The Global Organic Textile Standard Conference will take place in New Delhi, India the 8 November 2017. It will be held as a pre-conference to the 19th Organic World Congress (OWC) by IFOAM - Organics International and will address the topic of social compliances in textiles.

The one-day conference will bring together top business leaders, chief sustainability officers, social compliance experts and practitioners, standards-setters, regulators and policy-makers and other key stakeholders interested in the topic. It will see the participation of IFOAM, WRAP, SAI and other experts which will share the latest updated in social compliance. The conference will include sessions for participants new to the topic on how to develop efficient compliance management systems.

For more information about the conference and registration, please visit the conference website.

This conference, organized by the Public Procurement Authority of Hungary and part of Hungary’s V4 presidency 2017-2018, will take place in Budapest, Hungary. The conference will discuss procurement practices and bring together public procurers, consultants and different relevant personalities working in the field of sustainable and innovative public procurement from all over Europe.

Some of the topics covered include comprehensiveness and integrity in procurement, transparency, strategic objective in public procurement and public procurement in the circular economy. Not only, but presentations will be given on the topic of simplification and reduction of administrative burden and revision of the remedies directives, i.e. remedies ensuring fair play in procurement.

For more information and to register to the event visit the event’s webpage.

This webinar will explain how to identify and procure food service ware products that are devoid of toxic and persistent grease-resistant compounds these chemicals of concern and which are also reusable, compostable, or easily recyclable.

Points of discussion will include which types of food service ware products are considered environmentally preferable; discussion over policies, strategies, and resources to help purchasers identify safer food service ware products.

This webinar is designed for sustainability, procurement, recycling, and food service staff.

You can register for the event via WebEx.

This study visit will be kindly hosted by the Municipality of Cremona and take place in Cremona (Italy) between 20-23 November 2017. Participants will be engaged in the European Waste Management week exploring food and organic resources, waste management collection systems, circular economy topics, including procurement.

The programme is available here.

The UrbanWINS project started in June 2016 and analyses the waste prevention and management strategies of 24 cities, while performing pilot activities in 8 European cities which seek to increase citizens' involvement in local decisions around waste and resources. CityMatch is one of the collaborative pilot activities within UrbanWINS where study visits are organised so that technical and policy staff at local authorities can share experiences and initiatives of mutual interest with each other in a structured staff exchange.

For more information or to register to the study visit check the project’s website.

The Valencia Conama Local Valencia 2017, taking place the 27 - 29 November, in Valencia (Spain) is a forum for debate and work between professionals and agents involved, which aim to align local policies with the Global Agenda 2030 and the Paris Commitment to Fight and Adapt to Climate Change.

Among various topics related to sustainable development, the 29 November, the event will include a session on sustainable, green and innovative public procurement and circular economy.

Please note the event will be held in Spanish.

To register for the event please visit the event’s webpage.

On 10 August, the European Commission published new Green Public Procurement (GPP) Criteria for furniture, covering new furniture products as well as refurbishment and end-of-life services (such as collection and reuse), updating Criteria issued in 2008. The inclusion of refurbishment and end-of-life services aim at extending the lifespan of furniture purchased by public sector entities, and at the same time reinforce and contribute to the EU’s circular economy principles and policies.

This webinar will provide an introduction to the newly revised EU GPP Criteria for furniture related purchases from the developers of the guidance. This will include details on the sustainability 'hotspots' which can be tackled through procurement, as well as the broader scope of coverage (of the new GPP Criteria) and how ‘circularity’ is addressed.

A couple of public sector procurers will also be featured in the webinar to share their first hand experiences of carrying out GPP for this high-priority public spend area.

You can register to the webinar via WebEx.