EU Urban Agenda Partnership on INNOVATIVE AND RESPONSIBLE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT 11th NEWSLETTER, February 2024

NEWSLETTER NO 11, February 2024

Welcome to this Urban Agenda Newsletter: we offer you the latest news on the activities of the EU Urban Agenda on Public Procurement Partnership. Our motivation to create a better future for all citizens in Europe is reflected in the items and contributions in this Newsletter.

This EU Urban Agenda Public Procurement Newsletter contains information about the progress of the Partnerships work and contributions of our partners

--------------------------------------------------------------------

INDEX

  • Highlights 2023 & Actions 2024 of the Urban Agenda Partnership
  • Update on the UA Partnership actions for 2024
  • Updates EU funded projects LIFE Future Proof Sport Pitches, PROCEDIN and PROTECT
  • Update Public Procurement E-LEARNING MODULES
  • BEST PRACTICE of our partner Municipality of Gabrovo, Bulgaria
  • SUMMARIES of 2 EVENTS: European Week of Regions & Cities October 2023 and the collaboration with EPLO during the Circle the Med Forum January 2024
  • INTERVIEW with MARA INZAINA (ICLEI) and information about the PROCURA+ CONFERENCE IN LISBON on March 13 & 14, 2024
  • SAVE THE DATE and register for UA Partnership events: the UA Partnership meeting in Haarlem on April 10 & 11 and the European Innovation Procurement Conference in Brussel on June 18
  • EVENTS CALENDER 2024
  • Updated Urban Agenda Partnership FLYER

--------------------------------------------------------------------

a brand new year!

2024 has started! We would like to inform you about the work of the Urban Agenda Partnership completed in 2023. But most of all, our progress, plans and actions for 2024!

Together with all European members and stakeholders we present:

Our Highlights of 2023: A Year of Progress and Collaboration

The Urban Agenda Partnership on Public Procurement has continued working on the 3 Actions of our Action Plan 2022-2024 :

  • Creating an online European public procurement platform
  • Achieve EU Green Deal Goals by using public procurement and innovation as strategic tools
  • Enabling sustainable economic recovery through public procurement

The work of all Action Group members came together during our in-person UA Partnership meetings in Haarlem in May and November 2023. The summary of the UA Partnership meeting in November 2023 can be found in a separate article in this newsletter.

We are very proud to inform you we have started with the development of a UA Public Procurement online platform, which will be launched in April 2024. Development and creation will be covered by our partner, the Barcelona Provincial Council, for which we are most thankful!

Throughout the year 2023 we have been expanding our network and we are happy to welcome a new partner in our community: The Cyprus Energy Agency (CEA)

The CEA – an organisation with a focus on public procurement of climate services - is a vital addition to our network. Co-funded by the European Commission through the "Intelligent Energy for Europe" program and the Cyprus Union of Communities, the agency plays a pivotal role in fostering innovation, research, and sustainable development. By enhancing the role of local authorities in sustainable energy planning, it aligns seamlessly with our vision of a just, inclusive, and climate-resilient Europe. We are delighted to have such a dedicated partner on board, contributing not only expertise but also enriching the geographical spread of our partnership.

The progress we made on expanding the Public Procurement E-learning modules has been extraordinary. We have updated information, created infographics and roadmaps, uploaded video’s, added best practices: all to achieve a better learning experience! Please find all information in a separate article in this newsletter.

The UA Partnership members have been interacting with the EU Horizon projects PROTECT and PROCEDIN and the EU LIFE project Future Proof Sport Pitches. Since the City of Haarlem is involved in these projects, we collaborate with all partners to exchange information and learn from the results of these projects. You can find more information on these projects in a separate article in this newsletter.

Setting sail towards 2024

In 2024 the UA Partnership Action Plan will achieve its goals, stated in our Action Plan 2022-2024. We will launch and extend our UA Public Procurement Platform. We will update our E-learning modules with more best practices and several European languages to be more accessible. We aim to proceed in a larger network of members, public procurers and stakeholders to share information and learn from each other. We will focus on advocacy to find better interaction.

