Reimagining Transition in Eastern Wielkopolska : recommendations to build a sustainable ecosystem for social entrepreneurship that benefits citizens and local communities affected by the energy transition.
Date: 2024-09-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy
Subjects: EU energy policy, EU initiative, EU policy, EU regional policy, Poland, citizen-authority relations, coal industry, energy transition, entrepreneurship, public procurement, regional development, representative of local or regional authority, social economy, sustainable development, wealth

Reimagining Transition in

Eastern Wielkopolska

Recommendations to build a sustainable 
ecosystem for social entrepreneurship that 
benefits citizens and local communities 
affected by the energy transition

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Directorate-General for Energy 
Directorate B – Just Transition, Consumers, Energy Security, Efficiency and Innovation 
Unit B.1 - Consumers, Local Initiatives, Just Transition

EC-ENER-JUST-TRANSITION@ec.europa.eu

European Commission  
B-1049 Brussels 

ISBN: 978-92-68-18251-2   

    doi: 10.2833/043634 

MJ-05-24-513-EN-N

Manuscript completed in May 2024

1st edition
This document should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position. 
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2024

© European Union, 2024

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Table of contents

Introduction and executive summary 

Strategic and operational context informed by conceptual framework:  
the why and how of supporting social enterprises in Eastern Wielkopolska 

Developments and experiences in public procurement to support social  
enterprises and community wealth building 

Social public procurement in practice 

EU Policy Framework 

Polish Policy Framework 

Public procurement as an instrument for Community Wealth Building 

Three-year Pathway Plan for the development of Social Enterprises to support Community Wealth Building  

Potential opportunities for social enterprise development in Eastern Wielkopolska (linked to CWB) 

5

8

10

10

10

11

12

16

21

Annex 1: Use of public procurement to promote social (and green) economy development 

23

Guidance and support materials for social public procurement 

Social public procurement strategy 

Public procurement planning 

Reserved and ‘light regime’ tendering procedures 

Defining the subject matter of the contract 

Drafting technical specifications 

Defining exclusion and selection criteria: 

Defining award criteria 

Defining contract performance clauses 

Annex 2: Considerations for other Coal+ regions 

23

25

25

26

27

27

27

28

28

30

Acknowledgements

The START team would like to thank Wielkopolska Social Economy Support Centre (WOES) and Europe a Patient for their invaluable 
support and guidance in the delivery of this assignment. We also want to record our thanks to Neil McInroy of The Democracy 
Collaborative for his insights and generosity of thought on Community Wealth Building. Finally, and crucially, we greatly appreciate 
the involvement and contribution of ZE PAK, its workers, local government, social economy enterprises and the Regional Development 
Agency in Konin.

Introduction and executive 
summary

As the only Polish coal region committed to coal 
phase-out by 2030, and climate neutrality by 2040, 
Eastern Wielkopolska is on an ambitious journey of 
transition. Embarking on this journey are communities 
that are highly dependent on lignite mining and power 
generation as providers of employment and incomes. 
To ensure this transition is just (i.e., that transition 
process are inclusive and its outcomes are fair), local 
policy innovators in the public sector and the third 
sector – e.g., local administrations, social enterprises, 
charities, and voluntary groups - are boldly reimagining 
how jobs and wealth can be created and retained within 
these communities. This “reimagining” concerns not 
only affected power plant workers, miners, and their 
families but, also, looks more broadly at impacted groups 
throughout the local population, including its younger 
generations. To this end, the concept of Community 
Wealth Building is being embraced, particularly 
through the promotion and development of local social 
enterprises.

One of the three support pathways proposed for affected 
ZE PAK workers (i.e., current, and former employees), 
which will be co-financed from the EU’s Just Transition 
Fund, is focussed on employment creation in new 
and existing social enterprises. This “social economy 
pathway” targets social enterprises as a vehicle towards 
a dynamic and more sustainable local economy. It is an 
approach that is fully aligned to the Eastern Wielkopolska 
Development Strategy to 2040, which recognises the 
important role that social enterprises can play in creating 
a vibrant economy that delivers jobs and wealth for its 
communities.

