ICLEI has extended the deadline for applications to the 2017 Procura+ Awards until 18 July 2017 for the Sustainable Procurement, Innovation Procurement and Tender Procedure of the Year categories. The competition rewards sustainable and innovative public procurements leading to significant improvements of public good, services, process and infrastructure.

The 2016 edition of the Procura+ Awards saw the City of Copenhagen (Denmark), Transport for London (UK) and Rijkswaterstaat (Netherlands) win awards for Sustainable Procurement of the Year, Innovation Procurement of the Year and Tender Procedure of the Year, respectively.

The 2017 Procura+ Awards ceremony will be held at the Third Major eafip Event on Innovation Procurement in Tallinn, Estonia on 17 October. Winners will be featured in a variety of ICLEI publications and web platforms, and at the next EcoProcura conference.

For more information and to download an application form, visit the Procura+ website

ICLEI's European Secretariat hosted a delegation of Korean public sector and development organisations on 14 June to explore Green Public Procurement in policy and practice in European cities and regions. The delegation, organised by the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI), included representatives from Korean ministries, research institutes, city development corporations and several national agencies for tourism and shipping.

The visit focused on various aspects of sustainable public procurement, including GPP target setting, implementation strategies, monitoring mechanisms and the scope and definition of green product and service categories addressed by European GPP criteria. Mark Hidson, Global Director of ICLEI's Sustainable Procurement Centre, presented ICLEI's background in sustainable and innovation procurement and exemplified current GPP projects, platforms and initiatives on the European and global levels involving cities and local governments.

ICLEI and KEITI are partners in the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement, involving 14 cities acting as ambassadors for sustainable procurement to lead to a resource efficient, low carbon and socially responsible society. They also cooperate with UNEP on the 10 Year Framework Programme for Sustainable Consumption and Production.

For more information, visit the ICLEI Sustainable Economy and Procurement and KEITI websites.

The Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires has been working on the inclusion of sustainability criteria in public procurement processes since 2012. Amongst their achievements, having trained in sustainable procurement more than 400 purchasers within the Goods and Services Purchasing and Procurement System, having developed three SPP Recommendations Guides, and leading SPP processes both in Argentina and in the region.

Buenos Aires is already purchasing different products introducing sustainable criteria. When buying materials and electronic devices, the City aims at reducing energy consumption and to encourage the use of renewable energies. Requirements such as durability and waste management are considered when acquiring computer equipment. Buenos Aires adopted an electronic government management model in order to reduce the amount of paper used. For the printing paper that needs to be purchased, it is required that it derives from sugar cane making process or that it has specific certificates.

The City sets up new challenges for the future with the goal of stimulating the demand for more sustainable goods, services and businesses, by performing a role in the validation of suppliers that increasingly taking sustainable criteria into account.

To read the Sustainable Procurement Profile, visit here