Good practice on ecolabels and sustainable public procurement: Government strategies to educate the public procurement ecosystem about sustainable practices
This specific good practice "Government strategies to educate the public procurement ecosystem about sustainable practices - Cases from Colombia, European Union, Costa Rica, Indonesia, and Ecuador," explores the benefits of educating to empower public procurers, decision-makers, auditors, citizen oversight groups, and the private sector with the necessary knowledge to make environmentally conscious decisions. These programs include workshops, guidance materials, training sessions, and online courses designed to foster a culture of sustainability and responsible procurement practices across all levels of public procurement. Successful implementations include Colombia Compra Eficiente's Virtual Training School, the European Commission's green public procurement toolkit, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Finance webinars, Indonesia's Massive Open Online Course for SMEs, and Ecuador’s certification program for public procurers. This good practice highlights the importance of structured education and training to enable public officials to make informed decisions prioritizing environmental conservation, social responsibility, and economic efficiency.
Available in English and Spanish.
This series of 20 good practices reflects experiences on ecolabelling, sustainable public procurement, or the joint use of ecolabelling and sustainable public procurement that have demonstrated positive impacts on fostering sustainable consumption and production — for this reason, they are called "good practices.” These good practices aim to promote global exchange by providing information and examples of various approaches that entities from different countries and contexts can apply to strengthen the use of ecolabels and sustainable public procurement. They were developed as an outcome of the Working Group on Ecolabelling from the Consumer Information Programme, under the One Planet network, and the EcoAdvance project, jointly implemented by the German Cooperation for Development (GIZ), the United Nations for Environmental Protection (UNEP), and the Oeko Institute, funded by the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, nuclear safety and consumer protection (BMUV), and the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
We would be delighted to present this good practice during one of your events. Additionally, if you would like to replicate it, share a good practice that we could systematize, or learn more about the EcoAdvance project, please contact us at ciscp@un.org.
