Are you committed to sustainability but unsure of how it can be realized within procurement? Take away practical tools, approaches and learn of real-world case examples in sustainable purchasing during this practical and inspiring half-day session on sustainable purchasing!READ MORE
This week, Amanda Mungal from Reeve Consulting will be attending the Green Sport Alliance Summit in Seattle. Designed for leaders from the sports community, this three-day executive summit will use a mixture of formats to introduce attendees to sustainability best practices that produce bottom line benefits while demonstrating responsible corporate and community citizenship.
Building off our work with the 2010 Bid Committee, VANOC and Sochi2014, Reeve Consulting recognizes the impact of large-scale sporting initiatives.
We’re looking forward to hearing firsthand how teams and venues are saving money and improving their environmental performance. We hope to see you there.
View the video below for the 2011 Green Sports Alliance Summit Highlights:
Are you familiar with the basics of sustainable purchasing? Would you like to customize your organization’s procurement process to align with sustainability principles? An upcoming BuySmart learning event focused on Maximizing the Impact of Sustainable Purchasing will put you on the right track.
Designed for staff in public, private and non-profit organizations responsible for purchasing, sustainability or corporate responsibility, workshop topics will include how to integrate sustainability into bid documents, create performance scorecards for suppliers, evaluate proposals and more. Presenters will additionally profile product guidelines and specifications among other helpful tools.
Presented by the BuySmart Network, a non-profit dedicated to advancing sustainability in BC and beyond, the event will feature new workshops lead by BuySmart Co-Founders Tim Reeve and Coro Strandberg, whose last co-facilitated session in February sold out with very positive reviews.
Guest speaker Vicki Wakefield, Purchasing Manager for Student Housing, Hospitality and Food Services at the University of British Columbia (UBC), will show participants how UBC is applying these tools within the request for proposals (RFP) process.
Pre-registration is recommended, as space is limited. Sign-up through the BuySmart Network’s Eventbrite site and join us for a morning of strategy, practical insights and useful tools that will help your organization leverage its purchasing power for social, environmental and financial benefits.
Are you struggling to figure out where to start with sustainable purchasing? Or not sure how to build the business case? Perhaps you’re wondering where to focus resources?
Gain practical knowledge and the confidence to embrace sustainable purchasing practices in your organization by joining the BuySmart Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability in BC and beyond, February 24th for the Introduction to Sustainable Purchasing seminar. This half-day seminar will focus on the fundamentals of sustainable purchasing featuring practical insights and lessons learned from professionals in the field.
Flickr / AMagill
Designed for purchasing, sustainability and corporate responsibility staff in public, private and non-profit organizations, seminar topics will include:
Tim Reeve, a Co-Founder of the BuySmart Network and President of Reeve Consulting with Coro Strandberg will lead the session, joined by guest speakers Amanda Pitre-Hayes and Kevin Ducharme.
Event Details
Full details of the Introduction to Sustainable Purchasing seminar can be found in the event brochure [PDF].
For more information about the seminar, contact Bob Purdy by email at bpurdy@fraserbasin.bc.ca or phone at (604) 488-5355.
A busy Moscow street
I recently returned from my second trip to Moscow as part of Reeve Consulting’s work advising the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee on the design and development of an Environmental and Sustainable Procurement Program for the next winter Olympics.
Building on our experience as the lead consultant on the award-winning BuySmart Program for the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC), Reeve Consulting became engaged with the Sochi 2014 organizers in mid-2010. Following approval of the project by the Sochi Supervisory Board last summer, our work began in the fall, including a project scoping trip in late-November to define the design of policies, procedures, scorecards, metrics and implementation plans
We returned to Moscow in February to present the recommended green purchasing and sustainable sourcing program to key stakeholders in Procurement, Licensing, Sustainability, Environment and Planning departments. I also met with key Functional Areas across the Organizing Committee to identify high priority environmental and sustainable purchases. These include the opening and closing ceremony costumes, victory bouquets, gifts, Olympic medals, as well as more functional items like office supplies, paper, temporary power generators, waste and food contracts.
Implementation Strategy
There are 3 key elements in the Sochi 2014 implementation strategy:
Flip chart sheet featuring elements of the process design
1. Applying tools and supplier scorecards to RFP documents to reward environmental and sustainable innovations from suppliers. Organizers will continue to use selection criteria such as price, quality and service when choosing vendors through a competitive bid process, but now there is a formal and systematic way for sustainability to be factored into supplier selection; a potential “tipping point” in which suppliers secure contracts.
