Conference “Sustainable Public Procurement and Ecological Transition”, 10.11.2022
On 11th November 2022, the conference on “Sustainable Public Procurement and Ecological Transition” was held in Draguignan (Var department), France.
Co-organised by Éa éco-entreprises, the Regional Cluster of eco-enterprises; ARBE, Regional Agency for Biodiversity and Dracénie Provence Verdon Agglomeration; sponsored by EODD; as well as promoted by Region Sud, Aix-Marseille Metropolis, Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis and by project P5Innobroker, the event gathered more than 210 registered of which 50 local authorities.
Public authorities had the opportunity to express their demands and suggest the use of innovative solutions when they are not able to define or foresee their needs. At the same time, public authorities had the chance to exchange with potential suppliers, eco-solutions companies, able to offer a panorama of solutions adapted to their territory.
Opening words of the day were given by Mr. Richard Strambio, Dracénie Provence Verdon Agglomeration President, Mrs. Audrey Michel, ARBE Director, Mr. André Durbec, President of Éa éco-entreprises.
Throughout the day, the programme included pitches sessions for public buyers as well as for SMEs. In total, 6 public authorities presented their current needs in regards to their sustainable strategies, and 10 companies were given the opportunity to present their eco-solutions.Presentations from Public Authorities held by Mr. Benoit Ferry and Mrs. Martine Ouaknine from Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis (MNCA), Mr. Olivier Bernoud from Var Housing (Var Habitat), Mr. Gilles Schneider from Dracénie Provence Verdon Agglomeration (DPVA), Mr. Christophe Mari from Marseille Hospital Public Assistance (AP-HM), Mrs. Clémence Reneaud from Aix-Marseille Metropolis (MAMP) and Mr. Remy Guiavarch from Arcs sur Argens City.
Innovative SMEs presentations involved F-Reg and Graviwater for water solutions, Wesby Energies and Efisun for energy solutions, Ecodair and MP Industries for recyclable and re-use solutions, WinBin and Lov Now for waste solutions, La Compagnie des Forestiers and Imagreen for land development solutions.
Two round tables paced the day; the first discussing on the ways to integrate sustainability to public purchases, the second exploring the means to incorporate innovation to the ecological transition.
The first round table gathered four public buyers illustrating their methodologies to include sustainability to their public procurement strategies. Concrete examples were given by Mr. Hervé Signoret, Public Procurement Deputy Director of Var Hospitals Grouping (GTH Var), Mr. Frank Guyot, Public Procurement Coordinator from Health Regional Authority (ARS PACA), Mr. Laurent Lequilliec, Head of Public Procurement Coordination Department at Toulon-Provence Metropolis (TPM) and moderated by Mr. Anthony Pathéron, Director of Legal Affairs and Sustainable Public Procurement at Dracénie Provence Verdon Agglomeration (DPVA).
P5Innobroker project, represented on stage by Mr. Carlos Garcia Delgado from the Technical Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), was invited to participate and present its objectives during a round table animated by Mr. Lionel Roche, associated lawyer specialised in public law and environmental law at Aklea. The round table also included interventions from Mr. Yves Autin, Regional director of the Union of Public Procurement Groups (UGAP) and Mr. David Martin-Chevalier, Innovation project manager at the French Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE).
The day was closed by the sub-prefect of Draguignan, Mr. Éric De Wispelaere, highlighting once more the responsibility of public authorities to pave the way to ecological transition, which has to be enacted by public procurements. Closing remarks from Mrs. Nathalie Gonzalez, Vice President in charge of ecological transition from Dracénie Provence Verdon Agglomeration (DPVA) and Mr. André Durbec, President of Éa éco-entreprises.