Strategic intent and availability of EU funding will not, 
on their own, be enough to bring about the successful 
development and expansion of social enterprises in 
Eastern Wielkopolska. It will require, also, that local 
public sector organisations recognise the crucial role 
that their public procurement decisions can play in 
fostering and sustaining growth of the social economy 
and Community Wealth Building. On average within 
the EU, public procurement equates to 14 percent of 
GDP, meaning that it is a powerful social and economic 
public policy tool which can have a huge impact on 
markets and employment when it is used in a strategic 
and progressive manner. It has been demonstrated in 
other European localities that within the space of five 
years, progressive procurement policies and practices 
can lead to a doubling of the amount of procurement 
spending going to local suppliers and service providers. 
Creating, in turn, hundreds of jobs, and retaining wealth 
in local communities through direct, indirect, and induced 
multiplier effects.

4

The high levels of solidarity for which coal communities 
are renowned can help them to become incubators 
for social economy approaches that both build-on and 
sustain this solidarity. By supporting social enterprise 
development and Community Wealth Building, Eastern 
Wielkopolska could be a notable policy laboratory for 
understanding the role, potential and contribution of 
social enterprises to achieving a Just Transition. The 
implementation and outcomes of Eastern Wielkopolska’s 
ambitions, plans, and activities to support social 
enterprise development will be of relevance to other coal 
regions within and outside Poland that are also striving to 
achieve a Just Transition.

Considering the context outlined above, in 2023 the 
EU Coal Region’s in Transition technical assistance 
programme (START) worked with worked with the 
Wielkopolska Social Economy Support Center (WOES)1 
and “Europe, a Patient” to engage with local stakeholders 
to map the potential opportunities for the development 
of social enterprises and to set out the steps that need 
to be taken in partnership to deliver these opportunities. 
This document is a synthesis of this work. It explains the 
rationale for supporting social enterprise development 
in the context of coal phase-out and attaining Net 
Zero, and how this can be embedded in a framework of 
Community Wealth Building. It considers good practices 
for promoting a Community Wealth Building approach 
to local economic development and social cohesion. It 
outlines the ways that EU and national enabling policies 
and public procurement frameworks can support social 
and sustainability objectives, especially regarding social 
enterprises. Finally, the document outlines a three-year 
pathway plan for developing social enterprises and 
Community Wealth Building in Eastern Wielkopolska and 
identifies some potential opportunities areas where this 
development could be taken forward. 

Crucially, this document is a vehicle to promote 
partnership working in Eastern Wielkopolska; for without 
commitment and collaboration across the public, private 
and third sectors this bold agenda of local change cannot 
be fully realised. 

Based on the outcomes of the work undertaken 
and reported in this document, there are some core 
recommendations for furthering social enterprise 
development and Community Wealth Building in Eastern 
Wielkopolksa. These are:

1.  Wielkopolski Ośrodek Ekonomii Społecznej (WOES) is run by Stowarzyszenie Na Rzecz 
Spółdzielni Socjalnych - The Association for Social Cooperatives, a non-governmental 
organisation that has been operating in the social economy sector for over 10 years.

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1.  Awareness and recognition of the potential 

of the social economy and Community Wealth 
Building to contribute to and accelerate a 
Just Transition away from fossil fuels and 
to attaining Net Zero by 2040 should be 
enhanced. Policy makers, public administrations, 
and other development actors should build-on 
the Eastern Wielkopolska Development Strategy 
until 2040, which foresees promotion of the social 
and solidarity economy as an important element 
of the future development of the region. These 
actors should champion and defend measures to 
develop and support the social economy in the 
region, including using public procurement to boost 
demand for the products and services of social 
economy entities and social enterprises .

2.  Efforts to foster and sustain social economy 

development and Community Wealth Building 
should be cognisant of the wider economic, 
social, and environment challenges of the 
region. Achieving a Just Transition should not 
be seen as limited to addressing the concerns 
of affected businesses and workers. It should 
encompass, also, other groups at risk of being 
negatively affected by the transition or for which 
the transition opens-up new opportunities. In 
particular, young people, whose futures will 
be shaped by any “reimagining” of how jobs 
and wealth are created and retained within 
their communities, need to be engaged and 
energised.

