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Public Procurement for Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2019) | Viewed by 41625

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Paula Antunes

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Guest Editor

CENSE – Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: sustainability; governance; climate change; water resources management environmental engineering; spatial planning; policy; water resources; ecosystems; ecological economics; environmental economics; ecosystem services; cost benefit analysis; sustainability research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Paula Trindade

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Guest Editor

UER, LNEG – National Laboratory of Energy and Geology, Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: green public procurement; sustainable public procurement; public procurement of innovation; circular procurement; governance of long-term changes by public procurement

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will bring together a selection of papers addressing theoretical and operational approaches to assess and improve public procurement in the context of sustainability. Research papers should address the multiple dimensions of public procurement as a strategic approach contributing to sustainability and innovation objectives through: 1) a public policies perspective; and/or 2) the perspective of involved organisations.

The covered topics include conceptual definitions and framings of public procurement for sustainability, theoretical/operational models and methodologies, the identification of key factors and challenges in public procurement, measurement tools for assessing the impact of public procurement for sustainability, principles and tools guiding the design of public procurement strategies and processes for sustainability, public procurement and (green) innovation, environmental, social and economic aspects of public procurement, risk management, intellectual property and long-term changes, among others.

Papers selected for this Special Issue are subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of the research results, developments and applications.

Prof. Paula Antunes
Dr. Paula Trindade
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

green public procurement
sustainable public procurement
public procurement of innovation
long-term changes
social and ecological innovation

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Public Procurement in the Context of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in South Africa—Lessons Learned for Sustainable Public Procurement

by Lerato Shai, Comfort Molefinyana and Geo Quinot

Sustainability 2019, 11(24), 7164; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247164 - 13 Dec 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 9348

Abstract

Public procurement is a key instrument in the post-apartheid South African government’s broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), a legislative and policy framework aimed at reversing the country’s legacy of injustice and inequality through pursuing a range of socio-economic objectives that favour the majority black population. This paper employs a theoretical and derived logic model to analyse the design and implementation of BBBEE by means of literature and document review as well as key stakeholder interviews. It seeks to answer two key research questions: (1) has BBBEE achieved its intended outcomes? and (2) what lessons can be drawn from the South African experience for sustainable public procurement? The study finds a significant knowledge gap that precludes definitive conclusions on the impact of BBBEE, largely due to the limited rigorous evidence, particularly evaluations, on whether BBBEE is achieving the desired outcomes. Instead, the paper’s key contribution is the development of a derived logic model that clearly outlines how BBBEE is intended to work and is used to provide insight into how BBBEE has performed against aspects of its intended outcomes. The paper finds that the intervention’s effectiveness has largely been undermined by various challenges and demonstrates that it remains unclear whether BBBEE’s observed achievements have translated into targeted impact of meaningful participation of all black people in the economy. Considering the scale of BBBEE and its implementation for over 16 years, the paper concludes that the limited evidence on how it is performing against its key objectives is both a design and implementation shortcoming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Procurement for Sustainability)

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24 pages, 345 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multidimensionality of Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP)—Exploring Concepts and Effects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe

by Tim Stoffel, Carol Cravero, Annamaria La Chimia and Geo Quinot

Sustainability 2019, 11(22), 6352; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226352 - 12 Nov 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4750

Abstract

Strategic objectives in public procurement, such as environmental or social considerations, are being increasingly referred to under the umbrella term of sustainable public procurement (SPP). The concept of sustainability is intrinsically multidimensional, encompassing environmental, social, and economic aspects. However, the existing literature on SPP highlights the generalization that the regulation and practices of public procurement are biased toward the environmental dimension. There is conflicting evidence from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that calls for further investigation. Analyzing how SPP is actually constituted in SSA and contrasting it with the situation in the European Union (EU), as a spotlight on the Global South and North, contributes to a better understanding of sustainability in public procurement. The comparative analysis will help with understanding processes related to the integration or disintegration of sustainability dimensions in SPP. Our results indicate a contrary orientation on the environmental and the social dimensions in the EU and SSA. Although there is no sign of a comprehensive integration of all dimensions in SPP, there are developments toward the integration of the ‘missing’ dimension in the respective regional setting. Thus, at the moment, achieving a multidimensional implementation of SPP appears to be more a matter of expanding SPP practices of the ‘missing’ dimension than of pushing for integrated concepts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Procurement for Sustainability)

25 pages, 1634 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green Procurement in Romanian Construction Projects. A Cluster Analysis of the Barriers and Enablers to Green Procurement in Construction Projects from the Bucharest-Ilfov Region of Romania

by Cezar-Petre Simion, Ciprian Nicolescu and Mihai Vrîncuț

Sustainability 2019, 11(22), 6231; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226231 - 07 Nov 2019

