Recently Solvoz collaborated on two impactful workshops hosted by our partners within the Horizon’s Europe-funded project: Waste in Humanitarian Operations consortium (WORM – Waste management challenges in humanitarian operations). One of these workshops, co-hosted by European Commission DG ECHO, was titled “Towards a Common Understanding of the Sustainable Procurement Framework for Humanitarian Aid Sector.” This event attracted over 50 participants, including representatives from donors, NGOs, UN and academia, providing invaluable insight for the procurement work package of this two-year European project.

During the workshop, the preliminary results of WORM’s Sustainability Criteria survey were presented and participants were invited to contribute to the development of a framework integrating the principles of the UN Sustainable Procurement Indicators and the new ECODESIGN® for sustainable product regulation in the EU. The latter being a new regulation that will improve EU products’ circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects.

Special thanks to Karolina Kalinowska (European Commission DG ECHO), Sarah Joseph (Kuehne Logistics University), Yumiko ABE-SOULIER, Ph.D and Claire Barnhoorn (Solvoz) for their fantastic contributions in preparing and facilitating this insightful workshop. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and advancing sustainable procurement practices together in the humanitarian sector.