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In 2003 the Parliament engaged the Centre for Human Ecology - led by Osbert Lancaster, now with Footprint Consulting
- to help them define their policy, produce a statement of principles
and develop a 3-step plan for implementation. This involved: interviews
and workshops with Parliament staff; researching the sustainable
procurement policies of other legislatures and public bodies
internationally; understanding constraints and opportunities posed by
EU and other legislation; and helping draft a policy and implementation
plan that reflected the specific principles, responsibilities and
culture of the Scottish Parliament.
Following
implementation of the plan, in 2008 the Parliament launched its
Responsible Purchasing Strategy, committing resources to the
achievement of best practice, embedding Responsible Purchasing into all
practices and encouraging suppliers to do the same.
In this first phase we wanted to get a clearer picture, from people working on both policy and practice in the public sector, of their personal experience and insights:
- the benefits of local and sustainable food procurement;
- the key factors that help—or hinder—sustainable food procurement.
We also reviewed existing case studies and research, within Scotland and beyond, with a particular focus on:
- methodologies which demonstrate the environmental, social and environment impacts of local and sustainable food procurement;
- approaches to procurement which address the perceived constraints of European procurement directives.
We produced a report setting out evidence of the benefits of local and sustainable food procurement; and sharing our findings on overcoming the barriers—practical and political—to sustainable food procurement.
The report drew heavily on the practical experience of people working on practice and policy in public agencies. During the project we explored with practitioners and policy makers their interest in working together with others, to maximise the level of sustainable food procurement in the public sector in Scotland.
The project was funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
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