INDEX
- Foreword by KAREN VAN DANTZIG, Dutch Urban Envoy
- FAMILY PICTURE Partnership members
- Summary of the Urban Agenda Partnership MEETING on February 10 & 11, 2020
- Speech CATRIEN LENSTRA, managing director city of Haarlem
- BROCHURE EU Urban Agenda Partnership for Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement
- Link to the updated Public Procurement page on the EC FUTURIUM WEBSITE
- You Tube link to our latest UA Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement VIDEO
- Presentation of the 7 ACTIONS INFOGRAPHIC in 11 languages
- Link to the MRA ROADMAP Circular Procurement & Commissioning
- NEW formal PARTNERS
- Column ‘Partner to Speak’: 5 questions to VASSILIS TSANIDIS, representative of the Region of Central Macedonia
- SAVE THE DATE
Foreword by Karen van Dantzig,
dutch urban envoy
When I started in my new role as Urban Envoy in January 2020 to ‘strengthen the position of cities and urban areas in the EU’, I did not envisage that after 3 months I would not be travelling around Europe, but working from home and teleconferencing. Many believe, as do I, that cities and urban areas are social- and economic powerhouses and places of innovation, crucial to delivering transitions. Cities are also the shortest link between the EU and its citizens. During these troubling times in which a health (and upcoming economic) crisis disrupts our societies, impacts urban areas and all the people living in them greatly, the importance of cities and multi-level partnership is as topical as ever.
As the Urban Envoy, my mission is to strengthen the position of cities and urban areas in the EU and mediate between the roles and interests of the various Urban stakeholders, in the tradition and spirit of the Urban Agenda.
On 10 and 11 February, the city of Haarlem hosted the 11th Urban Agenda meeting for European cities, networks and experts in the field of innovative public procurement. As the new Urban Envoy, I was invited to join this meeting. I met a group of motivated participants (consisting of 11 cities, 3 member states and EU- and expert organisations) working on completing seven actions and thereby moving the Partnership forward. This partnership wishes to contribute to a sustainable, inclusive, green and innovative Europe through developing ‘procurement as a strategic instrument’. My view is that procurement is a strong agent for change, now, in the future and as an answer to the crisis!
As you know, 2020 is the year in which we will agree upon a New Leipzig Charter and the follow-up to the Urban Agenda. Partnerships are the main reason that the Urban Agenda is seen as an innovative, EU-wide success, with the Public Procurement Partnership as one of its prime examples. Continuation of the Partnership method in the post-2020 Urban Agenda is therefore one of my priority themes in the current and coming negotiations.
I hope that the turning point of this crisis is imminent and I will be able to meet & work together with more passionate change-agents in person soon.
Concluding remark: my thoughts and hopes are with all persons affected by this crisis.
Stay healthy and safe.
Summary of the Urban Agenda Partnership meeting on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement in Haarlem, The Netherlands, February 10 & 11, 2020
The Partnership meeting was opened with a welcome speech by the Director of the coordinator city of Haarlem, Catrien Lenstra, setting the scene for the upcoming two-day meeting. The main goals were then outlined by the Coordinator, Valentina Schippers-Opejko. She presented some of the resources developed by the coordinating city, including the newly developed video (see further below in this Newsletter), infographics about the deliverables of the Partnership (translated in 11 European languages ! ) and brochure. Jan Maarten de Vet from Ecorys presented the overall picture by using the story-telling. Christian Iaione from the UIA provided a session about the final results of the Urban Innovation Partnerships project.
This presentation was followed by a plenary session in which the work of the Partnership was presented, and Action leaders for all 7 Actions went through individual Actions, their final amendments, and how they fit into the overall story line of the Partnership. Some final suggestions on how to improve these were made during the session.
The final session of the day was delivered by Vassilis Tsanidis from the Region of Central Macedonia. He presented the Mechanism for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support which is a structure supervised by the Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Division and has been launched with the aim of monitoring the interventions of the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3). He also provided some key elements regarding the work of the Region on innovative procurement.
The second day Gary Robinson presented the work of the Scottish Government regarding Innovation. Barriers to innovation were presented, notably regarding management and coordination but also funding mechanisms. The Scotcap project was included as a case study, and lessons learned were presented to the Partnership.
In the following session, Partnership members were invited to reflect on how the results of the Partnership could be disseminated once the Partnership will no longer exist as such. The group divided in two smaller groups and ideas were shared during a plenary session. The role of Haarlem, the European Commission, and all members of the Partnership was highlighted as crucial in dissemination of the work carried out thus far, and Partners were encouraged to use the tools available to them, including Futurium, the Urban Agenda newsletter and social media channels. Elodie Salle and Jan Maarten de Vet from Ecorys presented the results of the questionnaire about the evaluation of Urban Agenda and recommendations for the future partnerships.
