The Big Buyers Working Together (BBWT) Kick-off Webinar was held on 25 May 2023. More than 80 participants gathered in this virtual session to learn about BBWT and especially about the recently launched Needs Assessment (NA). Filling in the NA gives EU public buyers an opportunity to indicate their main areas of public procurement interests, challenges and needs. The deadline is 25th of June 2023.

Ivo Locatelli, Senior Expert and Team Leader on Strategic Procurement, DG Grow, European Commission (EC), gave the opening speech highlighting the importance of strategic procurement and activities of the EC in that area. This was followed by presentations from members of the BBWT Secretariat. Through these presentations by Eurocities and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainabilty the participants learned about the benefits of their participation in the Project.

The webinar was also an opportunity to hear from the participants of the previous edition of Big Buyers. Representatives of Haarlem, Oslo and Gothenburg shared their experience and explained how participating in the project added value for their organisations. They also shared some lessons learnt from the Working Groups on Zero-Emission Construction Sites, Circular Construction, and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicles, including important recommendations for the new Communities of Practices (CoPs) which will be established based on the results of the NA.

Launched in March 2023 and funded by the EC through EISMEA, the BBWT Project is managed by Eurocities, ICLEI and BME. Following the success of the previous edition, the Project will continue supporting collaboration between public buyers with strong purchasing power and promote the wider use of strategic public procurement for innovative and sustainable solutions. To build the foundation for four years of collaboration, the Project has just started with the crucial phase of consulting public buyers, so the project invites entities involved in public procurement to fill in the Survey (NA).

After the 25 June deadline, the BBWT team will use the feedback from the NA to narrow down the list of topics and to create ten new CoPs expected to become active in the last quarter of 2023, addressing the areas of the highest importance to public buyers. Aside from supporting participants through the facilitation of the CoPs, the project will also fund various activities for the members, such as participation in meetings and study visits, organisation of market engagement activities, and support to develop tender documentation and criteria.