Green public procurement and minimum environmental criteria: public expenditure on sustainability

Increasingly sustainable public expenditure, as a driver of the circular economy. This is the effect that the national training course on Green public procurement and minimum environmental criteria, presented today at Villa Umbra intends to promote.

The first training event of the Osservatorio Appalti Verdi (Green Procurement Observatory) starts today in Umbria. It was founded by Legambiente and Fondazione Ecosistemi to monitor and disseminate the application of the minimum environmental criteria in all public tenders, from energy purchases to cleaning, from street furniture to catering. Umbria is the first stage of a journey that will be repeated in the autumn in Rome and Rimini to help understand the cultural change we are facing. Italy is the first, and so far, the only, European country to have introduced the mandatory nature of the minimum environmental criteria, with the reform of the 2016 Procurement Code, established by decree of the Ministry of the Environment, in public procurement for the purchase of goods and services. This significant opportunity to direct public spending towards sustainability criteria also requires profound changes in the definition of calls for tenders and award criteria. A major challenge, considering that in Italy alone the expenditures by the Public Administration totals about 170 billion euros.

The event was opened by Giuseppina Baldassarri, coordinator of the European project BIOECO-R.D.I. - BIO-ECOnomy Reserach Driven Innovation. Speakers: Enrico Fontana, from the national secretariat of Legambiente; Davide Ficola, Scuola Umbra di Amministrazione Pubblica; Alessandra Paciotto, president of Legambiente Umbria; Silvano Falocco, director of the Ecosistemi Foundation; Mimma Pecora, from the Osservatorio Appalti Verdi; Diego Mattioli, project manager of the BIOECO-R project.D.I.; Luca Bianconi, President of the Umbria SPRING Cluster; Sandro Costantini, Manager of the Environmental Assessment, Development and Environmental Sustainability Service of the Umbria Region; Beatrice Morlunghi of Sviluppumbria; and Alfonso Morelli, Councillor for the Environment of the Municipality of Narni.

The training initiative "Green public procurement and minimum environmental criteria: public expenditure for sustainability" was promoted by Sviluppumbria as lead partner of the European project BIOECO-R.D.I. - BIO-ECOnomy Reserach Driven Innovation, financed by the Interreg V-B ADRION Programme, in collaboration with Legambiente and with the patronage of the Scuola Umbra di Amministrazione Pubblica.

The training course meets over two dates. On Monday 24 June, the second appointment will take place at Villa Umbra on the topic "The adoption of minimum environmental criteria in purchasing procedures: critical issues and solutions".

Visit the page about the BIOECO-R.D.I. – BIO-ECOnomy Reserach Driven Innovation project