boostinG industRy EngagemEnt iN grEen pRocurement Erasmus Project

Project Title

boostinG industRy EngagemEnt iN grEen pRocurement

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Environment and climate change

Project Summary

Green Public Procurement (GPP), the purchase of goods, services and works by governments and state-owned enterprises respecting sustainability criteria, will be increasingly used by all level of governments in order to achieve the European Green Deal challenge and international targets on circular economy.
As highlighted OECD (2019) to address barriers and realise the benefits from GPP, the need to increase the engagement of a variety of stakeholders and “develop a procurement workforce with the capacity to continually deliver value for money efficiently and effectively” do not affect only public officers.
Companies’ participation in the adoption of strategic policy objectives for sustainability is a key factor to set a realistic path to make “Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050”.
GREENER aims to support companies’ participation in GPP with systemic effectiveness on the conditions of sustainability and business competitiveness. To do this, the skills of middle management and the more traditional profiles of the administration need to be updated. A systemic action of renewal of the VET paths addressed to these profiles is the priority of GREENER project.

The objectives of GREENER are:
1. Improve the skills of procurers and administrative profiles focusing on SMEs, with regard to GPP criteria, including ecolabels, material passports, product eco-design and design for recyclability, extended producer responsibility, waste prevention, packaging material and sharing, collaborative economy, reuse, and refurbishment;
2. Enhancing the responsiveness of curricula of traditional profiles, such as administrative professionals working in SMEs tendering departments, to the future demand of skills (upskilling – reskilling training path)
3. Increasing the employability of VET students facing the global challenges
4. Improve regional actors’ readiness and create knowledge awareness on the influence of green public procurement on the adoption of sustainable consumption and production patterns by businesses operating in the region;
5. Foster the VET attractivity relaunching the close cooperation between VET, public administrations, government agencies and bodies established to support SME development and SMEs, the Transparency Tools for skills validation and trainers’ capacity to apply an international mindset for education.

GREENER’s partners define a strategic partnership among Bulgaria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, including:
VET Providers, who works in close cooperation with national employers’ associations. They are CLEANTECH (BG), BCO (BG), SFC Sistemi Formativi Confindustria (IT), CETEM (ES).
UNIVERSITIES specialised in Sustainable Management as is Scuola Superiore S. Anna (IT)
DECENTRALIZED AUTHORITIES, through ACR+, international network of cities and regions sharing the aim of promoting a sustainable resource management and accelerating the transition towards a circular economy on their territories and beyond.
GREENER will involve:
– a direct target defined by a transnational group of procurers, responsible in implementing circular public procurement processes (5 per each country) and administrative profiles workers involved in tendering processes, as accountants – administrative staff – purchasers (10 per each country). They will be involved in the project activities and in the training piloting phase, aimed to foster the transferability of GREENER curricula in the I-VET and C-VET existing offer.
– an indirect target, made of its wider stakeholder community, constantly involved in the assessment and validation of project activities and Intellectual Output. At least 10 persons from each country will participate in the community, being: Manager /Middle Management from both SMEs and large enterprises, VET Experts, Sustainable management researchers, policy-maker relevant for Education & Labour as well as for GPP.

Impacts on VET Innovation and Companies’ engagement in GPP will be reached through the following results:
– IO1 Design of a common skills framework for professionals in circular and strategic sustainable procurement. It will enhance the responsiveness of curricula of traditional profiles to the future demand of skills, as well as increase the employability of VET students facing global challenges
– IO2 GREENER e-learning platform completed by the Report “European Training Curricula for GREENER Administrative and Middle management in companies” will contribute to improve the skills of procurers and SMEs administrative profiles with regard to GPP criteria
– IO3 Training Course will develop, through an extensive pilot testing phase involving 40 learners, a modular training program adapted to local industry stakeholder needs
– IO4 GREENER Toolbox for the development of I-VET and C-VET programs will focus on developing a toolbox to support the development of I-VET and C-VET programs to help companies successfully apply for tenders that incorporate GPP requirements.

Project Website

https://greener-project.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 174727 Eur

Project Coordinator

Cleantech Bulgaria Ltd. & Country: BG

Project Partners

• SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI STUDI UNIVERSITARI E DI PERFEZIONAMENTO S ANNA
• SISTEMI FORMATIVI CONFINDUSTRIA SCPA
• ASSOCIATION DES VILLES ET REGIONS POUR LA GESTION DURABLE DES RESSOURCES
• ASOCIACION EMPRESARIAL DE INVESTIGACION CENTRO TECNOLOGICO DEL MUEBLE Y LA MADERA DE LA REGION DE MURCIA
• Bulgarian consultancy organisation