2. Targeting “high profile” procurements and working directly with key Functional Areas and the official supplier community to maximize sustainability benefits. Examples of such opportunities include food and catering services that use local food, subcontracting opportunities for local businesses in cleaning, recycling, FSC paper products and printing services, legacy recycling and waste collection containers and more.
If supplier scorecards and sustainability specifications in RFP documents (element #1 above) are like “procurement fishing nets”, then Sochi can expect to catch lots of salmon through its procurement processes. But some fish are too big for the nets: healthy local food, compostable dinnerware, medals, official gifts, vehicles, temporary power. These are the really Big Tuna’s, and these are the procurements that are on the high profile watch list (element #2). These key opportunities need to be tracked individually to ensure they are landed.
3. Introducing a social compliance program for licensees. During my trip the key executives endorsed a social compliance program for licensed merchandise, including policies prohibiting forced and child labor for all merchandise displaying the Olympic mark. Further, the project stakeholders reviewed a draft Licensee Code of Conduct and compliance procedure for current and future licensees. By introducing requirements for factory audits and ensuring licensees are meeting ethical and environmental standards, the Sochi 2014 organizers have initiated a program very similar to VANOC’s Buy Smart program.
3 Years and Counting
I experienced classic winter in Moscow
Just like our first trip the days were long, the work was challenging, and I continued to be impressed by the dedication, professionalism and passion of the Sochi 2014 staff.
Our recent February trip also marked a number of significant Olympic milestones, including the start of the three-year countdown to the opening ceremonies and the beginning of test events in some of the recently completed competition venues
Three years may seem like a long time – but in fact, for the Organizing Committee, the planning and project definition phase is very nearly complete. Procurement activity will greatly increase in the next 12 months. The team of Licensees will be filled and production of branded merchandise will begin to significantly ramp up. Now is the time for the Sochi Buy Smart project to leverage the brand, economic, and green benefits associated with environmental purchasing and sustainable sourcing.
Being a part of the bid that brought the Winter Olympic Games to Vancouver in 2010 was a once in a lifetime opportunity – as was getting to work as an expert advisor to the 2010 Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) on the award-winning Buy Smart Program. So it is with great excitement that I undertake the opportunity to apply my experiences a second time by advising the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games on the development of their Environmental and Sustainable Procurement Program.
During a recent fact-finding and project kick-off visit to Moscow I met with members of the Sohci 2014 Executive Team as well as key staff in functional areas such as Procurement, Environment, Sustainability, Licensing, Food & Beverage, Cleaning & Waste, and Marketing. The purpose of these meetings was to confirm the vision for the project and begin the design of a comprehensive environmental and sustainable procurement program. Another main focus was to begin to identify high profile products and services for showcasing a green and sustainable Olympic Games. Potential areas of opportunity include local food, products with minimal packaging and joint ventures with local firms.
My time in Moscow was intense, enjoyable and I met many wonderful people, and overall the experience left me with a number of high-level impressions including the following:
Similarities with VANOC: While Moscow is half a world away from my hometown of Vancouver, I was struck by the similarities between the office of the Sochi Organizing Committee and VANOC. A number of elements felt very familiar including the open plan layout, long working hours, and incredibly dedicated, highly qualified staff. There were also a number of familiar Canadian faces including Dennis Hainault (advising on venue management) and Ron Holton (advising on risk management programming).
Magnitude of the project: Getting ready for the 2014 Olympics is a huge undertaking and includes a $30 billion investment in construction to create a brand new stadiums, hockey rinks, curling rinks, speed skating venue as well as re-building the nearby ski hill and rail line that travels between the mountain venue and Sochi.
Sophistication of project systems: While in Moscow I was introduced to the Enterprise Resource Planning System, a complex project management and procurement system for managing all products and materials purchased. In addition, the Organizing Committee has set up a centralized Project Planning Office that helps to coordinate all internal projects with the overall Master Plan for the Games.
Hope and vision: The environmental and sustainable procurement program is aiming to be a straightforward and practical program with the potential to have a significant impact in key areas such as energy efficiency, packaging and economic opportunities for the surrounding region. The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee is fortunate to have great staff teams in the Environment and Sustainability Functions – and I’m inspired by their passion to do great things for their country and honored to be a part of a new green movement within the Russian Federation.
I’m looking forward to returning to Moscow in early 2011 to finalize the design of the procurement program. I’m also hopeful that this partnership will continue beyond the program design phase and that Reeve Consulting will have the opportunity to support the ongoing implementation of the project leading up to the 2014 Winter Games.
