Procurement with social and environmental impact

Civitas Status

Duration

Budget

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Partners

The project aims to answer the problem of the extremely low implementation of the legislative provisions regarding reserved purchases, acquisitions with social clauses and green acquisitions in public procurement, as well as in those made by companies. The aim is to increase the level of implementation of acquisitions with social and environmental impact at the level of public institutions and companies, in order to improve the social inclusion of people from vulnerable groups, including young people and Roma, and to improve the quality of life of the population by reducing the negative effects on the environment.

The project’s activities include:

• Creation of a Policy Brief on procurement with social and environmental impact in the public and private sector. It will be carried out on the basis of a research on procurement with social and environmental clauses in the public administration and in the business environment in Romania. The research will include: 15 interviews with representatives of the public administration, 10 interviews with representatives of the business environment, 5 interviews with procurement experts, 10 interviews with representatives of social enterprises/authorized protected units/social and environmental NGOs;
• Writing 5 case studies with models from other countries in the European Union;
• Development of a guide on procurement with social and environmental clauses: The activity will include the creation of a working group consisting of social and environmental NGOs/ social and environmental coalitions/ social enterprises/ protected units/ central and local public administration/ private companies, which will contribute to the realization of the guide. The work group will discuss the guide’s structure, the information that will be included, the types of social and environmental clauses that can be used, the procedure for making purchases with social and environmental clauses. The guide will include information related to the types of social and environmental clauses that can be used, how they are used in the procurement process and various case studies/examples from other EU countries.
• Implementation of an advocacy campaign, which will include: regional meetings to promote the results of the brief and the policy guide, meetings of coalitions of NGOs/social enterprises/ protected units with representatives of NAPP (National Agency for Public Procurement ) and The Court of Accounts in order to discuss problematic aspects and promote the Guide to be available on the NAPP website; sending letters promoting the guide and the policy brief to the associative structures of the business environment/central public administration structures/ representatives of political parties/ parliamentarians, meetings with political decision-makers on order to present the guide and the policy brief.
• The organization of the “Competition for purchases with social and environmental impact for the business environment“, which will follow the evolution of the purchases of the private companies that will sign up during a year. They will receive advice on making responsible purchases, the procedures being carried out on the basis of a manual for buyers, which will support them in carrying out a responsible purchase procedure. Also, a report on acquisitions with social impact made by companies will be drawn up, including the effect of these purchases on social enterprises/protected units;
• The organization of the “Competition for purchases with social and environmental clauses for the public administration“, which will track procurements with social or environmental clauses carried out for 1 year by public institutions. The activity will include: Development of the contest concept and methodology, launch event, promotion of competition among public institutions, registration of public institutions, advice on responsible procurement. To implement this, a help desk section will be created on the project website, where advice will be given to buyers who encounter problems in implementing social and environmental clauses. Also, counseling will be provided during the implementation of the project by the management team and the partners’ teams, depending on the particularities of each case.
• Awards gala for public authorities and companies that make purchases with social and environmental clauses. This activity will consist of organizing a public event in Bucharest, to announce the awards given to public institutions and companies that make the most purchases with social and environmental clauses.
• Training sessions for public administration. 2 residential training sessions will be organized with 20 representatives of the public administration selected at the national level.
• Information sessions for companies. 2 information sessions will be organized with 20 representatives of the business environment – one in the North-West region and one in Bucharest. During these information sessions, the topics addressed will cover: what are purchases with social and environmental impact, non-financial reporting indicators, what are and what products do social enterprises/protected units offer, the social impact of purchasing products and services at social enterprises / protected units.

Working together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.

The project is implemented by Center for Not-for- Profit Law Romania in partnership Fundația Civitas pentru Societatea Civilă Cluj  and Ateliere fără Frontiere  and benefits from a 237.634 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information visit www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.activecitizensfund.ro.