Rome, 18 October 2018, 14.30 – 17.30 – In the context of Forum CompraVerde-BuyGreen, the most important Italian and European event for public and private policies, projects and initiatives, dedicated to green and sustainable procurement, BIOVOICES organised a Mobilization and Mutual Learning (MML) Workshop “The role of Green Public procurement in boosting Bioeconomy: challenges, opportunities and barriers to overcome”.
The European Bioeconomy Strategy Revision 2018, released in October 2018, identifies the bio-based products in public procurement as one of the main element to boost the sustainable development. Nevertheless, recommendations for the development of commonly accepted sustainability criteria, labels, and certification schemes for bio-based products should be addressed to facilitate public procurement.
On 12 April 2016, the Public Procurement Working Group of the European Commission’s Expert Group for bio-based products published 15 recommendations for an increased uptake of bio-based products in public procurement programs.
The 15 recommendations include promotional campaigns targeting specific materials, regions and sectors, the roll-out of standards and labels, benchmarking and goal setting, but also manifesto definition, targeted outreach and general communication, technical support to procurers, as well as intervention on legislation if and where possible.
Building on the INNPROBIO project experiences in facilitating green public procurement of bio-based products, the mutual learning BIOVOICES workshop aimed at mobilising the most relevant quadruplehelix stakeholders to identify challenges, opportunities and barriers to boost bio-based economy in Europe.
The invitation was addressed to professionals with in depth knowledge of the topic, staff working in public offices and public procurement, as well as to businesses and users with interest in the bioeconomy and green public procurement.
