Webinar | Public procurement in health: Setting sustainability criteria in tenders

Thursday 28 March, 15:30 - 16:30 CET

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Context

Procurement is a strategic instrument that public authorities and purchasers in healthcare can use to trigger societal and environmental benefits.

HCWH is committed to establishing and globalising procurement criteria, leveraging healthcare’s purchasing power to drive policies and markets towards ethically produced, healthy, and sustainable products and services. Health systems, governments, and international development agencies who adopt sustainable procurement policies, strategies, and practices can drive the shift towards inclusive, green economies.

This vision underpins the Sustainable Health in Procurement Project (SHiPP) – a four-year project administered by UNDP and HCWH across ten countries. The core aims of the project are to reduce the harm to people and the environment caused by the manufacture, use, and disposal of medical products.

To accomplish its key objectives, the project is drawing on experiences and good practices in Europe and the United States. HCWH is mapping policies and practices in different regions to learn to what extent sustainability measures are incorporated into procurement. The EU Public Procurement Directive empowers contracting authorities to set sustainability and environmental criteria in their tenders. This also allows them to further engage with suppliers and boost innovation.

HCWH Europe has produced a brief to explain the EU public procurement strategy and synthesise key elements of the EU Public Procurement Directive for SHiPP partners to consider for adaptation in their countries, regions, and practices.

This webinar aims to:

• Launch the brief on the European Public Procurement Directive and guide the audience through strategies that contracting authorities can use to implement strategic and sustainable procurement
• Showcase the experience of two leading European hospitals from Denmark and Iceland on sustainable and innovative procurement
• Stimulate a discussion about the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of setting sustainability criteria in healthcare tenders

Speakers

Hulda Steingrímsdóttir, Environmental Manager - Landspítali, The National University Hospital of Iceland 

Working in sustainability issues and Green Public Procurement for over 20 years, Hulda has spent the last four years in the health sector. With a master’s degree in Environmental Science from University of Gothenburg, Hulda is responsible for environmental and social sustainability issues at Landspítali - which has been reducing its environmental impact since 2012.

 

Susanne Backer, Project Leader for Circular Economy - Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark

Aarhus University Hospital employs approximately 10,000 people; the hospital’s Circular Economy Project focuses on improving the quality of recycling of plastic packaging from the hospital, through innovation and dialogue with all parties in the value chain. Susanne Backer holds a MSc in Modern Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

 

Arianna Gamba, Procurement Policy and Projects Officer - Health Care Without Harm Europe

As well as coordinating HCWH Europe’s contributions to the SHiPP project, Arianna also oversees the organisation's project on the procurement and application of safer disinfectants in healthcare. With a European MSc in Health Economics and Management, she also has international experience in non-profit, intergovernmental, and business sectors of cooperation and development, international affairs, healthcare and sustainability.

 

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