The Estonian Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2017 will host two major European procurement conferences from 17-19 October in Tallinn (Estonia), highlighting Circular Procurement and Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI). Since the first Circular Procurement Congress in April 2016 the topic of the transition to a Circular Economy has enjoyed increased focus at the EU level, resulting in a growing number of projects and initiatives involving local governments and the mainstreaming of the Circular Procurement concept.

The Conference on Innovation Procurement, hosted by eafip on 17-18 October, will host the 2017 edition of the Procura+ Awards for Sustainable Innovation and Procurement. The conference will bring together policy makers, public procurers and innovators to discuss major ICT-related innovation procurement initiatives across Europe.

The Circular Procurement Congress will address the key developments and current initiatives in Circular Procurement through presentations from the Estonian Government and the European Commission and ICLEI, as well as Procura+ network participants Rijkswaterstaat and Aalborg (Denmark). The event, taking place on 18-19 October, will have 'Market Lounge' group discussions and conclude with a keynote address by David Peck from the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability (CfS).

A Circular Procurement Interest Group has been established by the Procura+ European Sustainable Procurement Network, coordinated by ICLEI, to foster discussion and exchange on the topic among cities, local governments and regional networks. The Interest Group is currently open to new members and is focused on seeking to identify product and service groups to pilot circular procurement projects, incorporate non-conventional business models within tenders, and engaging markets to deliver products based on circular economy principles.

Mark Hidson, Global Director of ICLEI's Sustainable Procurement Centre and speaker at the Circular Procurement Congress, said:

"Using Circular Economy methodology in the context of public procurement has significant potential as a means to achieve social and environmental goals with impact across all European cities and regions. Public procurement represents 19% of European GDP, giving public authorities the leverage to be at the heart of the transition from the linear 'make, use, dispose' economy to a sustainable, circular model."

Online registration is available for the Conference on Innovation Procurement and the Circular Procurement Congress.

For more information and to join the Procura+ Circular Procurement Interest Group, contact procurement@iclei.org.