Practical Seminar Socially Responsible & Green Public Procurement

Rafael HirtOfficer, Sustainable Economy and Procurement, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

Rafael Hirt joined ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - in April 2019 as a Sustainable Economy and Procurement Officer. He is involved in the management and implementation of projects on sustainable, innovative and socially responsible public procurement such as the Buying Social guide, Innovation Brokers, the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the Big Buyers project. Prior to joining ICLEI, Rafael Hirt gained experience working with EIB in Luxemburg (Division NPST3) on fund of funds investments in climate friendly technology and infrastructure. He also worked as a project manager at the German Energy Solutions Initiative (BMWi). Rafael Hirt holds a M.A. in International Public Management and a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Sciences Po Paris.

Hans KröderInternational Sustainability Expert (SDGs, ISO 20400, ISO 26000 and ISO/TC 323 Circular Economy), International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Hans Kröder is international sustainability expert. He was directly involved at the development of two international standards for Social Responsibility (ISO 26000) and Sustainable Procurement (ISO 20400). Both are holistic and practical frameworks for implementing the UN Agenda 2030 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Think global and act local. Since January 2019 he is involved in the new ISO Circular Economy program (TC 323) for the development of several ISO standards. Hans is global Convenor for the ISO/TC 323 ad-hoc group ‘Measuring Circularity’. As Quality Manager for the National Sustainability Institute (NDI) in The Netherlands he developed in 2018 a META approach for CSR based on the best international sustainability frameworks and ISO standards: ISO 26000, ISO 20400, ISO 14064, BS 8001, ISO 45001, GRI and the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct including Due Diligence.

Matthias MaertensAdvisor to the Director General Corporate Services, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg

Matthias Maertens joined the European Investment Bank in 2009 and became responsible for the Procurement Division in 2010. Prior to this, he worked in various positions in the financial service sector in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg as Legal Counsel, Compliance Officer and Managing Director. Within his previous control function responsibilities at the European Investment Bank, he represented the Bank at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in relation to anti-money laundering topics and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in relation to international tax issues.

Dr Reto MalacridaHead of the Government Procurement, World Trade Organization, Switzerland

Dr. Reto Malacrida, LLM, MA (EC Competition Law), LLM is Counsellor and Head of the Government Procurement and Competition Policy Group with the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division of the WTO Secretariat in Geneva. As such, he also acts as Secretary to the WTO Committee on Government Procurement. From 1999 to 2019, Reto was a member of the WTO Legal Affairs Division, where he served as a senior dispute settlement lawyer. Reto is also a visiting lecturer at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Model WTO.

George ParaskevaidisAdministrator, Council of the European Union, General Secretariat, Belgium

George Paraskevaidis is Administrator in the Procurement Coordination Unit of the Finance Directorate within DG Administration of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU. In this capacity he is responsible for the supervision and follow-up of high value procurement procedures, including the improvement of the planning and optimisation of the procurement process, with a strong focus on the legal framework, tendering criteria and optimal evaluation. In his most recent prior positions, George Paraskevaidis was the Head of Finance and Procurement Unit at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) and the Head of Finance Division at the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR).

Marc SteinerJudge, Swiss Federal Administrative Court, Switzerland

Marc Steiner holds a Master of Law from the University of Basel and is admitted to the bar. He has delivered an expertise on Green Public Procurement in Switzerland and issued a working paper on how to integrate social aspects in public procurement processes. Marc Steiner has been appointed as a judge to the Swiss Federal Administrative Court in 2007. He is one of four co-authors of the standard reference work on the practice of public procurement in Switzerland. Mr. Steiner was invited to act as an expert during the public hearing of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee of the European Parliament on "Modernisation of Public Procurement". He is a member of the Advisory Board of Transparency International focusing on integrity in the government procurement process and at the same time a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of swisscleantech, the Swiss association for stakeholders in the green economy, dealing with sustainable (public) procurement issues.

Farid YakerProgramme Officer, United Nations Environment Programme, France

Farid Yaker, Programme Officer, works with UN Environment, Economy division, Economic and Fiscal Policy unit. He has been leading the work of UNEP in the area of Sustainable Public Procurement since 2008. Mr Yaker taught Agricultural economics at the University of Blida, Algeria from 1988 to 1990 before joining the international NGO Enda (Environmental development action) after the Rio summit that he attended in 1992. After managing an international programme on the promotion of participatory approaches in the field of urban environment from 1994 to 1999, Mr Yaker took the direction of the European office of Enda, from 2000 to 2007, before joining UN Environment in 2008. Mr Yaker holds a Masters Degree in Agricultural economics from the University of California at Davis, USA.