Public procurers can avail of free support to prepare a pre-commercial procurement (PCP) or public procurement of innovation (PPI) by contacting the EU-funded eafip project by 17 November 2016. The project will assist six procurers, providing them with hands-on and tailored advice and support. All public procurers from EU Member States are eligible to apply.

Procurers will be chosen to receive the assistance based on four criteria: their concrete interest and commitment in starting a PCP/PPI and whether their business case justifies the investment in the innovation procurement, the potential impact of the procurement, geographic balance, and the level of experience and existence of prior PCP/PPI cases within the country in question.

The successful applicants will receive help with preparing and conducting an EU-wide open market consultation, drafting tendering documents, launching a call for tender, answering questions from potential tenderers, and agreeing on contracts with the selected vendors.

For more information, visit eafip.eu/assistance

Registration for the next InnProBio workshop and market dialogue, focused on public procurement of computer related devices, is already open. The workshop and market dialogue will be held in the context of the event “Nachwachsende Rohstoffe im Einkauf: Öffentliche Beschaffung zukunftsfähig gestalten”, taking place in Berlin, on 3 November 2016.

The workshop will address questions related to public tendering and public procurement of bio-based products. Case studies, tools and criteria for public tendering will be discussed. The market dialogue aims at identifying barriers to the procurement of bio-based products and services and their related tender processes. It will also facilitate a dialogue between product suppliers and public procurers regarding certain bio-based products and procurement needs.

The workshop and market dialogue will be held in German language. Participation at the InnProBio workshop and market dialogue is free of charge. Participants need to register through the conference website.

The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) is sponsoring a new category of the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS Prize): the bioeconomy non-food prize, awarding projects related with the conversion of biomass into non-food value-added products.

The EUCYS Prize, part of the Science and Society Activities managed by the Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission, is an annual contest aiming at promoting the ideals of co-operation and interchange between young scientists. It also gives the opportunity to showcase the best European student scientific achievements.

After having been selected in affiliated events all around European, these projects are currently being shown in Brussels, until September 20th. By organising this event, the Commission seeks to strengthen the efforts made in each participating country to attract young people to careers in science and technology. The jury of the Award is composed of 18-20 members of international reputation.

To learn more, click here

Under the headline ‘Regions and cities for sustainable and inclusive growth’, the 14th European Week of Regions and Cities will hold around 100 sessions, seminars and meetings connected to the topics of sustained and sustainable economic growth, inclusive economic growth, and making ESI Funds Simpler. The workshop ‘From bio-waste to bio-based products’ is part of this agenda.

The event, that will take place on 11 October, will outline the optimal use of bio-waste for the production of a wide array of bio-based product and the high potential of this value chain for regional innovation development in order to attract new productive investments, boost a zero-waste circular economy at local level, reduce resources depletion as well as create jobs opportunities at local level.

The participants in the workshop will also learn about the main regulation barriers, as well as the technical and financial obstacles that this value chain is facing. Some case studies will be presented to showcase how bio-waste has been turned into bio-based products and fostered regional growth.

To register, click here

InnProBio has just issued a mapping of existing tools for bio-based products and services in public procurement. The purpose of it is to support public procurers interested in purchasing bio-based products. The document will be part of the Decision Support Tool that will be developed in the second half of the project lifespan.

The publication is divided in three sections. The first one is focused on the methodology used to create this inventory of already existing tools. The second section contains a selection and a brief description of the tools included in the inventory that are relevant for the future InnProBio handbook and the Decision Support Tool. The last chapter includes some conclusions.

The mapping exercise resulted in the identification and assessment of some 150-200 items related to bio-based procurement and public procurement of innovation. A part of those has been included in the final inventory due to its relevance and value for the target audience. The publication shows that two European countries are particularly active in providing support to bio-based procurement: The Netherlands – through the Dutch Expertise Centre for Public Procurement PIANOo – and Germany – through the Agency for Renewable Resources – FNR.

To download the document, click here