3.  The inherent solidarity of local communities, 
workers, and other stakeholder groups in 
Eastern Wielkopolska should be leveraged 
to generate a broad political and social 
consensus favourable to social economy 
development and Community Wealth Building in 
the region. The underlying values and approach 
of social entrepreneurship resonate strongly with 
the region’s deeply rooted embrace of collective 
solidarity. In this respect, it needs to be recognised 
that social enterprises can play a crucial role in 
creating and delivering social services that are vital 
to many citizens; for example, from care services 
for the elderly and retirees, to providing nurseries 
and kindergartens that can be critical for attracting 
and retaining young families.

4.  A “Partnership for the social economy” should 
be created in Eastern Wielkopolska to take 
forward the region’s efforts towards social 
economy development and Community Wealth 
Building. This partnership should encompass 
a coalition of core actors – e.g., local public 
authorities, social economy representatives, other 

5

institutional and development partners – that 
cooperate based on mutually shared aspirations 
and a common willingness to build a sustainable 
ecosystem for social entrepreneurship in the 
region. It is recommended that the partnership 
is formalised (e.g., through a memorandum of 
understanding or partnership agreement), to 
provide required clarity among the partners on their 
respective roles and responsibilities, and related 
decision-making and communication arrangements, 
including interaction with other stakeholders. This 
should engender a sense of shared responsibilities, 
while ensuring a commitment to inform and 
engage with citizens and communities affected by 
transition so that they feel included in the social 
economy development process.

5.  Collective engagement of key actors directly 
affected in the transition away from fossil 
fuels – ZE PAK management, trade unions, 
employees, and sub-contractors – should be 
deepened and maintained, for example through 
open and regular dialogue. Their involvement in, 
and support for, measures and activities to develop 
and strengthen a social enterprise culture will be 
crucial for realising the potential opportunities of 
the “social economy pathway”.

6.  Policies and concrete measures and actions 
to encourage and support social economy 
development and Community Wealth Building 
should be integrated in the respective future 
business plans of regional and local public 
administrations and related institutions in 
Eastern Wielkopolska. As a first step, each local 
administration (commune) should be encouraged to 
implement an analysis of their public procurement 
spending – both current and expected future 
planned expenditures – to identify potential 
opportunities for social enterprises to deliver 
required works, products, and services. 

7.  Regional and local public authorities should 
take concrete actions to further open their 
procurement to social economy entities, 
including social enterprises. Full use should be 
made of the opportunities and flexibility of the 
legal framework for using public procurement to 
achieve social, environmental, and other objectives 
of common interest. Public procurement plans and 
processes – including the application of reserved 
contracts for social enterprises and insertion of 
social clauses – should be systematically used 
as instruments for supporting and preserving 
local businesses and workplaces, creating and 
maintaining local jobs, and generating incomes in 
local communities. 

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION6

procurement departments and their contractor 
counterparts, together with other concerned 
development partners, to acquire a better 
understanding of the opportunities and obligations 
of social (and green) procurement and its utilisation 
in practice. The intermediary body could support 
public and private entities to establish a consensus 
around shared common social, environmental, 
and other procurement objectives, and it could 
monitor progress towards these goals in Eastern 
Wielkopolska.

12. The three-year pathway plan for social 
economy development and Community 
Wealth Building linked to the potential growth 
opportunities, as outlined in this report, 
should be progressed. The pathway plan outlines 
a series of actions that can contribute to the 
development of local social enterprises and, in turn, 
advance Community Wealth Building in Eastern 
Wielkopolska. Policy makers, public administrations, 
and other development actors, together with social 
economy entities (including social enterprises) 
need to collaborate to create consensus around the 
proposed pathway plan and agree concrete steps 
to further its implementation.

