THE PROJECT
The Building SPP project (2010-2013) is funded by LIFE+ Programme and aims to develop and implement activities that result in the promotion and mainstreaming of sustainable procurement practices in the municipalities of Portugal and Greece.
Sustainable procurement can play an important role in organizations to meet commitments from social, environmental and economic policies at national and local level. The project main objective is to build capacity in sustainable procurement in Portugal and Greece through:
- Assisting public authorities in putting in place a procurement strategy in line with their environmental and social policies
- Encouraging cooperation among public authority procurers and
- Promoting a greater market engagement between public authorities and suppliers
SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT NETWORK
A central task of the Building-SPP project is the development of a network to allow public central or local organizations to exchange best practices, training and information on Sustainable Procurement activities.
Network Activities:
- Website / communication platform for sharing and providing information
- Regular meetings
- Thematic workshops
- Training activities
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PROJECT RESULTS
The Building SPP project was concluded in September 2014. In order to achieve its objectives the project performed a number of activities and the attained results confirm its success and the potential for growth of SPP in both countries. All partners are very pleased with the outcome of the project and will make use of the attained experience to continue to promote SPP either by practicing it directly or by supporting other organisations and stakeholders in their ventures into the field.
Project's video
Watch the Building SPP project's video now and get to know the first hand experience of our public partners!
(Note: Video has subtitles available in English, Portuguese and Greek. Select your preference by clicking the Definitions button on the youtube player.)
A general overview of the project and its attained results can be found in the Building SPP's layman's report and in the Final report of the Building SPP project >>> Below we present a summary of the project's activities and attained results. Deliverables and documents pertaining to each activity can be downloaded in the Documents page. |
Building SPP Layman's report |
>> SPP Networks |
One of the fundamental actions of the project was the establishment of SPP networks in Portugal and Greece in order to provide:
Results
For more detailed information and reports on performed activities go to Action 2. SPP Networks.
You can access the Good Practices Catalogue at:
>> Portugal
>> Greece
The project promoted actions for the discussion between public procurers and suppliers on possible environmental and social criteria to include in procurement procedures.
Performed activities:
Results
As a result of the work carried above, the project teams compiled a study on the preparedness level of the Portuguese and Greek market to fulfil the EU GPP sets of criteria and also social criteria for the following priority products and services categories:
It is intended that this study not only informs the organizations that develop environmental and social criteria, but also helps to ease the work of public authorities that are interested in SPP, by providing them with information on what are the criteria that suppliers have more or less difficulty to comply with.
Accompanying this study is a set of reports with information on defining priority categories, market studies and sustainability criteria in procurement.
>> To access this information go to Action 3. Market involvement.
One of the main results of the project is the SPP Toolbox, a step-by-step tool to guide local authorities and public organisations in the development of sustainable procurement at strategic and operational level. This tool is now available as a web application and is free of access to all public entities. It is available in Portuguese, Greek and English. >> For more information on this tool please visit: SPP Toolbox website |
The SPP toolbox was tested and applied in the five local authorities that were partners to the project in Portugal and Greece. Within this scope, each partner implemented a pilot-project where it used the SPP Toolbox to develop a SPP strategy for its organisation. This allowed assessing how the organisations developed during the period of implementation of the pilot projects and how they are progressing towards achieving the targets set in their SPP Municipal Policy, which is also a result of the implementation of the SPP strategy.
Results
All 5 local authorities developed:
Portugal
Grécia
>> Detailed reports on each of these pilot-projects can be downloaded in Action. 5 - Pilot Projects in the Documents page or by clicking the links above.
The SPP Training Package is a written document containing training material on Sustainable Procurement, and is targeted to top managers, politicians, procurer’s officers and technicians from other departments. It is Available in Portuguese, Greek and English. >> Download the SPP Training Package or access it in |
Building SPP aimed to make contributions for SPP at the macro level. To do so actions were taken to gather a set of recommendations for the Portuguese and Greek Green Public Procurement Action Plans and SPP policies in general.
The technical partners (LNEG in Portugal, ERS and EPTA in Greece) developed the set of recommendations based on consultations with stakeholders that took place in:
>> Download the recommendations for the National Procurement Strategies :
>> Portugal
>> Greece
COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION
The project contemplated a comprehensive dissemination strategy that would achieve a high visibility for the work done and its outcomes at local, regional and international levels. This strategy was comprised of different communication channels (media, press, internet, events, etc.), and will have an implementation life well past the project’s completion.
Results:
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Final Conferences
Building SPP contemplated the organization of 4 conferences, 2 in each country and divided between Half Project Conference and Final Conference. The final conferences took place in September 2014 announcing the conclusion of the project.
In Portugal the final conference entitled “Sustainable Procurement: A Challenge to the Public Administration” Portugal, was held on the 16th of September 2014, at the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon. The event consisted in a day of presentations, debates and workshops, displaying the initiatives and results of the project, and also the best that can be done in the field of Sustainable Public Procurement at the national and European levels. The event was attended by 143 participants, representing public and private organizations, coming from various fields like public procurement, logistics and environment. To know more about this event and to have access to the presentations go to:
>> Final Conference in Portugal summary
>> Final Conference in Portugal Report.
In Greece the final conference was hosted by the City of Athens in the INNOVATHENS center on the 29th September 2014. The conference took place under the auspices of the Regional Union of Municipalities of Attica and the City of Athens. This conference was dedicated to presenting the results and learning lessons of the project in Greece and Portugal, and also to Highlighting the benefits of SPP not only for the public sector, but also for the environment and the society as a whole. Added aspects were the demonstration of the new e-procurement platform, and the outlining the importance of social enterprises and the inclusion of social criteria in public tenders. The conference was attended by 72 participants, among them high level representatives of the Greek Central and Local Government.
More information on this event can be accessed in the:
>> Final Conference in Greece Report.
>>Go to Action 8. Communication and Dissemination on the Documents page to see more information. There you'll find detailed reports on the Dissemination strategy and Organized conferences, the information Leaflets and other relevant subject matters.