procurement by public-sector clients". The aim of this platform is to support sustainable procurement at federal, state and local level and to promote the exchange of information between all parties involved. These are public contracting authorities (usually awarding authorities) and users from the federal government, the federal states and local authorities. On the one hand, the website offers up-to-date information on the subject of sustainable procurement, and on the other it facilitates the exchange of information and networking of the relevant actors: help for self-help. Procurers will find legal bases, guidelines for sustainable procurement or even complete documents of successful tenders in which sustainable criteria were required.
Sustainability criteria are becoming more and more important for public procurement as well. Government and public administration often take a pioneering role and serve as models, for example when it comes to conserving resources or ensuring good working conditions at production sites. But actually putting policy goals on sustainability into practice can still be a major challenge: There are many different aspects to consider. The Competence Center for Sustainable Public Procurement advises all public procurement offices in Germany with regard to environmental, economic and even social criteria. This broad scope is what sets the competence center apart from other advisory services. It was designated the 2013 Flagship Project of the German Sustainable Development Strategy.
External source(s)
The "Step-by-Step Plan for Sustainable Textile Procurement by the Federal Administration" is an implementation measure of the...
Resource
The 2019 monitoring survey revealed that around 49% of the authorities do not have events organized by a central work unit...
