proCURE successfully completed: strengthening sustainable procurement in municipalities

After two and a half intensive years, proCURE has been successfully completed. The Erasmus+ funded project had a clear objective: to support small and medium-sized municipalities in implementing sustainable public procurement in a simpler, more practical and more effective way. Municipalities regularly purchase goods and services – from office supplies and cleaning products to works and services. This gives them an important lever to promote climate protection, resource conservation, fair working conditions and regional value creation at local level.

For smaller municipalities in particular, however, sustainable procurement is often associated with uncertainty: What legal options are available? How can sustainability criteria be included in tenders? Which products or services are particularly suitable? And how can the topic be integrated into everyday administrative work despite limited staff resources? This is exactly where proCURE came in. The project developed practical materials, training formats and tools that support administrative staff step by step.

Looking back on two and a half years of cooperation

Since the project started in November 2023, five partner organisations from Germany, Austria, Italy and Slovenia have worked together to make sustainable procurement more accessible for municipalities: the municipal network Alliance in the Alps as project coordinator, agado, the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture Graz, Fondazione Ecosistemi, and the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. Together, they brought together experiences from different countries, analysed the needs of small and medium-sized municipalities and developed concrete support tools.

An important part of the project was the exchange with municipalities, experts and multipliers. In focus groups, workshops and webinars, challenges from municipal practice were collected and possible solutions discussed. This resulted in materials that not only provide theoretical knowledge, but can also be used directly in everyday work.

What was developed in the project

Over the course of the project, a comprehensive set of materials was developed. These include materials and tools for municipalities, which support the introduction and implementation of sustainable procurement. They provide guidance on the basics, legal questions, sustainability criteria and concrete implementation steps.

Another key focus was joint procurement by municipalities. The newly developed guide shows how municipalities can pool their needs, share resources and purchase together in a more sustainable and efficient way. Smaller municipalities in particular benefit from this: they can reduce administrative workload, pool expertise, achieve better contract conditions and make their demand more visible on the market.

In addition, a curriculum for public administration schools was developed, integrating sustainable public procurement into the training of future administrative staff. This helps anchor the topic in municipal administration in the long term. To complement this, a Train-the-Trainer course for multipliers and external experts was created, enabling training on sustainable procurement to be continued and adapted locally beyond the project.

Added value for municipalities and administrative staff

The greatest added value of proCURE lies in its practical applicability. The materials developed help municipalities to see sustainable procurement not as an additional burden, but as an opportunity: for higher quality, long-term cost-effectiveness, legal certainty and a stronger alignment of municipal action with sustainability goals.

Administrative staff receive concrete tools, templates and guidance that reduce uncertainty and make it easier to get started. Municipalities can use the materials flexibly – as a reference, as a basis for internal training, to prepare individual tenders or as a starting point for joint procurement with neighbouring municipalities.

With the completion of the project, a wide range of content is now available for municipalities, public administration schools and multipliers to use in the long term. proCURE shows that sustainable procurement does not have to be complicated. With the right knowledge, suitable tools and cooperation between municipalities, it can become an effective instrument for sustainable development in the Alpine region and beyond.