Buyers’ groups for innovative and sustainable public procurement

The Finnish network-based competence centre for sustainable and innovative public procurement KEINO facilitates buyers’ groups consisting of public purchasing authorities with common needs. The buyers’ groups aim at speeding up the development of new ways of working and scaling up the implementation of the best practices and innovative solutions. At the same time, they enhance the capabilities of public procurers to conduct sustainable and innovative procurement.

Buyers’ groups do not make purchases together as a group. Each participating organization is responsible for its own procurements. Instead, the buyers’ groups provide a platform for cooperation and peer support for procurement experts. Cooperation with the suppliers and developers of goods, services, and solutions is also an important part of the buyers’ group activities.

The challenges the buyers’ groups address are different in each group. Members of each group define themselves a joint plan of activities. The groups may focus on clarifying the common challenges ahead, developing joint criteria, tools, testbeds, roadmaps and organizing joint market dialogues. The groups also collect existing best practices from Finland and abroad. The work of each group is facilitated by an expert from KEINO.

In 2021, there are groups focusing on low-carbon construction, clean vehicles and transport, zero emission construction sites, management of polluted soil, healthcare and social welfare related procurement.