The winners of the 2021 Procura+ Awards were announced on 23 November in an online ceremony streamed live on YouTube. The Province of Zeeland (the Netherlands) won for “Procurement Initiative of the Year”, while the cities of Copenhagen and Odense (Denmark) won “Sustainable Procurement of the Year”. The categories “Innovation Procurement of the Year” and “Outstanding Innovation Procurement in ICT” both saw Spanish winners: Santiago de Compostela City Council and Murcia Health Services, respectively. Of note, both Copenhagen and Murcia are ICLEI Members, showcasing ICLEI cities' commitments to ambitious and effective action.
The Province of Zeeland won Procurement Initiative of the Year for its commitment to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with each purchase it makes in the period 2021–2024. Based on existing policy goals, ability to monitor, and alignment with local initiatives, the province turned its focus to seven of the SDGs in particular. For each of these seven goals, concrete impact targets were embedded in its Sustainable Procurement Plan 2021–2024, and monitored results will be shared on a sustainable procurement platform.
Sustainable Procurement of the Year winners – ICLEI Member Copenhagen and Odense – also used the SDGs as a guide. Copenhagen became aware of a tool developed by the City of Odense to help suppliers identify the SDGs they are contributing to during market dialogue exercises, and to provide a framework for tenders. The city then used this tool to introduce further social and environmental considerations into its food procurement work.
Santiago de Compostela City Council won Innovation Procurement of the Year for using innovation procurement to develop solutions to improve citizen services, while respecting the complex and specific needs encountered as a World Heritage City. This tactic was used to address three challenges in particular: municipal solid waste management, last mile logistic services, and ornamental lighting solutions, which enhance the value of heritage while saving energy.
Finally, Murcia Health Service won in the category Outstanding Procurement in ICT. Through its involvement in the InDemand project, Murcia worked with procurers from three different regions on a new co-creation model to improve communication between doctors and epilepsy patients. Murcia Health Services led one of the innovation projects that tested this model, leading to a 50% increase in patient satisfaction and a quality of life improvement of 2.5 points (based on the QOLIE-10, NDDI-E test).
During the ceremony the finalists in each of the four categories were also acknowledged:
- Procurement Initiative of the Year – ICLEI Member Helsinki (Finland) for using carbon footprint criteria to promote sustainable public procurement,
- Sustainable Procurement of the Year – Dinan Agglomeration for its commitment to low environmental impact cleaning services,
- Innovation Procurement of the Year – Supreme Audit Office City of Prague for building net-zero energy innovation through procurement in construction in the centre of Prague,
- Outstanding Innovation Procurement in ICT – ICLEI Member Barcelona Provincial Council, for its procurement of innovation to improve telecare services.
The South Moravian Region (Czechia) received an honourable mention in the “Sustainable Procurement of the Year” category, in recognition of its use of procurement to address their need to build a new sanitarium for children with respiratory diseases, which challenged the market to create a facility to be as aesthetic, user friendly, and energy efficient as possible.
More details on the procurement initiatives of this year’s winners and finalists can be found on the Procura+ website.
The jury for this years’ Procura+ Award comprised of Katharina Knapton-Vierlich, Head of Unit, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission; Erika Bozzay, Senior Policy Advisor, OECD; Johanna Enberg, Strategist Innovation Procurement, Swedish Competence Centre for Innovation Procurement; and Mark Hidson, Global Director, ICLEI's Sustainable Procurement Centre.
The Procura+ Awards are an ICLEI initiative, organised in cooperation with the Procure2Innovate project. They reward successful, already running, sustainable and innovative public procurements. The application period for the 2022 Awards will open soon. The 2021 ceremony can be viewed here.