Representatives of the cities of Denver (USA) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands) have met to exchange experiences on implementing sustainable procurement activities. Both cities are part of the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement, pushing to drive a transition to sustainable consumption and production by purchasing sustainably.

Denver is rewriting its executive order on procurement and is looking to other cities’ policies and plans to shape its procurement actions. As Denver and Rotterdam have similar populations, Jerry Tinianow, Chief Sustainability Officer of the City of Denver, and Léon Dijk, Coordinator of Sustainable Public Procurement of the City of Rotterdam, have held discussions to compare how both cities have organised their procurement activities and introduced sustainable criteria. Tinianow and Dijk also focused on assessment of needs and how to go beyond simply deciding what to purchase by focusing first on whether to purchase or not.

One of the main differences identified between both cities is that Rotterdam has a larger procurement budget as European cities includes procurement for schools, whereas in Denver, as in most other cities in the US, the school system is not under the control of the municipal government. Denver and Rotterdam have just finalised their Sustainable Procurement Profiles, including information about their policies, strategies, achievements and challenges. These documents aim to showcase how the GLCN on SP cities are championing sustainable procurement.

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