Procura+ | Barcelona City Council

Barcelona City Council

SPP IN BARCELONA CITY COUNCIL

Barcelona is the capital of region of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain in both size and population (1.7 million people, almost 4 million if outlying areas are included). It has approved two formal acts for responsible procurement, and has developed the + Sustainable City Council Programme to integrate sustainable criteria into decision making processes.

SPP HIGHLIGHTS

Pioneer in implementing SPP in Spain since 2001
Sustainable City Council Convention launched in 2010
Received the Diamond Purchase Award for SMART-SPP activities in July 2012
Enacted a Municipal Decree for Responsible Public Procurement in 2013
Integration of green requirements is compulsory for 12 priority categories since 2015
Enacted a Municipal Decree for Sustainable Procurement in 2017 that makes SPP compulsory, beyond the 12 priority categories, especially for the social aspects of SPP
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Population: 1.6 mil.
Employees: 12,000
Date joined: 2004

CONTACT

Mar Campanero i Sala
Sustainable City Council Programme

Website

More information? Send an email to procurement@iclei.org

SPP IN ACTION

POLICY AND STRATEGY

Procura+ Participant Barcelona City Council has evolved its Procurement ambitions since it first made a commitment to purchasing green office equipment in 2001 to its latest Policy in 2013.

2001 - Creation of the Green Office Programme, which supported the introduction of environmental criteria in regular office supplies purchases.
2006 - Green Office Programme evolved to become the + Sustainable City Council Programme. This was introduced to foster awareness of municipal services and to build environmental, social and ethical criteria into decision making processes.
2010 - The Sustainable City Council Convention was launched. The Convention was a participative process to not only evaluate past actions but also to define common future objectives and actions and how to achieve them.
2013 - Enactment of Municipal Decree for Responsible Public Procurement. Integrating green requirements is now compulsory for all contracting bodies tendering for 12 high priority procurement categories.
2015 - New rules (Instructions to services) governing the inclusion of environmental and social criteria in procurement contracts have entered into force, following the enactment of the 2013 Municipal Decree for Responsible Public Procurement. Integrating green requirements is now compulsory for all contracting bodies tendering for 12 high priority procurement categories.
2017– Enactment of Municipal Decree for Sustainable Public Procurement. Compulsory sustainable procurement is expanded and homogenised for the whole authority, especially on the social dimension and reinforces the mandatory implementation of the instructions to services.

You can read more in this GPP News Alert article on Barcelona City Council.

Applying the Policy:

In order to achieve these goals, several instruments and activities have been developed. Examples include internal regulations, inclusion of social and environmental criteria in the city’s tender models and actual procurement processes, training sessions for municipal workers, and business meetings with suppliers and other collaborators.

To communicate those tools and services, the +Sustainable City Council Programme has compiled them in a brochure (in Catalan) for civil servants and all relevant information can be found in the +Sustainable City Council website.

Furthermore, as the city council is very decentralised and composed of a large number of departments and units, the +Sustainable City Council Programme encourages and provides support to the establishment of Strategic Internal Sustainability Plans by the different units and departments of the administration.

SPP Results:

Inclusion of at least one environmental or social criterion in around 37% of all technical and administrative tenders, including:

the purchase of work uniforms respecting the ILO conventions;
the acquisition of certified sustainable wood;
supply of electricity 100% from renewable energy or high-efficient cogeneration sources;
all school catering services include food from organic agriculture;
all computers and imaging equipment comply with at least the Energy Star standard.

Training in SPP:

Specific training for professionals working with the City Council is essential to achieve cultural change in favour of sustainability. That is why Barcelona City Council provides training in various areas related to the greening of municipal buildings and services.

For example, Barcelona City Council has provided training sessions on the Barcelona sustainable wood procurement policy to employees of the public entity for urbanism, buildings and infrastructures and to private companies that are in charge of its works management.

Supplier Engagement:

Participation in the SMART-SPP project fostered innovation through procurement, resulting in a tendering process and dialogue with the market for the installation of charging points for electric vehicles in the city.

EXPLORE MORE

Sectors

Integrating green requirements is now compulsory for the following categories:

Electricity
Communications
Computer equipment
Events
Exhibitions (in Catalan)
Timber
Office furniture
Paper
Textiles
Construction (in Catalan)
Food services
Cleaning
Vehicles (in Catalan)
Management of municipal buildings (in Catalan)

Furthermore, a new Guide of Green Public Procurement (in Catalan) provides recommendations for integration of environmental aspects in other categories besides the 12 priority ones.

Projects and Initatives

European Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC): Alliance of industry, business, government and NGOs dedicated to increasing European demand for sustainably sourced tropical timber. Website
Electronic Watch: Independent monitoring organisation assisting public sector buyers to protect labour rights. Website
Smart-SPP: Encouraging innovation through sustainable procurement. Website

Resources

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