On April 16, 2026, the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development organized a seminar titled “Integrating Sustainability, Climate, and Circular Economy Principles into Local Government Public Procurement,” organized by the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development. The event brought together specialists from planning regions and local governments to strengthen understanding of public procurement as a strategic tool for promoting the development of a climate-neutral economy. The aim of the seminar was to promote the efficient use of resources and the implementation of circular economy principles in local government operations by developing experts’ practical skills in integrating sustainable solutions into procurement processes.
The seminar was led by Inese Pelša, an expert in green and sustainable public procurement and Chair of the Board of the Latvian Sustainable Procurement Association. Throughout the day, participants took an in-depth look at aspects such as defining needs before initiating a procurement process, the life-cycle approach, and climate impact assessment, as well as the most common challenges in formulating requirements, emphasizing that public procurement can serve as a key tool to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, and the transition to resource-efficient solutions.
The seminar placed particular emphasis on the practical integration of sustainability and circular economy principles into procurement documentation. Participants had the opportunity to analyze real-world examples across various procurement sectors, including construction, transportation, street lighting, and service procurement. An approach was highlighted in which procurement specifies a need rather than a specific solution, thereby allowing the market to offer innovative solutions aligned with circular economy principles, such as reuse, repair, or service models.
During the seminar, a structured model for implementing circular procurement was presented, which includes steps such as defining objectives, inter-institutional cooperation, establishing market dialogue, integrating circularity criteria into technical specifications and contract terms, as well as measuring results using life-cycle cost and emissions indicators. The need to establish specific quality and circularity criteria was also emphasized, such as the proportion of recycled materials, product reparability, and longer service life.
The interactive activity “Escape Mission: The Circularity Challenge” encouraged active participation and helped reinforce the knowledge gained in practice, demonstrating innovative teaching approaches to learning about sustainability issues.
The need to organize the seminar is based on previous assessments of the knowledge and skills of local government specialists in all planning regions. These assessments confirmed the need to strengthen competencies in the field of green public procurement, improve skills in developing technical specifications and formulating quality criteria, as well as systematically apply the life-cycle approach and emission reduction indicators.
The seminar was organized by the Ministry in cooperation with the Kurzemes, Latgales, Vidzemes, and Zemgales planning regions as part of the European Union Cohesion Policy Program for 2021–2027, Specific Support Objective 6.1.1. “Mitigating the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the transition to climate neutrality in the most affected regions” under Measure 6.1.1.8, Project No. 6.1.1.8/1/24/I/001 “Enhancing the skills of specialists in municipalities and planning regions on issues related to the climate-neutral economy and mitigating the socio-economic impacts of climate change.”
