The University of Greenwich is part of a successful consortium of ten European Universities which has been awarded the prestigious Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Network (ITN). The project, called SAPIENS -Sustainability and Procurement in International, European, and National Systems- has been awarded with €3.9 million. SAPIENS combines 10 universities from eight countries led by the University of Turin and non-academic partners in seven countries.
The objective of SAPIENS is to foster interdisciplinary research into the evolving use of public procurement to address the social and environmental challenges of the 21st century. This is with a view to create a significantly increased European knowledge base and research capacity on the law, the economics and the business sciences of sustainable public procurement, therefore helping Europe in addressing social and environmental challenges.
At the heart of the project are 15 PhD projects on various multidisciplinary aspects of Sustainable Public Procurement linked to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 15 Early Stage Researchers will attend common training programmes, participate in common public engagement, dissemination and impact activities, and benefit from a number of relevant placements in public institutions, think tanks, lobbyists, and international organisations. The project will not only offer extraordinary global research and training opportunities to these researchers, but will also contribute to increasing the overall quality and innovation of doctoral training in Europe and beyond.
The network is an interdisciplinary collaboration, pooling world-leading researchers from relevant disciplines of law, economics and business studies. Moreover,18 partners, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation, George Washington University, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Electronics Watch and Eating City, as well as national agencies and public purchasers are contributing to the training programme.
This project confirms the leadership of the University of Greenwich in the field of sustainable public procurement research and places Greenwich at the forefront of European research and collaboration.
