The Paris-Est-Marne et Bois Intermunicipal Authority (PEMB) and the Ecolab of the General Commission for Sustainable Development (Ministry of Ecological Transition) were pleased to welcome Katharina Knapton-Vierlich (Head of Unit Public Procurement Policy) and her team in charge of Public Procurement at DG Grow of the European Commission. The meeting took place at the Living-Lab Greentech in Saint-Mandé. This experimental space is the result of a collaboration between Ecolab and PEMB, which brings together 13 local authorities interested in testing innovative green solutions. Created for greentech startups and public buyers, the Living-Lab Greentech aims to support green innovation through access to public procurement, particularly those of local authorities. During this morning, various stakeholders in green innovation and public procurement, local elected officials, and entrepreneurs were able to exchange ideas across different levels: local, national, and European. Julien Weil (Mayor of Saint Mandé, Vice-President of Economic Development and Employment at PEMB, and Vice-President of the Val-de-Marne Departmental Council) opened the meeting by emphasizing the importance of sustainable public procurement as a lever for innovation in the local ecological transition. Frédérique Marquet (Deputy Director of the Innovation and Territorial Experimentation Division at PEMB’s Economic Development and Employment Department) demonstrated the value of territorial dialogue in bringing innovative startup solutions closer to public buyers. PEMB plays precisely this crucial role as an intermediary between sustainable economic operators and public buyers. This involves considering link engineering as an essential vector for promoting green innovations. Thomas Cottinet (Head of Ecolab) discussed the challenges of the Greentech Living-Lab to facilitate cooperation between these innovative stakeholders and local authorities, particularly around innovative and sustainable public procurement. The European Commission delegation was able to discover some of these green solutions: the startups Unico, Keyros, and Urban Canopee. After providing feedback on access to the public market, Clément Marty, CEO of Unico, presented the support the startup received through Ecolab, including training on public procurement for innovation and connections with public buyers. The startup’s feedback highlighted the various potential barriers to experimentation by public buyers. For her part, Servane Gueben-Venière, co-founder of Keyros, emphasized the opportunities offered by the Greentech Living-Lab in Saint Mandé and explained her upcoming target audience in France. Discussions with the European Commission team highlighted potential public procurement opportunities in Belgium and Germany.
Elodie Grimoin, Managing Director of Urban Canopee, presented her experience using Decree No. 2021-1634 of December 13, 2021, relating to innovative procurement. The DG GROW delegation was able to learn about this start-up’s concrete approach, from buyer targeting to purchase order validation, including the type of procurement chosen and the emphasis on innovativeness.
To close the morning, Coralie Coton
(Designer for the Mes Services Greentech project – Ecolab) and Matthieu Humbersot (Project Manager of the Mes Services Greentech project – Ecolab) presented the “Mes Services Greentech” tool. This project, supported by the General Interest Entrepreneur program run by the Prime Minister’s office, is a marketplace-style platform for public buyers, investors, startups, and greentech SMEs to facilitate sourcing and the identification of potential partners. One morning was enough to demonstrate the importance of connections and meetings in the service of innovation… rich exchanges, accompanied by promising initiatives! David Martin-Chevalier
, Public Procurement Policy Officer for Sustainable Innovation at Ecolab: “This morning was very informative for the members of the European Commission, who were able to gain a concrete insight into Ecolab’s mission to accelerate the ecological transition through innovation, as well as learn about the experiences of startups in the field, which are targeting and have already won public contracts. Building connections between stakeholders, stimulating the exchange of experiences, and promoting innovative solutions in the region are key to the ecological transition.”
In attendance: Katharina KNAPTON-VIERLICH (Head of Unit Public Procurement Policy)Julien WEIL (Mayor of Saint Mandé, Vice-President for Economic Development and Employment at PEMB and Vice-President of the Val-de-Marne Departmental Council) Pierre MIROUDOT (Chairman of the Economic Development and Employment Committee at PEMB, City Councilor responsible for businesses, employment, and commerce at Charenton the bridge)Anna LUPI (Legal & Policy Officer at European Commission) Jan SALONI (Official at European Commission)Ivo LOCATELLI (Senior Expert at European Commission)
Samira BOUSSETTA (Innovation/Sustainable Procurement) Caspar EBRECHT (Legal & Policy Officer at the European Commission) Salvatore AMICO ROXAS (Policy Officer at the European Commission – Access to Finance)
Angelique MONNERAYE (Policy Officer at the European Commission)
Valerie GUIGUE-KOEPPEN (Policy Officer at the European Commission)Benoit SPITTLER (Head of Mission, Innovation, Start-ups & Nudge at Ecolab) David MARTIN-CHEVALIER (Innovative and Sustainable Public Procurement Officer, Ecolab)
Lina ALLAOUA (Communications Officer – Ecolab)
- Louise DORIEUX (Support Officer – Ecolab)
- Coralie COTON (Designer for the Mes Services Greentech project – Ecolab)
- Matthieu HUMBERSOT (Head of the Mes Services Greentech project – Ecolab)
- Clément MARTY (CEO of Unico)
- Servane GUEBEN-VENIÈRE (Co-founder of Keyros)
- Elodie GRIMOIN (Executive Director of Urban Canopee)
- Carine FILLOT (Studio Elson)
- Stéphanie MASSON (Studio Elson)
- Sam (Studio Elson)