On 19 September 2025, the Deal4Good project hosted an international webinar titled “Leveraging Public Procurement for Green, Social and Innovative Transitions,” bringing together public authorities, social enterprises, researchers and practitioners from across Europe.
Organised in collaboration with the ProcuraMED project, the event explored how strategic public procurement can act as a powerful policy tool to promote social inclusion, environmental sustainability and innovation. The webinar attracted strong interest, with 164 participants from over 15 countries, reflecting the growing relevance of sustainable procurement at European, national and regional levels.
Connecting Social, Green and Innovation Procurement
The webinar was designed to create synergies between different procurement approaches, highlighting how social, green, circular and innovation procurement can reinforce one another rather than operate in isolation.
The Deal4Good project presented the main findings of its Investigation Report, which examines barriers preventing social enterprises from participating in public tenders. Based on surveys of social enterprises and contracting authorities across eight countries, the research identified key challenges such as administrative complexity, lack of information and limited procurement skills. These findings directly inform the development of the Social Procurement Expert (SPE) curriculum, a core Deal4Good output aimed at strengthening professional capacity in social public procurement.
Learning from European Projects and Regional Practices
The programme also featured contributions from complementary European initiatives:
- ProcuraMED project showcased tools and strategies supporting green public procurement (GPP) and public procurement of innovation (PPI) in the Mediterranean, including the Strategic Procurement Unified Platform.
- The GPP2ADRION project shared experiences from the Adriatic-Ionian region, highlighting capacity-building actions and cross-border cooperation for green and circular procurement.
- The Umbria Region (Italy) presented a concrete example of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and environmental criteria applied in public tenders, demonstrating how sustainability can be embedded in real procurement processes.
At the European policy level, Corvers Procurement Services B.V., external experts of the European Assistance for Innovation Procurement (EAFIP), illustrated how public buyers can access EU support for Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) and Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI).
Strong Engagement and Positive Feedback
The webinar concluded with an open discussion, where participants exchanged views on practical implementation challenges and available support mechanisms. Questions focused on integrating environmental criteria, applying innovation procurement in practice, and supporting social enterprises’ access to public markets.
Following the event, participants were invited to complete an evaluation survey. The results indicated a high level of satisfaction with both the content and organisation of the event, confirming strong interest in continued learning and exchange on sustainable procurement.
Moving Forward
The webinar confirmed that public procurement is a key lever for systemic change, capable of delivering social value, environmental benefits and innovation simultaneously. By connecting projects, regions and expertise, Deal4Good continues to contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable public procurement ecosystem in Europe.
🎥 The webinar recording is also accessible via the Deal4Good YouTube channel.