The city of Gothenburg in Sweden hosted the IPSERA Purchasing & Innovation SIG Workshop on Sourcing and Innovation Ecosystems for Circularity, which took place on December 5th and 6th of 2023. The event was a significant opportunity for the gathering of those interested in purchasing and supply management and it counted on the contribution from the PROCEDIN project, represented by Louise Knight, from the University of Twente.
The workshop welcomed contributions that included both empirical and conceptual work, such as abstracts, presentations, or papers, focused on sourcing and innovation ecosystems for circularity and on the transition to circular supply chains.
Louise Knight presented the latest developments and key deliverables of the PROCEDIN project, emphasizing urban procurement strategies and European capacity building in the procurement of innovation (POI). During this presentation, strategies to attract more talent to POI in cities, a crucial issue for the project, were in the spotlight. This was followed by an interesting debate on whether education for purchasing professionals should differentiate between the public and private sectors. The business-oriented audience, which showed significant enthusiasm for PROCEDIN and its future outputs, came to the consensus that procurement experts from all sectors should learn together, promoting a comprehensive approach.
Louise Knight’s presentation also highlighted the importance of aligning procurement strategies with sustainability objectives and of embracing circular principles, as well as PROCEDIN’s aim of building bridges between procurement and innovation experts in cities and PSM academics (as educators and researchers, and especially those not previously involved in public procurement).
The workshop underscored the extensive research dedicated to advancing procurement’s role in catalysing innovation within frameworks, underlining the necessity of collaborative efforts and strategic alignment to achieve sustainable procurement practices. In short, the event was an important place to enrich the growing body of knowledge on procurement and circularity, shaping future strategies and policies, and PROCEDIN’s presence was also key to this understanding, underscoring the project’s role in advancing procurement innovation.