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3828

Abstract

The research presented in this paper aimed at identifying the most significant green procurement barriers and enablers for construction projects in the Bucharest-Ilfov region and grouping them into clusters. For this purpose, 14 barriers and 14 enablers were selected on the basis of the literature review and a questionnaire-based survey was carried out with members of the construction projects’ teams from the analyzed region. The cluster analysis resulted in eight clusters for barriers and seven clusters for enablers. In the case of barriers, the most significant cluster was the one that included the barrier regarding technical and technological difficulties related to the use of green building materials. Another significant barrier was the increase of project execution costs. Enablers from the most significant cluster had higher energy efficiency and use of green building materials as a competitive advantage. Another significant enabler identified was regarding the pressure to implement environmental protection policies/legislation. To explain and detail the results of the cluster analysis, semi-structured interviews were carried out with experts involved in projects. They indicated, in most cases, the same barriers and enablers as those obtained from the cluster analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Procurement for Sustainability)

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16 pages, 237 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Public Procurement—External Forces and Accountability

by Rob Vluggen, Cees J. Gelderman, Janjaap Semeijn and Marc van Pelt

Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5696; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205696 - 15 Oct 2019

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6973

Abstract

Public agencies feel the need to advance sustainability and use procurement as an instrument to do so. Many studies focused on internal forces, explaining the limited success of sustainable public procurement. This study focused on how external forces are able to hold municipalities accountable for sustainable procurement. Three mid-sized Dutch municipalities were investigated through an extensive document study and 34 semi-structured interviews. The results show minor legal pressure to enforce sustainable procurement. National legislation, guidelines and principles are considered non-binding, due to a lack of penalties in the case of non-compliance. Real pressure stems from lobbying by branch organizations and political pressure initiated by citizens. In contrast with the New Public Management principles, municipalities appear to place more emphasis on legal and financial accountability, in contrast to performance accountability. Accountants mainly focus on legitimacy and the finance department only monitors spending within budget. The hybrid organization of the procurement function seems to impede sustainability development. Only the larger projects are subject to sustainability requirements, set by centralized purchasing departments. Smaller projects, responsible for 2/3 of the total spend are managed by decentralized groups, remaining under the radar of sustainability policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Procurement for Sustainability)

17 pages, 644 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Public Procurement: The Impact of Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity on the Implementation of Different Types of Sustainable Public Procurement

by Jolien Grandia and Dylan Voncken

Sustainability 2019, 11(19), 5215; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195215 - 24 Sep 2019

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 9199

Abstract

Public organisations develop sustainable public procurement (SPP) policies to compel suppliers to contribute to societal goals. Studies show that the ability, motivation, and opportunity that procurers have to procure in a sustainable manner affect the uptake of SPP. Most studies into SPP examine these factors only in the context of one type of SPP (e.g., green procurement). The goal of this paper is therefore to examine the relationship between ability, motivation, and opportunity and six types of SPP: (1) green public procurement, (2) social return on investment, (3) circular economy, (4) bio-based public procurement, (5) innovation-oriented public procurement and (6) international social criteria. An online survey was administered amongst procurers working in Dutch public organisations. The research shows that ability, motivation, and opportunity affect Green Public Procurement (GPP). Opportunity did affect green public procurement, innovation-oriented public procurement and circular economy, but not the other types of SPP. We were unable to identify an antecedent of more social types of SPP in this research. This research shows that findings based on GPP cannot be directly generalized to other types of SPP, and that there is a need for research into the antecedents of social types of SPP. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Procurement for Sustainability)

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19 pages, 1367 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Local Gap in Sustainable Food Procurement: Organic Vegetables in Berlin’s School Meals

by Charis Linda Braun, Meike Rombach, Anna Maria Häring and Vera Bitsch

Sustainability 2018, 10(11), 4245; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114245 - 17 Nov 2018

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6561

Abstract

Organic and local food plays an important role in the discussion of sustainable public procurement for school catering services. The present study investigates the value chain supplying school catering with organic produce, using the organic vegetable industry in the Berlin-Brandenburg region in Germany as an example. The qualitative case study employs a structuration theory approach to explore value chain actors’ perspectives and their practices. Data is collected by conducting 14 in-depth interviews with actors on different supply chain levels (farming, wholesale, and catering) and analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. The results suggest that, while organic food is generally important in school catering in Berlin, locally produced organic vegetables play only a minor role. A constraining factor is the lack of incentives for the use of locally produced organic food in the procurement guidelines, combined with a very limited budget for sourcing. Also, there are no preprocessing facilities in the region, while work organization in school catering services depends heavily on preprocessed food. From a farmers’ perspective, focusing on process grade vegetables is rarely a common marketing strategy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Procurement for Sustainability)

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