This week Tim Reeve has been in Moscow meeting with key members of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee regarding environmental and sustainable purchasing for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.
Starting with two-days of intense fact finding meetings with functional areas of the Organizing Committee, Tim has spent the week learning about the scope of purchasing within key functions and the link between the Sustainable Management System and sourcing.
Tim reports that throughout his meetings there has been a high level of interest in environmental and sustainable purchasing from senior management, executives and staff. There has also been discussion of ambitious overall programs that would set new standards and benchmarks for sustainability within the Russian Federation. Key areas of opportunity include cleaning and waste, ceremonies, food and beverage, construction and overlay.
Head office of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, located in central Moscow near the Kremlin
Perhaps the most exciting news of the week is that the final Sustainable Management System has been approved by the Organizing Committee Executive.
Building on lessons learned from the successful Buy Smart Program for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Reeve Consulting will spend the next several weeks designing policies and procedures to move the Organizing Committee forward on their journey towards a green and sustainable games.
Follow Tim on Twitter @ReeveConsulting for updates on his time with the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee.
Are the Olympics worth it? That was the question posed to the Sports, Legacy and Sustainability panel on March 13, 2010. Bruce Kidd, former Olympic athlete and guru of sports and sustainability, anchored the panel with an opening reflection on sustainability in Olympics past. He seemed encouraged by the progress, yet hesitant to answer yes to his question.
Bruce gave credit where credit is due: VANOC did build some of the greenest buildings in the world to host athletes; it was the first Olympics to embrace Aboriginal participation at the organizing level; and, VANOC’s Buy Smart program broke ground in the area of sustainable purchasing.
The most important legacy of the Games is athleticism, before the environment, before anything according to Kidd. And although Canada has proudly hosted three Olympic Games, we were disappointed to hear that participation of children and youth in sports in this country is plummeting.
Flickr / adrian8_8
Kidd was joined by Derek Wyatt, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Group and James Tansey of Offsetters. Wyatt talked candidly about the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) lack of commitment to ensuring a sustainable legacy in Host Cities. In his opinion, Host Cities carry the sustainability agenda with little support from the IOC.
Wyatt is advocating for the IOC to support the creation of an “Olympic University” in London that would provide training and education to disenfranchised inner-city East Londoners. Wyatt believes this is a missed opportunity. The Organizing Committee for London 2012 could hire more of the so called “underemployed” inner-City folks from East London if training was provided amongst this population.
James Tansey was more positive and sited the sustainability wins of VANOC including their commitments to offsetting the carbon footprint, the green building designs and the training legacy of the Buy Smart program.
Despite having different priorities, the panellists agreed that Host Cities and those who live there feel a deep sense of human spirit and pride, which in itself is a large legacy. Human’s need food for the body as well as the heart, said Kidd. To paraphrase James Tansey: ‘on that gold medal Sunday, Canadians had so much pride they didn’t know what to do with it’.
This is a debate that will continue. We see many benefits – but are waiting to learn more about the real results before making a final decision. What do you think? “Is it worth it?” Please post your comments as you begin to reflect on your Olympic legacy.
The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) will soon be handing out 1800 ethically sourced bouquets of flowers to champion athletes during the medal ceremonies. At a time when men and women around North America will be buying flowers for Valentine’s Day, VANOC’s story of sourcing flowers from an ethically and environmentally minded company is timely.
VANOC awarded the contract to produce the bouquets for the ceremonies to Just Beginning Flowers, a Surrey-based non-profit social enterprise that sources ethically produced flowers from Ecuador and from local producers in the Fraser Valley. Although there has been some recent criticism about the Olympic bouquets not containing native plant species (see related article below), the owners and operators of Just Beginning Flowers state that the flowers they import from Ecuador are ethically sourced and meet Fair Trade standards.
Through their Buy Smart program, which Reeve helped develop, VANOC has set up protocols to ensure their suppliers are adhering to social and ethical standards. Just Beginning Flowers is considered one of the program’s success stories as they not only source locally and ethically from abroad, but they are also a social enterprise that has developed a training program for students that have barriers to employment. Furthermore, Just Beginning Flowers employs green business practices with the goal of minimizing the impact of their operations on the environment.
Check out the related Vancouver Sun article which highlights the controversy about the lack of native plant species in the Olympic bouquets. This Valentine’s Day will you buy native plant species or imported flowers from Latin America?
For more detail on the VANOC Buy Smart program check out: Buy Smart Program Designed by Reeve Consulting Receives 2010 Games “Sustainability Star”