On 15 and 16 June, the fourth Advanced Training Course (ATC) was hosted by the University of Gävle, one of the beneficiaries of the SAPIENS Network in Sweden. ATC4 discussed the topics of sustainability assessment and collaboration in sustainable public procurement (SPP).

Sustainability assessment and reporting is a process aimed at measuring an organisation’s progress towards sustainability, communicating the efforts in the sustainability dimensions, and assessing how the organisation influences, and is influenced by, expectations about sustainable development. Collaboration in SPP can develop long-term partnerships between stakeholders and contribute to addressing sustainable needs through public procurement, as jointly defining the technical, non-technical, and socio-cultural specifications of the tender to promote SPP. This ATC complemented the previous SAPIENS ATCs by adding sustainability assessment and collaboration perspectives to SPP.

The two-day training consisted of two parts: day one focused on issues related to the assessment and the reporting of sustainability. The second day focused on the role of collaboration. The ATC was followed by a mid-term check meeting with the Research Executive Agency (REA). The event was closed with a team-building day in Uppsala.

Day 1

After a welcome address by SAPIENS Lead Researcher Prof. Rodrigo Lozano from the host University of Gävle, ATC4 was kicked off with the session “Assessing and reporting sustainability”. Prof Lozano and Dr. Maria Barreiro-Gen, also from the University of Gävle, followed up and opened the discussion by introducing the most relevant challenges, drivers, and perspectives related to today’s understanding of sustainability. Immediately after, there was a presentation by Prof. Lozano on the use of two popular techniques used to assess the real impact of economic activity: life cycle assessment and eco-efficiency. Regarding life cycle assessment, the presentation highlighted the advantages, disadvantages, and problems of this approach. Prof. Lozano also discussed the closely related concepts of life cycle management and life cycle thinking. The talk was closed by introducing the main concepts related to eco-efficiency, reasons for using it, the most important applicable indicators, and the importance of also taking eco-effectiveness into account.

The third session of the day was carried out by Prof. Rodrigo Lozano and Dr. Maria Barreiro-Gen and it was centered around the main topic of the day, sustainability assessment and reporting. The presentation covered the history and evolution of the topic, the main purposes for assessing and reporting sustainability, and the types of reports, it also discussed environmental management systems and their advantages and disadvantages, global reporting initiative guidelines, and new developments in sustainability reporting.

The last presentation of the first day, “Responsible Procurement: Driving Impact Through Transparency and Dialogue” was carried out by Peter Pawlicki and Kate Sullivan from Electronics Watch, SAPIENS Partner Organisation with experience in assessing sustainability, . The session showcased the complexity of supply chains and the main obstacles with which the institution works with public buyers. It also got into specifics regarding useful tools for sustainability, emphasizing the importance of supplier engagement on sustainability issues. The authors further highlighted the relevance, challenges, and considerations regarding monitoring and the value of worker-driven monitoring.

Finally, to close the first day of ATC4, there was an interactive activity organized by Prof. Lozano and Dr. Maria Barreiro-Gen: “Fish Banks”. The activity was specially designed to illustrate the importance of collaboration -and the harms of not collaborating- when we find ourselves in a system in which we share finite resources with other groups and individuals.

Day 2

After motivating the issue the day before, Day 2 focused on collaboration. It started with a presentation by Prof. Lozano on “Systems thinking and Organisations”. It discussed the principles of systems thinking, types of systems, system thinking tools, systems, and organization and addressed the question of when to use systems thinking.

Afterward, Dr. Maria Barreiro-Gen gave a presentation on Collaboration. Her presentation introduced key concepts for collaboration like cooperation and coordination, discussed collaboration costs, and exposed collaboration pathways to sustainability. The third lecture of the third day was by Prof. Lozano called “Collaboration in SPP”. Prof. Lozano discussed the importance of collaboration in the context of sustainable public procurement. His lecture was on key concepts such as circular economy, sustainable business models, and triple, quadruple, and quintuple helix SPP models. Prof. Lozano closed this lecture by sharing key insights and lessons learned from a case study of collaboration in sustainable public procurement in Sweden.

The final lecture of the day was by Sigrid Petterssén and Anette Jonsäll, project managers from the Purchasing Department at Region Gävleborg, Sweden, on their project “Procurement-driven sustainability from a holistic perspective”. They shared important success cases of integrating collaboration for sustainability in public procurement. Said cases are in the textile industry, sustainable transport and goods deliveries, food and meal, and lighting as a service. The presentation got into detail regarding the lessons learned from their work, relevant to different parts of the public procurement process, emphasizing the importance of knowledge and collaboration at all levels.

Mid-Term Check meeting

On 17 June, the SAPIENS Network, including the Project Coordinator (University of Turin), the lead researchers , the representatives of the Partner Organisations as well as all appointed ESRs, met with our Project Officer from the Research Executive Agency (REA) for our Mid-Term Check (MTC) meeting.

The purpose of the meeting was mostly to ensure the fulfilment of the recruitment procedure, the eligibility of the fellows, any deviations from the original training programme and to raise awareness on the fellows’ and host institutions’ rights and obligations.

After a short introduction of the Consortium, a presentation from the Project Officer on the purpose of the meeting and an overview of the developments from the Project Coordinator, the ESRS had the opportunity to introduce themselves.

They talked about their background, the training and secondment opportunities they get as MSCA fellows, synergies with their fellow ESRs, their career aspirations as well as the potential impact their research projects might have at EU and global level.

After a restricted session between the Project Officer and the ESRs and an internal discussion with the Project Coordinator, the Project Officer ended the meeting with concluding remarks on the progress of the project activities and the implementation of the MSCA-ITN objectives. Her constructive feedback was very encouraging and we look forward to working on her recommendations in the next phase of the project.

Team-building activity

The last day of the event was dedicated to a team-building activity in Uppsala, Sweden.

The videos from all the sessions will be posted soon on our website, and we will distribute them through our newsletter.

The next training event will be the SAPIENS Interdisciplinary Summer School and it is planned to take place between 17-22 July, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.