Thank you for being an integral part of our community. Together, let's embrace the opportunities and challenges that 2024 holds, shaping the landscape of innovative public procurement.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Update on the UA Partnership actions for 2024

The Urban Agenda Partnership welcomed their partners and stakeholders in Haarlem on November 28 and 29, 2023. Again a fruitful and efficient meeting with a focus on the progress of the 3 EU funded projects the partnership is involved in: PROTECT, PROCEDIN and LIFE Future Proof Sport Pitches and 2 informative PROCEDIN Legal Framework trainings on ‘Competitive Dialogue’ & ‘Pre-Commercial Procurement’ and ‘Innovation Partnership‘. The UA partnership members actively worked on the 3 actions the partnership is aiming to achieve:

Impression of the UA Partnership meeting in November 2023

Action 1: Creating a European platform for public procurement:

  • Advocacy: Frédéric Amiand of the Nantes Metropole provided a presentation about advocacy. All partners will submit their recommendations on innovative and responsible public procurement to address in a position paper, which will be finalised during our next partnership meeting in April 2024.
  • UA Public Procurement Platform: The partners of the Barcelona Provincial Council presented their proposal to develop a platform for the Urban Agenda which will be launched in April 2024.

Action 2: Realising the EU Green Deal goals through public procurement:

A discussion about the sub actions after the presentation by action leaders Louise Knight (University Twente) and Mara Inzaina (ICLEI) led to the following action points:

  • To embed sister projects like PROCEDIN and learn from those projects by finding the UA partnership as a beneficiary.
  • Design and organise expert briefings: starting with a training on Contract Management during our next UA Partnership meeting in April 2024. Subjects as Communication Strategy, Holistic Procurement and Resource Scarcity will be addressed at a later stage.

Action 3: Create tools for sustainable economic recovery:

Action leader Matthew Baqueriza-Jackson (URBACT) presented a session on ‘How to use procurement to respond to address inequality’ by presenting 8 activities to focus on:

  1. Spend analysis: what are we measuring?
  2. Political and Policy importance
  3. Procurement strategy; what is the focus of it?
  4. Cross-Departmental and Cross-Organisation Working
  5. Service design, who’s got a long term plan?
  6. Market engagement, who is engaging them actively beforehand?
  7. Questions s about for example: job creation, who is weighting and evaluating?
  8. Monitoring: how to collect data and how to analyse this data?

Partners will be asked to submit their engagement activities in these actions to be presented during our next UA Partnership meeting in April 2024. The aim is to deliver more best practices on the subject to be disseminated through the E-learning modules and the future UA Public Procurement Platform.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Updates EU funded projects LIFE Future Proof Sport Pitches, PROCEDIN and PROTECT

The EU funded projects LIFE Future Proof Sport Pitches, PROCEDIN and PROTECT have made significant progress in recent months:

LIFE Future Proof Sport Pitches organised a matchmaking event in October 2023 to bring together companies interested in the project. During this event, participants were introduced to the Scale Up project. They found an answer on how their company can contribute to the project. They also met other entrepreneurs with the same vision and found their perfect match to join the tender within a consortium later on. You can watch the event here!

The team has organised 3 webinars (webinar 1, webinar 2 & webinar 3) to share information about the project and respond to questions from companies who attended the matchmaking event. On April 30 the possibility for tender registration will be open for consortia. To make more sports pitches sustainable, we want this project to be replicated on a European scale. Therefore, we are looking for replicants: public buyers who are interested in more sustainable and future-proof sports pitches. Is your organisation/municipality interested in changing regular sport fields into sustainable sport pitches? Please send an email to Valentina Schippers-Opejko – vopejko@haarlem.nl

------XXX------

PROCEDIN has been developing and providing legal framework training sessions on public procurement of innovation. These trainings can be followed online here.

