Procura+ participant Wallonia has been a pioneer in using social clauses in public work contracts. The Belgian region is one of the first public authorities in Europe that has developed a system to monitor the use of social clauses. For these reasons the June GPP newsletter published a case study on social procurement in Wallonia.

Wallonia uses social clauses to achieve the following objectives:

• Promoting the socio-professional integration of job seekers, apprentices or persons with disabilities.
• Fostering the contracting authority’s social responsibility, by contributing to the fight against unemployment, the socio-professional integration of young people, disadvantaged/fragile groups.
• Allowing construction companies to find an answer to the recruitment difficulties they sometimes face.
• Reinforcing traditional companies’ social responsibility, through the collaboration with social economy enterprises and/or by training job seekers or apprentices on the job.

In 2021, 988 public procurement procedures for works included a social clause, out of which 491 were awarded, while the remaining are still being evaluated or have been awarded, but the collection of data is in process and not available yet. Of the 329 contracts finalised, 76% of the social clauses were fully implemented, 9% were not executed, and 15% were partially executed. Often the lack of execution of a social clause is due to difficult circumstances, such as when the contractor goes bankrupt. In that case the new contractor taking over the contract may find it difficult to execute the social clause.

The use of social clauses has brought some key benefits to Wallonia:

• Tackling shortages in the construction sector: the use of social clauses in the performance of works contracts allows recruiting trainees and workforce from a disadvantaged background. According to Forem (Employment Agency) figures for 2021, 97% of the trainees involved in the execution of such works’ contracts have been trained in workstations where there is staff shortage or critical availability.
• Consolidating collaborations between traditional companies and social economy enterprises, both in the framework of public contracts and in bilateral relations: the number of contracts concluded with WISEs increased from 20 in 2016 to 147 in 2021.

More information on Wallonia's use of social clauses can be found here. To find out more about Wallonia's Procura+ activities, visit their Procura+ page.

On 13 and 14 March 2024, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Lisbon will host the 11th Procura+ Conference in the Portuguese capital. The conference is a great opportunity for public procurement practitioners to showcase their work to over 250 attendees from across Europe and the world. Interested? Fill in the call for contributions form here!

The call is open to procurement practitioners from local, regional and national government; public authorities; businesses, suppliers, manufacturers; policy makers; legal experts; scientific and research organisations; international and European institutions and agencies. The deadline for the submission of proposals is 15 September 2023 EOB.

Examples of possible contributions include:

• Good practice examples of implementation, strategies and lessons learnt
• How procurement addresses societal challenges faced by cities, public authorities and businesses
• The latest projects, initiatives, research, guidance and tools designed to improve sustainable, circular and innovation procurement practices
• Working with the private sector
• Sustainable and innovative product or service solutions

The Procura+ conference is where sustainable, circular and innovation procurement policy meets practice, and procurement innovations originate! It is a dynamic and unique meeting place to exchange and equip participants with the latest information, solutions, advice and networking opportunities.

Contributing at the conference will enable presenting organisations to:

• Raise your profile and inform participants about your organization’s activities
• Promote the work and results of your project/initiative
• Engage with public procurers, policy-makers and multipliers
• Discuss how better procurement procedures, as well as more sustainable and innovative products and services, can address societal challenges

For any questions or inquiries about potential send an email at: conference@procuraplus.org. For more information on the conference, visit the conference website: https://conference.procuraplus.org/

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is happy to announce that applications for the 2024 Procura+ Awards are now open. The Awards reward successful, already running, sustainable, circular and innovation public procurements that have led to significant improvements of public goods, services, processes and infrastructure.

The winners of the previous edition in 2022 were the City of Malmö (Sweden) – Circular Procurement of the Year; the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherland – Innovation Procurement of the Year; the City of Utrecht (Netherlands) – Sustainable Procurement of the Year; the City of Ghent and the VEB (Belgium) – Procurement Initiative of the Year.

This year public authorities can apply in three categories:

• Sustainable Procurement of the Year: This category will reward procurements which integrate aspects of sustainability, including environmental, economic, circular and social elements. It aims to showcase procurements which include a strategic and therefore holistic approach to implementing public procurement.
• Innovation Procurement of the Year: This category will reward those procurements which use innovative approaches in their purchasing practices, as well as those that foster innovation by purchasing cutting-edge products, services and works and see the public authority as a launch customer, driving sustainable development.
• Procurement Initiative of the Year: This category will focus on outstanding public procurement initiatives, such as programmes, policies, actions, guidance and tools that contribute towards strategic, sustainable, circular and innovation procurement.

The deadline for applications is set for 23:59 CET on 15 October 2023. Public authorities can apply through an online form which can be found here. More information concerning the terms and conditions can be found on the Procura+ website.

The Awards ceremony will take place during the Procura+ Conference, taking place in Lisbon on 13 & 14 March 2024. The conference will gather a broad group of public procurement stakeholders to showcase how cities and public authorities can use public procurement to implement step changes that make a big impact. Finalists for the Procura+ Awards will receive a free ticket for the Conference.

Participants in previous editions have highlighted that participating in the Procura+ Award helped them to benchmark themselves and to gain visibility. For winners, it was an excellent way to prove their commitment to sustainability and innovation, as well as to earn internal and external recognition.

Read more about the previous Procura+ Winners here