Towards the end of the day, the focus was on next steps for the Partnership, and participants discussed activities that will be undertaken until June (*), when the final Partnership meeting is scheduled to take place. The Partnership will organise a final meeting on European strategical level on 9th June in Brussels (*), a final event for cities and regions during the European Week of Regions and Cities 2020 in the week of 12-15 October and an event for the practitioners during the Procura+ event End 2020.
(*) note: due to the corona crisis the final Partnership meeting and the high level European meeting has been postponed to the European Week of Regions and Cities in October 2020.
Speech Catrien Lenstra, managing director of the city of Haarlem
Urban Agenda Partnership meeting Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement, February 10 & 11, 2020
Good morning dear partners,
First of all let me welcome you in the city of Haarlem. I hope you had a pleasant trip this morning, and for those who arrived yesterday, I hope you already enjoyed Haarlem and had a good night’s sleep.
This is your eleventh partner meeting. For me, it is the first! You are making the last leg of your journey, I have just started the first stretch of mine, last week when I started as managing director of the city of Haarlem. Fortunately, our roads cross at this stage and I feel honored and privileged that they do!
Today and tomorrow, being European experts in the field of responsible and innovative public procurement, you will mark an important moment: after two and a half years of intensive collaboration in this partnership, you deliver your final results today. I am extremely proud that this is taking place in the city of Haarlem.
Although new to the job in Haarlem, I am not new to the Urban Agenda. As a manager in Amsterdam for the past 13 years, I saw the Urban Agenda pass by at times. Amsterdam is also an active partner city in some of the partnerships.
The Urban Agenda that was established in 2016, makes the connection on important current topics, and unites cities, regions and countries. Your partnership is devoted to finding solutions that public procurement has on offer to reach the desired sustainable, socially inclusive and economically thriving society that we are all aiming for. Challenges that we meet along the way cannot be tackled on our own. We need other cities, but also economic operators, businesses and the public to address issues and to push forward an agenda that is continuously geared towards innovation and improvement, in the most responsible way. Such a substantial amount of money to spend on public goods and services, so many tasks to perform as contracting authorities! How can we make our money work for us twice?
You have been exploring the opportunities and collecting the practices in procurement that are already out there. Good examples that can inspire others, and others that inspire us. I have already heard a lot about that, for example Italy that is making good progress with the use of innovation procurement brokerage, and Larvik, Norway about the achievements of a local cooperative center for procurement.
Your partnership has been meticulous and relentless in collecting and bundling relevant information. You have proposed seven actions, that revolve around the three main topics that were established at the start at the partnership:
1
Building a procurement strategy and managing strategic procurement.
2
Developing relationships with economic operators; utilizing the market potential and bringing it closer to the purchasers.
3
Providing guidance on legal tools and improving competence on innovative, sustainable and circular procurement.
All the hard work done has resulted in an impressive amount of structured information that others can use right away. Chapeau! Your message is clear: it is primarily up to the public sector to work on an innovative and responsible procurement practice with the private sector. Operating in close connection with the market, it lies within the public sector’s reach to further a city's goals in terms of a sustainable world, social inclusion and a strong local economy. This ambition fits seamlessly with the Urban Agenda. As a city, we are proud that we have joined forces with other cities and are at the forefront of this EU program, working for a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth of urban areas in Europe.
Haarlem is already benefiting from the benefits of this partnership. Within the municipal boundaries, but also in the region, in the Netherlands and in Europe. It's all about sharing knowledge and learning from each other. I hope that is also an ongoing development in your area.
As I mentioned earlier, the partnership is in the final stage of its work. At this meeting you will present the final drafts and deliverables and also important, you will discuss how this enormous wealth of information can best be disseminated in Europe.
The managing board of Haarlem, the mayor and aldermen of Haarlem appreciate the partnership and are grateful for the dedication and perseverance with which you work together to present its results to Europe. You are in the capable hands of Valentina and her project team, so I am assured you will enjoy this partner meeting and will return home afterwards with a sense of satisfaction and pride.
I wish you a fruitful meeting. And I also hope you will have a relaxing time in Haarlem in the few spare moments that are at your disposal the next two days. I am looking forward to meeting you all again next June.
Thanks you for your attention.
The updated brochure from the EU Urban Agenda Partnership for Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement provides a summary of the background, aims, and main stakeholders involved in the Partnership. You can find this brochure on https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/public-procurement. If you would like to receive a paper version, please contact djansens@haarlem.nl
The European Commission Futurium website – Public Procurement has recently been updated with our latest news items. You can now find our brochure, infographics, video and newsletters on the website. Check for yourself at: https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/public-procurement
We are proud to present our newly developed informative video, outlining the Partnership’s main structure, goals and working method in this Newsletter:
Valentina Schippers-Opejko, coordinator of the Urban Agenda Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement, proudly presents the 7 actions Infographic. This Infographic is translated in 11 languages and has been uploaded at the Futurium website to download and print as a promotion flyer. Copyright free and for you to use at presentations, seminars, conferences and more.