On the PROCEDIN website all information can be found. The Resource Bank has been updated with information on: Resources for buyers and suppliers, European Education Provision Database, Procurement of Innovation stakeholders, Legal Frameworks and Training sessions, Project results and outputs. Please feel free to find all information here and also register to join our community!

PROCEDIN will provide a new set of legal framework training sessions during the Urban Agenda Partnership meeting in Haarlem on April 10. These training sessions will present information about: ‘Award Below Threshold & Total Cost of Ownership’ and ‘Functional Specification & Human-Centred Design’. If you would like to join, please register here! These trainings are in-person and give you the opportunity to meet other public procurement stakeholders.

------XXX------

PROTECT is a EU funded project that seeks to support urgent action for climate adaptation and mitigation through innovation procurement procedures. PROTECT provided series of interesting trainings and workshops. Use the following link for recorded courses.

For an update on all activities, please visit the PROTECT website.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Update Public Procurement E-learning modules

A revised and improved Legal Framework E-learning module has been created in 2023. Every part of the legal process and all legal tools have been updated and complemented with a best practice. By adding best practices from cities and regions all over Europe, public authorities can better relate to their own procurement challenges and become even more inspired to implement Procurement on Innovation. We have also paid attention to making the content more appealing. For instance, many infographics, roadmaps, and videos have been added. In addition, the modules now have a navigation decision interface, making it easier for readers to find the legal aspect they are looking for.

In 2024 we will further expand the best practices database. If you happen to have a best practice to add to this modules for other public procurers to learn from, please forward this practice to Valentina Schippers-Opejko: vopejko@haarlem.nl.

We are also aiming to add a tool to choose a preferred language besides English, for the modules to be more accessible to all European visitors.

Click here to access the Public Procurement E-learning modules.

Example of one of the E-module infographics

--------------------------------------------------------------------

BEST PRACTICES FROM OUR PARTNERS

The way to know more about Strategic Public Procurement and implementing the tools in your organization or project is by learning from the experiences of other UA partners. Find below the BEST PRACTICE of our partner Municipality of Gabrovo, Bulgaria:

PROJECT: ACQUISITION OF ELECTRIC BUSES

Gabrovo Municipality in Bulgaria has set a remarkable example in sustainable urban transport by innovatively acquiring electric buses. Their approach, aligning public procurement with sustainability goals, resulted in positive environmental impacts and community benefits.

The initiative involved two phases, exploring standard batteries and supercapacitor batteries. Supercapacitors, despite being in preliminary stages, demonstrated environmental advantages and enhanced performance. They do not contain such harmful materials, chemicals, or toxic metals. Another advantage of supercapacitors is that the charge does not decrease at low temperatures, they last longer, and the operating temperature is also better.

Benefits for Gabrovo included stimulating competition, fostering innovation in battery technologies, and reducing the environmental impact of raw material extraction. The competitive environment led to cost efficiency, evident in a better tender price. The approach highlights the extensive benefits of integrating sustainability into procurement practices.

For readers interested in more details and best practices, our E-learning module provides comprehensive information. Learn more about Gabrovo's success and explore additional best practices. Discover how local governments can contribute to a greener and more sustainable future for urban transport.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARIES of 2 EVENTS:

European Week of Regions & Cities October 2023 and the collaboration with EPLO during the Circle the Med Forum January 2024:

Synergies & Opportunities: Participation at the European Week of Regions and Cities 2023

Together with Mara Inzaina of ICLEI, Vassilis Tsanidis of the EIC and Jenny Koutsomarkou of URBACT, Valentina Schippers-Opejko organised - on behalf of the Urban Agenda Partnership - a session during the European Week of Regions and Cities. The session provided insights on ‘Breaking Barriers Using Innovation Procurement as Strategic Tools’.

The session successfully showcased how cities and regions across Europe could use innovation procurement in practice, presented concrete examples, e.g. of how the challenges faced by local and regional stakeholders could attract the interest of top-notch innovators and promote developed tools and training. The participation of a really interactive audience, interested in the topic and committed to improving its procurement practices, made this session very successful.

