Femnet e.V.

More and more municipalities and local businesses are pretending that it works. When switching to a sustainable procurement practice, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Instead, build on successful pilot projects from pioneering communities and companies. Step by step.

Video series: In 2020, the city of Karlsruhe called for the first time for sustainable supply chain management to be mandatory in the selection criteria. In the other videos, the actors describe the role model function of municipalities, details of the procedure and their motivation for the project.

Many thanks to Qreate for the implementation of the videos.

IIn 2021, four webinars provided experts from pioneering municipalities and civil society as well as lawyer André Siedenberg with their knowledge and experience.

Fairtrade Towns will receive a compact overview in their own webinar.

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In these guidelines, procurers and decision-makers will find basic knowledge and concrete templates for integrating social criteria into procurement practice.

Special shopping aids are available for Small municipalities and KiTas.

The data on public procurement is still very patchy. For this reason, FEMNET's projects include a Pricing study (2021) and an Traceability study (2023) Sustainable textiles.

Furthermore, in 2019 we have the Working conditions in the production of workwear investigated. There have been few analyses to date, although conditions are as precarious as in the fashion industry, despite some structural differences.

The study provides a basis for argumentation and legally validated sample formulations for transparency requirements in textile tenders. For the first time, FEMNET compares German procurement statistics with customs and trade data. Complemented by expert discussions with municipalities, civil society and academia, the results are clear: Pakistan clearly leads as a country of origin of publicly used textiles – not only in Germany, but also in Sweden, Spain and England, according to further studies. Without social criteria, violations remain invisible. The handout provides a perspective on how transparency requirements could relieve buyers across Europe in the medium and longer term and simplify the purchasing of sustainable products.

Sustainable procurement needs an appropriate policy framework. FEMNET is committed to change and takes a stand on current developments and legislative processes (cf. Supply Chain Act).