The 2018 Green Capital of Europe Nijmegen (The Netherlands) wants to catalyse sustainable and circular development through procurement. For the renovation of the street Malderburchtstraat the city went for a “Rapid Circular Contracting” (RCC) tender, challenging the civil engineering sector to develop innovative circular solutions to a regular street renovation.

RCC was developed by the Dutch Foundation for the Circular Economy as a way to stimulate innovative circular solutions through procurement. It allows innovative market parties to develop concepts that fall outside of conventional approaches while striving toward circular ambitions that have been defined in the tender.

In essence, Nijmegen does not award the contract based on a previously developed plan, instead the winning party is selected based on its vision and ambition in the circular economy. The final product will be developed in close collaboration with the city authorities after the contract has been awarded.

For more information on RCC, click here (in Dutch). To find out more about Nijmegen’s procurement trajectory, click here.

The City of Nijmegen is also host of this year’s EcoProcura conference (3 -5 October).