Presentation by Valentina Schippers-Opejko, together with moderator Bertrand Wert of EIC

The panel representatives from ICLEI, the Urban Agenda on Public Procurement, URBACT and the EIC highlighted the importance to reinforce the synergies for the benefit of cities and regions in the area of Innovation Procurement. Please find the whole presentation here.

------XXX------

Collaboration between UA Partnership and EPLO during the Circle the Med Forum January 2024

Urban Agenda Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement is collaborating with the European Public Law Organisation (EPLO) and specifically its Circular Economy and Climate Institute. Both Urban Agenda Partnership and EPLO are creating synergies on cross-cutting topics such as Circular Economy, Green Transition, Climate Change and Sustainable Tourism.

Delegates from both organisations met during the Circle The Med Forum in Athens on January 18, 2024.

(from left to right): Dr. Petros Varelidis (Secretary General for Natural Environment and Water, Ministry of Environment & Energy, Greece), Alexia Spyridonidou (Business Development Manager at EPLO Circular Economy and Climate Institute), Valentina Schippers-Opejko (Coordinator Urban Agenda Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement, Chair Eurocities Public Procurement), Prof. Antonis Zorpas (Professor and Director of the Lab of Chemical Engineering and Engineering Sustainability at Cyprus Open University)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

INTERVIEW with MARA INZAINA (ICLEI) and information about the PROCURA+ CONFERENCE IN LISBON on March 13 & 14, 2024

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE URBAN AGENDA PARTNERSHIP AND ICLEI / PROCURA+

An interview with Mara Inzaina

Mara Inzaina is a valued member of the Urban Agenda Partnership. She works for ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) in the role of Officer for Sustainable, Innovation and Circular Procurement and Community Support of the Procura+ network. She is responsible for networking and sharing information on the needs and challenges faced in public procurement, for example by facilitating events and trainings.

1. What is the involvement of Procura+ in the Urban Agenda Partnership?

Procura+ is a network part of ICLEI and therefore a great relationship for connection and exchanges. ICLEI and Procura+ have a network of public procurers; this is a bonus and symbiotic relationship for the collaboration with the Urban Agenda Partnership. The activities of the Urban Agenda Partnership are shared on ICLEI’s platforms.

Procura+ and ICLEI are involved in all 3 actions tied to the Urban Agenda Partnership’s action groups:

  • In action 1 (building a EU procurers platform) they are involved in tying all the main actors together and gaining and sharing experiences or examples of strategic public procurement. Making connections among all the relevant stakeholders and giving the partners access to their platforms.
  • In action 2 (achieving EU-green deals by using public procurement and innovation as a strategic tool) they have a role as co-leader, with a current focus on setting up a plan with co-actions and facilitating the meetings with the group in order to support the learning opportunities and relevant assets.
  • In action 3 (rebuild the economy after a crisis using public procurement as a strategic tool) they are involved in finding the answers to how public procurement can mitigate solutions to these modern problems.

2. What is the state of play of ICLEI/Procura+ in relation to procurement of innovation or innovative procurement?

These topics are very relevant for both ICLEI and Procura+. Creating visibility to best cases and examples of public procurement within their network is a goal to gain more awareness. At ICLEI the focus lies on the growth of this topic and embedding this as an important goal for the next years. Innovation is not always tied to sustainability, therefore they are taking it upon themselves to focus on maintaining sustainability in innovation and its process.

Projects ICLEI/Procura+ is involved in, are:

  • AI4 Cities, focusing on using innovation procurement – specifically Pre Commercial Procurement - to enable cities to procure innovative solutions with a focus on AI and mobility.
  • Participation in the Procure2Innovate initiative.
  • EIC BAS (European Innovation Council Business Acceleration Services) where they match public procurers’ challenges and needs with innovative SME’s that are already registered in the EIC database.
  • In acknowledgement of the importance of innovation procurement, Horizon Europe has a number of calls and actions ICLEI has been applying to, related to supporting public procurers to be more familiar with innovation procurement, and testing the existing regulatory frameworks to understand how well they support innovation.

