Buying a better future

URBACT Online Course on Strategic Procurement

What is public procurement?

Public procurement is the process used by municipalities and other institutions to buy goods, services and works which enable them to deliver their activities.

AT URBACT we see procurement as a strategic lever that cities can use to address the economic, social and environmental challenges they face.

We think procurement could be used to create jobs and apprenticeships, to develop workers skills and reduce carbon emissions. We call this strategic procurement.

About the course

Drawing upon the activities of Procure and Making Spend Matter's cities, URBACT has developed a free online course to equip cities with the knowledge and tools required to embed social and environmental criteria into the process of public procurement and to progress strategic procurement.

Who is this course for?

This free and online training is targeted at anyone with an interest in procurement and changing the way it is undertaken in cities. You could be a Mayor or Politician, a civil servant working in strategy or procurement department, or working in urban and economic development, or someone completely different and willing to learn!

Course structure

The course is made of 14 videos - 7 learning modules and accompanying case studies. It follows the different steps of the procurement cycle (from how to do a spend analysis, all the way to tendering and contract monitoring).

The course will start on 1 March 2021. Videos will be released on a weekly basis throughout the month with side events and activities to continue to exchange with the learning community.

We recommend that you follow the videos in order and dedicate about 2 hours per week in March. But you can also follow the course at your own pace. All videos will be available in the Toolbox for you to go back to.

Pre-register now!