Find the English version below.
MRA ROADMAP CIRCULAR PROCUREMENT & COMMISSIONING
The Metropole Region Amsterdam (32 municipalities and 2 state regions) faces several challenges in mobility, housing, energy, landscape and circularity. One of the goals the MRA sets within these challenges is to work towards 100% circular procurement and commissioning. To help achieve this goal the Roadmap Circular Procurement & Commissioning is created. This roadmap is a guide for local governments to implement circular procurement and commissioning step-by-step in their tenders and their organizations.
Please open this link:
NEW FORMAL PARTNERS
The success for our Partnership is also reflected in the growing interest at home and abroad. For example, we are very happy to have new formal partners and look forward to a good collaboration and exchange of knowledge. Welcome to the the Region of Central Macedonia and Member state Scotland!
Column ‘partner to speak’; 5 questions to VASSILIS TSANIDIS, representative of the region of central Macedonia
The Region of Central Macedonia is involved in the EU Urban Agenda Partnership for Responsible and Innovative Public Procurement. Can you indicate what this involvement entails?
The Governor -Mr. Apostolos Tzitzikostas- of the Region of Central Macedonia, which currently holds the Presidency of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), has placed Innovation as a high priority on the Region’s political agenda. In that context, a One Stop Liaison Office was set up by the Region with the aim to interconnect all relevant stakeholders on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the area. Strategic use of public procurement can help the modernization of the public sector services with breakthrough solutions, offering at the same time business opportunities to innovative companies. Highlighting thus the importance of public procurement for boosting Innovation, the Region of Central Macedonia joined the EU Urban Agenda Partnership for Responsible and Innovative Public Procurement to exchange good practices, network with other EU Regions, cities and Member States as well as the European Commission and actively participate in the activities of the Partnership that aim at mainstreaming Innovation Procurement across Europe.
To what action(s) do you participate? What can you tell about this action(s)?
The Region of Central Macedonia participates in the actions that are related to Innovation Procurement. In order to introduce and promote the results of the EU Urban Agenda to the procurers in Greece, the Region of Central Macedonia organizes in collaboration with the National Competence Centre on Innovation Procurement in Greece and the National Training School of Public Administration, a high-level event on Innovation Procurement in Thessaloniki on May 13th. In this event Greek procurers from all over Greece will be informed about the EU Urban Agenda Partnership and in particular about the outcomes of the activities related to Responsible and Innovative Procurement.
Are there advantages to the EU Urban Agenda Partnership and what are they?
EU Urban Agenda Partnership has many advantages. It brings together stakeholders from different levels of public administration (Cities, Regions, Member States) to discuss issues that concern local and regional players across Europe. It is also important that the European Commission actively participates in this initiative, thus hearing the voice of the stakeholders in the workfield on issues that European Cities and Regions are facing.
Can you mention a concrete example of a successful IPP action from your country?
The Region of Central Macedonia implements an integrated territorial intervention program (a mini Urban Agenda I would say) that is funded by the ESIF and (inter alia) interconnects all different levels of public administration in the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki in order to implement joint projects. A challenge that the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki is facing is the following: due to the lack of interoperability in the traffic lights a coordinated management of the traffic lights in the area is limited. In the context of the above-mentioned program an Innovation Procurement process has been launched to overcome these interoperability traffic light issues. This procurement has been done by different municipalities and was installed by different suppliers in the metropolitan area of the Thessaloniki.
What has to be the main focus of the partnership and when will it be judged as successful?
The public sector is one of the main investors in Europe. It spends more than 2.000 billion Euros through public procurement at an annual basis. The majority of public procurement takes place at local and regional levels. It is important that a strategic use of procurement, and in particular Innovation Procurement, is mainstreamed across Europe. This, in my view, should be the main focus of the Partnership. Moreover, now that the current Programming Period is about to end, focus should be placed on activities that ensure the continuation and enlargement of the EU Urban Agenda activities in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
SAVE THE DATE
13th October 2020 10:00 - 13:30 (tentative):
European strategic high level meeting (Brussels)
13 - 15 October (timeslot not yet available):
Presentation UA Public Procurement for participants to the European Week of Region and Cities (Brussels)
13 - 15 October (timeslot not yet available):
final Urban Agenda Partnership meeting for Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement (Brussels)
End of November 2020 (tentative):
Practitioners session during the Procura+ conference (Lisbon)
This newsletter is a production by the EU Urban Agenda coordination team Partnership for Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement.
City of Haarlem
Credits:
Gemaakt met afbeeldingen van Markus Spiske - "untitled image" • rawpixel - "untitled image"