Winter Games Tag

April 8, 2011 In Ethical Purchasing, Olympics, Reeve News

Sustainable Procurement Program for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics steps into the Starting Gate

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.

December 15, 2010 In Olympics, Reeve News

Round Two: Building our Second Environmental and Sustainable Procurement Program for the Winter Olympic Games

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.

November 19, 2010 In Ethical Purchasing, Sustainable Purchasing, Waste Reduction

Reeve Consulting Invited to Work with Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee

On the heels of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic’s BuySmart Program’s success, Reeve Consulting has been approached by the Organizing Committee for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi to help design and build an environmental procurement and sustainable sourcing program.

Flickr / roland

A sustainable purchasing program will enable organizers of the 2014 Winter Games to leverage procurement to meet sustainability objectives including zero waste, carbon neutrality and sustainable economic development of the surrounding Krasnodar district. These targets have been outlined in both an environmental strategy adopted by the advisory committee in 2009 and subsequent environmental procurement policy drafted by Reeve Consulting and adopted by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee in June of 2010.

Flickr / maiak.info

Reeve Consulting will be working with executives and senior managers from the Environmental Support and Sustainability departments of the Organizing Committee to build tools, develop procedures and identify high profile purchasing opportunities to support implementation of their sourcing policies.

Tim Reeve will be traveling to Moscow to meet with members of the Organizing Committee in late-November and again in February of 2011. Check back for updates from the field! You can also follow Tim’s trip on Twitter @ReeveConsulting.

April 14, 2010 In Ethical Purchasing, Reeve News, Sustainable Purchasing

Environmental Purchasing “Torch” passes to Sochi 2014

Flickr / thelastminute

The Organizing Committee for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games seems poised to continue the strong legacy of ethical and environmental purchasing within the Olympic community. Organizers for the Sochi Games are currently working with a team of strategic advisors to design an environmental procurement program that will result in a 2014 Winter Games with less waste and lower GHG emissions. Sochi has been particularly interested in the Vancouver 2010 Buy Smart program, an ethical and sustainable purchasing program that Reeve helped design and implement, which was recognized as setting a new bar for Olympic purchasing programs.

Reeve has partnered with Shaneco, a Russian environmental consulting firm, to create an Environmental Procurement Policy (EPP) for Sochi 2014. The draft EPP has been designed to foster procurement practice that is in harmony with nature, is climate neutral, minimizes waste, and enlightens the suppliers of the Sochi region as well as the broader community. Dmitriy Kolosov, head of Environmental Programming for the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, stressed that it is imperative to use the high profile of the Winter Games to “enlighten” the Russian supplier community in order to have a lasting, positive impact on the natural environment of the Sochi region.

So far it has really been the Organizing Committee’s, such as Vancouver 2010 and London 2012, who have really led the way within the Olympic community at increasing the uptake of ethical and environmental procurement. It is interesting to note a comment made by Derek Wyatt, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Group. At the Sports, Legacy and Sustainability Dialogue, held during the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Wyatt talked candidly about the need for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to offer greater commitment to ensuring an environmental sustainability legacy in Host Cities. In his opinion, OCOGs and Host Cities carry the environmental sustainability agenda with little support from the IOC.

The new Candidature Procedures, the procedures for bidding to host the 2016 Games, now ask bid cities to demonstrate the steps they will take, in regards to sourcing licensed products, to ensure that social and environmental factors are taken into account in making selection decisions. This is the first time this question has been asked of bid cities, but this direction is limited to licensed merchandise (products that carry the Olympic logo) and does not extend to sourcing sustainable items for operational purposes. Reeve hopes that as Organizing Committees continue to push this agenda forward that the IOC will consider ways in which it can offer more specific direction to sourcing sustainable products and services for all functions of the Olympic Games.

Please share your stories about other organizations that are also pushing the ethical and/or environmental purchasing movement ahead in the comment section of our blog.