Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme: “National capacity building activity on Green Public Procurement Procedures”

2011-03-29T16:14:41Z

Introduction - The Horizon 2020 Initiative

The “Horizon 2020 Initiative” aims to de-pollute the Mediterranean by the year 2020 by tackling the sources of pollution that account for around 80% of the overall pollution of the Mediterranean Sea: municipal waste, urban wastewater and industrial pollution.

Horizon 2020 was endorsed during the Environment Ministerial Conference held in Cairo in November 2006 and is one of the key initiatives run under the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The H2020 2007-2013 Road-Map focuses on the following four pillars:

- Identification of projects to reduce the most significant sources of pollution.

- Identification of capacity-building measures to help neighbouring countries create national environmental administrations that are able to develop and police environmental laws.

- Use of the EC’s research budget to develop greater knowledge of environmental issues relevant to the Mediterranean and ensure this is shared.

- Develop indicators to monitor the success of Horizon 2020.

H2020 is made up of the following components: monitoring, reporting and research (RMR); investment; and capacity building. Under each component, a project is currently being run. H2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme (H2020 CB/MEP) is the project aiming at enhancing the capacities to address pollution problems at institutional and society level. In addition, through the H2020 MEP, a Hot Spot Investment Programme (HSIP) for the West Balkans and Turkey - as complementary to the Mediterranean HSIP (MeHSIP) – is being elaborated. The other two projects currently being carried out under the investment and RMR H2020 components are respectively the MeHSIP and the Mediterranean Shared Environmental Information System (Med SEIS).

The framework - Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme

Obviously pollution is expected to be substantially reduced through the installation and proper functioning of major infrastructures (e.g. sewage treatment plants), installing pollution reduction technologies in industries, etc. However, this won’t work if institutional and individual capacities are not in place. This is what the H2020 CB/MEP aims to enhance by operating within the existing and developing policy instruments, and supporting the implementation of the commitments undertaken in the framework of the ENP as well as other regional agreements e.g. of the Barcelona Convention, while cooperating, coordinating and synergising with all relevant (EU and other) programmes.

Aims and objectives

The main objective of this project is to support the implementation of Horizon 2020 with a special focus on environmental mainstreaming. It aims to address the following problems:

- low political priority given to the environment;

- insufficient integration of environment in the different sector policies (agriculture, tourism, transport or energy) and lack of inclusion of the different actors from local to international level;

- Insufficient capacities and resources at institutional and civil society level.

More specifically, the purpose is to support the implementation of the Horizon 2020 Initiative Road Map and Work Plan through capacity building and awareness raising activities, and to promote integration of environment issues in other sectors policies.

Partners

This project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in consortium with: Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme and its Regional Activity Centres and Programmes (UNEP/MAP and its RACs), National Waste Management Agency (ANGed)/ Regional Solid Waste Exchange of Information and Expertise Network in Mashreq and Maghreb Countries (SWEEPNet), Umweltbundesamt GmbH – Austrian Environment Agency (AEA), Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water - the General Directorate of Hydraulic and Electrical Resources (LMoEW), Hellenic Ministry for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE), Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE), Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED), WWF Mediterranean Programme Office (WWF MedPO), Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+), Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA).

Partner Countries

The Partner countries are: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey.

Course Description – Green Public Procurement Procedures

Introduction to the training course

The Croatian Public Procurement Act was adopted in October of 2007 (harmonised with the EU acquis communautaire). The Strategy for the development of the Public Procurement System and the Action Plan for its implementation were adopted by the Government in June 2008. Furthermore, the Government has adopted a training and technical education programme for the public procurement system, the implementation of which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Public Procurement Directorate.

This two-day seminar is to be organised in the framework of the H2020 CB/MEP program with the technical assistance of the UNEP/MAP CP/RAC in order to respond to the capacity building needs of the Croatian Government to shift from public procurement to green public procurement. It will take place in Zagreb during the second week of April 2011.

The working language will be English with translation into Croatian (if need be).

Target group

The module is specifically designed for approximately 40 participants:

- Representatives of the Central Office for Public Procurement and Ministry of Economy;

- Representatives of the different Procurement Departments of the Ministries;

- National trainers on public procurement;

- Representatives of Business Organizations and the Chamber of Commerce.

Learning objectives

This module is designed to strengthen capacities regarding Green Public Procurement (GPP) implementation and to facilitate the shift to Green Public Procurement in Croatia. Furthermore, through the significant relevant experience of EU and Neighbour countries including EU best practices that will be presented, the seminar will assist in the development of the national GPP strategy.

The seminar will assist participants in establishing related recommendations for Croatia that will be highly compatible with those of EU State Members.

Attending this course, the participants will be capable to train registered public procurement trainers in related topics.

Methodology and Structure

The course is intended to be participatory and interactive, making use of professional learning tools such as:

Lectures
Group- and plenary discussions
Case studies

Learning outcomes of the training course

The participants will be informed and will gain knowledge on the following:

What is GPP and how it introduces environmental and social concerns into the tendering process for goods and services, contributing to a more sustainable use of natural resources and raw materials;
Criteria for identification and implementation of appropriate techniques for GPP;
The situation with regard to GPP in other countries of the Mediterranean region;
How to evaluate an offer of sustainable products and services in the Croatian market;
Which are the available eco-labels;
How to select and include environmental criteria in public tenders for different categories of products and services;
How to select suppliers, service-providers and contractors from a “sustainable point of view” - not only considering economic criteria but including green standards;
Success case studies on how GPP “greens” the market and increases offers of sustainable products creating opportunities for "green economies" and boosting the competitiveness of the industry by stimulating innovation in eco-technologies or examples of implementation of SPP action plans.

A preliminary overview of the course is given below:

- Formal lectures will give insight on the GPP theory: what the benefits of its adoption and implementation are, what the benefits and the challenges related to Sustainable Public Procurement implementation are, etc. A case study focusing on the actual implementation of GPP in a European Country, together with the presentation of the actual situation of GPP in the region will complement the lectures.

- A lecture will introduce the Life Cycle analysis. Concrete examples will be discussed for participants to understand the need of taking into account the four main categories of life cycle cost (acquisition, maintenance, operations and end-of life costs). This is to improve the conventional LCC technique which is the one mostly used by companies and/or governments and usually based on a purely financial valuation.

- The legal guidance, providing clear examples of how and where to integrate environmental criteria into the public procurement process, while fully respecting European public procurement law and taking into account national market characteristics, will be another topic analysed through a formal presentation.

- The practical training on the use of the EU training toolkit on Green Public Procurement will enable participants to implement the recommendations given during the course as a real case for a set of product/services groups.

H2020 Review Monitoring and Research sub-group and ENPI SEIS meeting

2011-03-29T16:15:47Z

Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector - Meetings

Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme: “National capacity building activity on Green Public Procurement Procedures”

H2020 Review Monitoring and Research sub-group and ENPI SEIS meeting