In 1952, ICLEI Member Helsinki (Finland) hosted the 15th Summer Olympics. Now, more than 70 years later, its Olympic Stadium is still in use, and has been renovated with a stronger focus on the environment and the circular economy. Public procurement is playing a key role in the maintenance of this new sustainable stadium, for example through a pilot to procure circular solutions for end-of-life artificial turfs. In recent years, Helsinki, which is also a participant in ICLEI’s Procura+ network, has also created strategies to add a social component to its purchases and used pre-commercial procurement - a form of procurement that stimulates innovation - to find solutions for reducing CO2 emissions in mobility and energy.
Big Buyers Working Together: Driving innovation and sustainability
Helsinki’s holistic approach to sustainable public procurement makes it a fitting host of the Big Buyers Working Together (BBWT) annual event, taking place on 25 March. Co-organised with ICLEI Europe, the event seeks to show participants how public procurement can be a driving force for a more social, sustainable and innovative Europe.
With a spotlight on Communities of Practice, in areas like zero-emission construction, heavy-duty electric vehicles, circular construction, and healthcare sustainability, and input from ICLEI, Eurocities, and BME for the European Commission, the event will bring to the fore the evolving role of public procurement, which constitutes 14% of the EU's GDP.
The evolving role of public procurement in the EU
Current EU public procurement directives lack clarity on integrating social and environmental factors, leading to 60% of procurement decisions to focus solely on the lowest price, with major differences across Member states. The European Commission is currently evaluating these directives and will likely propose a revision, to enhance strategic and sustainable public procurement addressing issues like decreasing competition in public procurement, the low contracts awarded to Small and Medium Enterprises, limited cross-border procurement and insufficient monitoring.
For nearly three decades, ICLEI Europe has been instrumental in advancing sustainable public procurement through its projects, initiatives and networks such as Procura+, and welcomes potential revisions of the Directives that could further enhance these efforts.
Dominique Sandy, Head of ICLEI’s Sustainable and Innovation Procurement team, emphasises that “reforms to EU procurement legislation should address challenges that local and regional governments have been facing in terms of public procurement in the last 10 years, and align with EU priorities through embedding sustainability and innovation into procurement practices. To ensure the effective implementation, public procurement rules should be simplified and any new sustainable public procurement measure should follow principles of clear drafting and remove unnecessary jargon or obscure references in order to ensure a widespread uptake of green practices, while at the same time further technical support and capacity building is needed for local government procurement teams.”
ICLEI Members like Oslo (Norway) are leaders in sustainable public procurement, using it as a key tool for social and sustainable change by integrating human rights into tenders and contracts.
“The Oslo model uses selection criteria and contract clauses to ensure suppliers conduct due diligence for responsible business conduct, with the ultimate goal to prevent negative impacts on the environment and protect human rights and labour rights. For this to be easier for suppliers, it is an advantage that procurement regulations are harmonised, so suppliers can spend more time on actually working to improve conditions rather than on doing reporting”, notes Kjersti Koffeld, Sustainability Advisor at the City of Oslo.
Strengthening public procurement for a sustainable future
ICLEI continues to gain recognition for advancing strategic public procurement. On behalf of the European Commission, together with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), ICLEI organised workshops in the 27 Member States. More than 700 stakeholders participated in 23 in-person workshops fostering dialogue on the use of strategic (green, social and innovation) public procurement identifying challenges, and solutions and supporting the development of national roadmaps. While Member States face similar challenges, measures to support strategic procurement need to consider differences in national procurement systems.
ICLEI Members and other public authorities seeking further support on sustainable public procurement are invited to join Procura+, ICLEI’s network of European public authorities that connect, exchange and act on sustainable public procurement. The network has recently launched its 2025 Procura+ Awards, recognising the most forward-looking and innovative procurements and tender procedures.
This year, the Awards invite public authorities from all over the world to apply for the Global Initiative of the Year with. European public authorities are also eligible for the Innovation Procurement of the Year and Sustainable Procurement of the Year categories. Applications are due by 31 March 2025, and theAwards ceremony will take place on 8 October 2025 at Middelburg, (the Netherlands), during the 2025 Procura+ Seminar.