Form a working group

Forming a core team to build momentum

Forming a cross-departmental circular public procurement working group, or using an existing working group, will help support internal alignment, build momentum, and drive your ambitions forward. Bringing together experts from across departments and public procurement officers will help to tackle the technical aspects and ensure the development of the appropriate criteria and requirements. This can be a newly formed group or an existing group of municipal staff. Your core group will become the main point of contact for policy advice, mentoring, on-going training, and capacity building on circular public procurement across the relevant departments and agencies.

Questions to consider:

• Can you form a cross-departmental circular public procurement working group? If not, can you collaborate with staff from across departments on an ad-hoc basis?

• Who in your municipality should be part of the circular public procurement working group?

• Who will be responsible for: + Implementing the strategy? + Implementing projects? + Providing technical expertise? + Drafting and reviewing the circular criteria? + Engaging the relevant stakeholders and suppliers? + Managing the contracts?

• What will be the most effective way to brief relevant colleagues on the aims of your circular public procurement strategy and how you would like them to be involved?

Example

When the City of Malmö decided to pilot a circular approach to the tender of non-new furniture that aimed at increasing reuse, the procurement officer in charge of developing the tender and the project manager from the Environmental department formed the “Circular PP team”. This pilot project was created and driven by the Circular PP team.