EcoProcura 2018, the international conference on sustainable, strategic, circular and innovation procurement, will take place next week, 3-5 October, in European Green Capital Nijmegen (The Netherlands) and will dare participants to do things differently.
The conference, which is now celebrating its tenth anniversary, will take place in conjunction with the Dutch National Annual Sustainable Procurement Conference (MVI Congress) and is organised by the City of Nijmegen, ICLEI, the European Commission, the Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management, and PIANOo - the Dutch public procurement expertise center.
From the first conference in the series, which was held in 1998 in Hannover (Germany), EcoProcura has sought to promote exchange and dialogue among purchasers from all levels of government, suppliers, policy-makers and multipliers on strategies and the latest practical tools.
The 2018 conference, which will take place over three days, will be no different and will seek to demonstrate how public procurement is being used far more strategically, from driving sustainability in products and services, to stimulating greater innovation, and supporting the transition to a circular economy.
Strategic procurement as a theme first emerged at EcoProcura 2014 in Ghent (Belgium), but while there are great examples of strategic procurement in practice, it is still far from being used across all public authorities or within all procurement decisions.
Much of this is due to human barriers, such as lack of support from leaders, or lack of confidence or skills in procurers to take on more complex but also more rewarding challenges. However, if these barriers were overcome, the payback would be huge. That is why behaviour change will also be a major focus of EcoProcura 2018, amongst others by providing participants with inspiring examples of how others have dared to create behavioural change in their organisations.
Speaking about the important role EcoProcura plays as a forum to promote strategic procurement, Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said: “Public procurement has a key role in accelerating and driving the single market towards environmentally sound goods and services. EcoProcura is the forum to discuss what this sustainable future could look like and how public procurement, when used strategically, can help get us there.”
Irmfried Schwimann, Deputy Director General, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission said: “EcoProcura is a great opportunity for cities policymakers and other stakeholders to advance strategic public procurement. Such platforms are important for creating partnerships, sharing good practices and enhancing the professionalisation of public buyers, maximising the impact of public procurement on the ground.”
The conference programme is made up of seven plenary and 13 breakout sessions, over 50 market lounge tables covering a wide range of sustainable, strategic, circular and innovation procurement related topics such as circular economy, mobility, buildings and infrastructure, measuring the impact of procurement, food and catering, sustainable finance, social procurement, and energy.
Confirmed keynote speakers include, among others, Dr. Bertrand Piccard, Chairman and Initiator of the Solar Impulse Foundation, Irmfried Schwimann, Deputy Director General, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission, Hubert Bruls, Mayor of Nijmegen and Paul Louis Iske, Chief Failure Officer, The Institute for Brilliant Failures.
For more information and to see the full conference programme and list of speakers, click here.