The upcoming Procura+ Conference in Lisbon, Portugal in March will bring together all European key players. Find more information here: Procura+ Conference

On March 13th between 11am and 1pm Valentina Schippers-Opejko will host 3 roundtable sessions during Market Lounge 1: Step Changes in Action - Breakthrough Approaches and Case Studies! In these 30 minutes sessions she will actively promote the UA Partnership on the subject of ‘Breaking barriers by using Innovation and Procurement as Strategic tools’.

If you would like to attend a roundtable session, please register on the conference website and find us there!

------------------------------------------------------------

SAVE THE DATE

UA Partnership events: the UA Partnership meeting in Haarlem on April 10 & 11 and the European Innovation Procurement Conference in Brussel on June 18

Our next Urban Agenda Partnership meeting in Haarlem, the Netherlands, will be on April 10 & 11. We invite all members, stakeholders and procurement community members to this informative in-person network meeting. Agenda topics are:

  • Launch of the UA Procurement Platform
  • Creation of a UA Position Paper on advocacy opportunities
  • Updates on EU funded projects PROTECT, PROCEDIN and LIFE Future Proof Sport Pitches
  • Update on the E-learning module and determine the languages to be implemented
  • PROCEDIN Legal Framework trainings on ‘Award Below Threshold & Total Cost of Ownership’ and ‘Functional Specification & Human Centred Design‘
  • Presentations by EIC, Dutch Envoy and City of Amsterdam
  • Expert briefings on Contract Management
  • Workshop ‘How public authorities can make use of knowledge and work from European students’

During the Partnership meeting we offer PROCEDIN Legal Framework trainings on ‘Award Below Threshold & Total Cost of Ownership’ and ‘Functional Specification & Human Centred Design‘. For registration to attend the PROCEDIN trainings, register here

------XXX------

European Innovation Procurement Conference in Brussel on June 18, 2024

On June 18, 2024 the Urban Agenda Partnership, together with delegates from PROCEDIN, BUILD, Health InnoFacilitator and InnoBuyer, will organise the Innovation Procurement European Conference in Brussels. Besides of the final presentation of their EU funded projects to EC members, a World Café will be organised for procurers and participants who need more input on innovation procurement, best practices, collaboration, and network possibilities between public and private sector and more.

Please find more information on the PROCEDIN website. You can already register here for this conference. More information will follow closer to the conference date.

------------------------------------------------------------

EVENT CALENDER

Please find below upcoming events related to Public Procurement. If you wish to see your event presented in future issues, please send an email with information and/or link to djansens@haarlem.nl.

Urban Agenda Partnership meetings in 2024:

  • April 10 & 11, 2024: : In person Partnership meeting in Haarlem (the Netherlands)
  • November 18 & 19, 2024: In person Partnership meeting in Haarlem (the Netherlands)

EVENTS 2024:

------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATED URBAN AGENDA PARTNERSHIP FLYER

We have updated our UA Partnership flyer by February this year:

Printed flyers can be obtained by mailing djansens@haarlem.nl

------------------------------------------------------------

GENERAL INFORMATION

All information about the EU Urban Agenda Public Procurement partnership can be found here.

Would you like to know more about the possibilities for your organisation or are you interested in becoming a partner? Please contact the coordinator of the Partnership Valentina Schippers-Opejko by e-mail: vopejko@haarlem.nl

Would you like to receive all UA Public Procurement newsletters in the future? Please send an e-mail to: djansens@haarlem.nl

Follow updates and latest news about the Urban Agenda Partnership on LinkedIN

------------------------------------------------------------

For more information about the Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement under the EU Urban Agenda, please send an e-mail to Mrs. Valentina Schippers-Opejko: vopejko@haarlem.nl

This newsletter is a production of the EU Urban Agenda coordination team Partnership for Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement.

City of Haarlem