News & Press Releases - Fair procurement for the public sector 20 July 2020 What does the corona pandemic have to do with responsible purchasing? This question was asked by future administrative employees of the city of Hamburg in five workshops. As part of the project ‘Good work fairbindet. Fair public procurement broaden’, a total of 100 second semesters of the University of Applied Sciences were further trained. While the first basics of fair public responsibility were discussed in the first semester, a closer look at the public procurement law in Hamburg has now been taken. Like almost everywhere, there is still a lot of air up here. However, all supply services should be procured from fair trade, provided that the market provides this and that it is economically justifiable. This is a clear statement that can be worked with! Several examples of public shopping with sustainable criteria, which are accessible to everyone in Hamburg, show that people do the same in Hamburg. Compass sustainability can be found. And the fact that the topic occurs at all in the training of future civil servants is a good step in the right direction and by no means the rule elsewhere. Before starting their professional careers, the participants discussed how important it is to take responsibility for what people (on behalf) do and buy. "A living wage could have significantly mitigated the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people along the supply chain for our service clothing," said one participant. How flexible some processes can be made at once by the pandemic is not only shown by the fact that the events were carried out via zoom due to the current regulations. How quickly German companies have switched their production to protective masks at the request of the federal government makes it clear that the market is quite responsive to what the public sector demands. It reads as follows: Stay tuned and continue to demand social and environmental standards in public procurement!
