News & Press Releases - Fair procurement for the public sector

© FEMNET I Stefan Klübert

If so, because already - the city of Karlsruhe wants to know

The city of Karlsruhe has long been committed to sustainability. After first steps, nails with heads were now made with advice from FEMNET - suppliers who could not prove sustainable supply chain management were not admitted to the last tender for workwear and safety shoes.

As early as 2019, FEMNET advised the Karlsruhe Regional Council on the possibilities of purchasing the initial equipment for refugees sustainably. Now the central shopping of the city ventured to the next hurdle: social and environmental criteria should be integrated in the call for tenders for a large framework contract for several offices. Service and protective clothing as well as safety shoes worth over €1 million gross were purchased for three years. As a first step, many municipalities rate higher providers who can prove sustainability criteria.

Karlsruhe went a big step further. For the first time, social criteria were no longer regarded as ‘nice to have’, but were required to be included in the selection criteria. Where there are enough fair suppliers on the market, sustainable supply chain management is now a prerequisite for participating in a tender. The offers of the providers, who could not show anything here, were not admitted. If, on the other hand, you could prove something additional in terms of environmental sustainability, you once again received extra points. In the other lots, social and environmental criteria were assessed in the award. In two out of four cases, the more sustainable providers have also been able to prevail there.

The call for tenders has aroused a lot of interest.

Be part of it too!

In the Video: Focus on the supply chain: How minimum social standards can be enshrined in the selection criteria (30 min) there is a direct insight into the procurement procedure and useful tips on how selection criteria can be used to demand minimum social standards in procurement procedures.