Description
The project should lead to promotion of sustainable public procurement among selected public institutions in Poland: municipalities and regional local administration, universities and main ministries. Our activities will cover five big Polish cities: Warszawa, Poznań, Wrocław, Kraków and Katowice. During a period of 18 months, implementation of social clauses and environmental criteria by selected institutions will be monitored. Sustainable public procurement is an important instrument to promote sustainable development by linking economic, social and environmental aspects. It is rarely used in Poland and remains outside the main scope of activities of the NGO sector. A process of local dialogue on the sustainable procurement including representatives of all three sectors will be organized. Partnership with ETI - Ethical Trade Initative Norway will provide a platform for exchange of experiences with Norway, the world leader in sustainable public procurement.
Summary of project results
"Social and environmental clauses in public procurement improve work quality and the condition of natural environment. In Poland in 2013, social clauses were used in 3% of cases, and environmental clauses in 12% of cases of public procurement. The objective of the project was to increase the number of sustainable public procurement in 80 institutions in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Katowice and Poznań (in chosen academic schools, as well as municipal, marshal's, and national government units). Thanks to the project, application of social clauses in the monitored institutions rose from 1,8% to 19%. At the beginning of the project, environmental aspects were considered in 22,8% of procurements; at the end - 26,15%. The project contributed to more serious treatment of social and environmental effects of procurements by the monitored institutions. For example, they started to pay attention to full-time employment contracts and provision of jobs to people with disabilities; they more frequently used eco-certificates and energy-efficient solutions. The project was one of the largest independent monitoring programmes of sustainable public procurement in Poland and Europe. It inspired other organisations to undertake similar actions. The publication “Sustainable public procurement in practice"" and the report “Sustainable public procurement in Poland"" were met with significant interest, and the website
www.monitoringzzp.pl became a database of SPP knowledge, and the largest collection of good SPP practices in Poland. Almost 50 meetings were organised with key procurers, as well as a seminar and a large international conference. In each of the project cities, a “round table"" was organised - a forum of local debate on SPP. Almost 400 people took part in those events. The project was received with interest by the media - it was quoted at least 85 times, e.g. in “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna"" and “Rzeczpospolita"" newspapers, and the TOK FM Radio. Experts from CSR.PL were often invited to comment on news concerning public procurement. In cooperation with the project partner - the Ethical Trading Initiative Norway - a study visit to Oslo was organised. During the visit, 8 representatives of Polish NGOs met with representatives of Norwegian NGOs and public institutions promoting sustainble development."
Summary of bilateral results
"Partner in the project was IEH - Ethical Trading Initiative Norway (Initiativ for etisk handel) which is an European Leader in promoting of innovative solutions in the area of Sustainable Public Procurements and Corporate Social Responsibility. In the project “Enhanced monitoring of sustainable public procurement in Poland” IEH delivered good practices and know-how in the area of sustainable public procurements. Especially in the global context, as this topic was completely unknown in Poland so far. There was no information how public procurers can control the supply chain of delivered products or that they should prepare risk analysis. Good practices were posted on the website of the project (
www.monitoringzzp.pl) and were used in publications prepared in the project: “Sustainable public procurements in Poland. Model social and environmental clauses”, and “Use of sustainable public procurements in Poland. Report of the I stage of the monitoring”. Partner also played a crucial role in the study visit organized in November 2015. 8 Polish activists (5 was financed in this project and 3 in the project E2/1685) representing different NGO and engaged in work on sustainable development and promotion of sustainable public procurement held a series of meetings with Norwegian organizations active in this area. Initiativ for Etisk Handel hosted a meeting in Oslo during which organizations shared their knowledge and experiences on promotion of SRPP. During the study tour meetings with: DIFI – Agency for Public Management and eGoverment, Students and Academics International Assistance Fund (SAIH), The Norwegian ForUM for Development and Environment, Sykehuspartner, Changemaker and BI Centre for Corporate Responsibility were organised. Per Bondevik, Manager of ETI also took place in the international conference “Sustainable Public Procurement. From tackling the problem of the lowest price criteria to monitoring global supply chains”. He presented tools available for public procurers that can be used to control working conditions on the whole supply chain of purchased products. Cooperation with ETI was very important for the project as this organization delivered necessary knowledge and tools which can be used to promote socially responsible public procurements in Poland.