News & Press Releases - Fair procurement for the public sector © charles deluvio - unsplash.com 12 June 2019 Cobblers, treat yourself to new lasts: Stuttgart's pilot project for sustainable work shoes Civil society has long called for more sustainability and the Council and the administration are also clearly positioning themselves: Stuttgart wants to play a special pioneering role in improving global living and working conditions through public procurement. The city no longer wanted to remain ‘at the groin’ and consciously use the considerable purchasing power of municipalities to strengthen fair production conditions and the supply of fair products. FEMNET accompanied the municipality in the successful pilot project for the procurement of sustainable work and safety shoes. In the beginning, however, this is usually not so easy. It is often not clear how, for example, compliance with social standards can be demonstrably demanded. That's why the city brought FEMNET on board. Together, the entire process of a procurement was examined. At the end of 2018, the time had come - in a framework contract for 2 years, up to 5,500 work and safety shoes for approximately 1,700 employees were bundled by the central purchasing department for several offices. That is, with the demand for social and environmental criteria in the award criteria. Step by step: Going new ways together After an intensive market analysis, differentiated questionnaires were developed to demonstrate social and ecological criteria. In a bidding dialogue, they discussed with the manufacturers how the new requirements in the areas of labour rights, labour and environmental protection can be proven. The employees of the city, who received the new shoes at the end of 2018, also learned why it was important for the city to ensure that not only all safety and quality standards are right here with us, but also where the shoes are produced. Sustainable businesses are rewarded In addition to the price (30%) and the quality/wear test (50%), social and ecological standards were also rated at 20% in the tender. The strategy has worked: The evaluation of the eco-fair criteria has made the difference in most cases! Thus, manufacturers who have set out to produce more sustainably have been rewarded. It turned out that this made little difference in terms of price. The remaining manufacturers were signalled where the journey should always go in the near future - towards more responsibility and sustainability. And that this news has arrived was shown by many inquiries from companies and dealers. This pilot tender for a product group for which there is not yet much evidence showed that the required evidence was feasible for the market. If so, because yes! Following the successful pilot project, a policy paper on binding compliance with the ILO core labour standards (and other standards) will now also be written for the entire city administration. In addition, the city of Stuttgart wants to create an additional position that is responsible for sustainable procurement. Next, Stuttgart would like to venture into another product in which many labour rights violations in the production chain are known: IT. Here, the experience from the previous tender can be used - especially for complex products, it is advisable to research in advance exactly for which stage in the production chain the evidence of compliance with social criteria is required in order to avoid loopholes. FEMNET wishes you continued success!
