CO-RESP Conference: Social Economy Conference – Public Procurement with Added Value

CO-RESP's conference 'Social Economy Mission – Public Procurement with Added Value' will be held on 25th April in Gleisdorf, Austria.

Public procurement is a mechanism of significant economic importance that accounted for around 14% of the European Union’s GDP in 2017 and can contribute to transforming local economies into more sustainable and socially inclusive by stimulating the creation of job opportunities for disadvantaged groups. This event will be the opportunity to learn more about and discuss how to use public procurement to promote the employment of persons with disabilities. The event will showcase the state of play across EU – with focus on Bulgaria, Spain, Germany and Austria and highlight existing promising practices in these areas. The Conference will also be the opportunity to network with interested stakeholders from across Europe, representing local authorities, social economy organisations and others.

Additionally, during the event, it will be presented the work carried out in for CO-RESP’s Collection of Promising Practices of Socially Responsible Public Procurement for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities.

The event will have the participation of the CO-RESP consortium: EASPD – European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (Belgium), ZfSW – Zentrum für Sozialwirtschaft (Austria), EuCIE – European Confederation of Inclusive Enterprises (France), NASO – National Alliance for Social Responsibility, City of Dobrich (Bulgaria), City of Gleisdorf (Austria), City of Marina de Cudeyo (Spain).

Practical details

The conference will take place at forumKLOSTER - Rathausplatz 5, 8200 Gleisdorf, Austria on 25th April 2023, 10h00-18h30.

Agenda

09:00 – 10:00	Arrival and registration
10:00 – 10:15	Welcome Christoph Stark, Mayor of Gleisdorf, MP and Deputy Chair of the Austrian Association of Cities Franz Wolfmayr, Zentrum für Sozialwirtschaft GmbH (ZfSW) Moderation: Franz Wolfmayr, Zentrum für Sozialwirtschaft GmbH (ZfSW)
10:15 – 11:00	Panel 1: European State of Play: Public Procurement and Employment for Persons with Disabilities Speakers: Valentina Caimi, AEIDL (online) Laura Jones, European Platform for Rehabilitation (online) Moderation: Thomas Bignal, EASPD Head of Policy
11:00 – 13:00	Panel 2: Public Procurement and Employment of Persons with Disabilities at the National Level - the Case of Austria, Germany, and Spain Speakers: Austria: Gerhard Weiner, Expert for sustainable procurement, Austrian “Bundesbeschaffungsagentur” BBG (TBC) Spain: Gustavo Garcia, General Director of Labour of the Government of Cantabria France: Olivier Wendling, Relais 2D, Strasbourg Moderation: Miguel Buitrago, EASPD Research and Development Officer
13:00 – 14:30	Lunch break
14:30 – 16:30	Panel 3: Promising Practices Speakers: The Strasbourg Example: Olivier Wendling - Relais 2D, Strasbourg The example of Wien Work and the City of Vienna: Christoph Parak - Wien Work Are Labels a tool to support social responsible procurement? The Verified Social Enterprise” - Label: Klaus Candussi - atempo Graz The situation in Bulgaria: Zdravka Yordanova - Bulgarian Foundation "St. Nikolay Chudotvorets” Moderation: Henrike Schaum, ZfSW
16:30 – 17:00	Break
17:00 – 17:30	Concluding panel: What’s Next? How to make progress on Public Procurement and Employment of persons with disabilities. Speaker: Dietmar Ogris - Independent Living Association Styria Sabine Rehbichler - arbeit plus - Social Integration Enterprises Austria Philipp Feichtgraber, Austrian Cities Cooperation Thomas Bignal, EASPD Head of Policy Moderation: Peter Nausner ZfSW
17:30 - 17:40	Concluding remarks Speaker: Franz Wolfmayr, ZfSW Thomas Bignal, EASPD Head of Policy
17:40 - 18:30	Networking drinks