8.  Regional and local public authorities should 
take measures to increase transparency 
and stability of their procurement practices, 
especially as it concerns social enterprises. 
Transparency of procurement could be enhanced 
through more open dialogue with the social 
enterprise community with a view to matching 
procurement needs to the capabilities and 
capacities of social enterprises, or through 
advanced publication of, and consultation on, 
procurement plans and pipelines, and early 
notification of contracts. Stability, would require 
treating the social dimension as a strategic, 
systemic, and constant element of procurement 
behaviour, as opposed to an occasional “add-on”. 
To this end, public authorities should regularly and 
openly consult with social enterprises (e.g., through 
dialogue sessions between municipal authorities 
and social enterprises operating in their location) 
to enhance mutual understanding and build 
more effective cooperation to optimise the social 
dimensions of public procurement.

9.  To promote transparency and ongoing 

dialogue, regional and local public authorities 
should regularly share information and 
analysis on their social public procurement 
performance with stakeholders. For example, 
public authorities could provide annual summaries 
of the value and composition of social public 
procurement and objective measures of contract 
performance, which would provide all interested 
stakeholders with necessary information to monitor 
and assess what has been accomplished, what has 
not worked, and what more needs to be done.

10. To optimise the effectiveness and efficiency 
of social (and green) public procurement, 
a “Partnership for socially responsible 
procurement” covering regional and local 
public procurement bodies should be 
established. The purpose of this “partnership” 
would be to promote collaboration, economies of 
scale, and shared learning among the partners 
with the aim of adopting common approaches 
(i.e., standardisation) and simplifying procurement 
processes so that current spend could be better 
accessed by local suppliers, including social 
enterprises.

11. To support social (and green) economic 
development and Community Wealth 
Building, consideration should be given to the 
creation of an intermediary body dedicated 
to promotion, information and knowledge 
sharing, and monitoring of the social economy 
in Eastern Wielkopolska. This intermediary 
body should advise and support public authority 

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION7

Strategic and operational 
context informed by 
conceptual framework: the 
why and how of supporting 
social enterprises in Eastern 
Wielkopolska

Eastern Wielkopolska is the only coal region in 
Poland with clear commitment to phase-out coal - 
by 2030 at the latest. It also declared an ambition 
to achieve climate neutrality in 2040, ten years 
earlier than the EU target. The sub-region prepared a 
strategy2 outlining its pro-climate approach to socio-
economic development, which responds to the key 
challenges of Eastern Wielkopolska related to global 
warming and climate change, i.e.: decarbonisation of 
the energy sector, fair transformation of the economy 
towards a zero-emission and circular economy, 
revalorisation of existing and development of new 
housing stock towards zero-emission and energy-saving 
construction, transformation of the transport sector 
towards zero-emission transport and preservation of 
biological diversity. In that context, the sub-region plans 
to implement actions leading to increase in energy 
efficiency, increase in the use of renewable energy and 
hydrogen (with particular emphasis on green hydrogen), 
circular economy and clean mobility. 

By 2030, the sub-region plans to end the 
exploitation of coal and phase out its use in 
electricity generation and heating. As a result, in the 
next few years, Eastern Wielkopolska will experience 
profound economic transformation, especially 
in those municipalities with the highest socio-
economic dependence on the exploitation of fossil 
fuels. In addition, the sub-region is currently one of the 
least economically developed areas in Wielkopolska (its 
GDP per capita is 55% of the EU average and 77.5% of 
the Polish national average). In that context, the sub-
region will need to mitigate negative aspects related 
to the transition, but also try to maximise opportunities 
that come with it. Sustaining and optimising local wealth 
creation focused on locally based investments and social 
economy enterprise development offers stakeholders and 
citizens in Eastern Wielkopolska an opportunity to re-
imagine their local economy. Moreover, industrial and coal 
communities, such as the one in Eastern Wielkopolska, 
are characterised by high level of solidarity where social 
enterprises can benefit from and sustain such solidarity, 
thus contributing to a just transition in the region. 

In this regard, the Community Wealth Building 
(CWB) model can be emulated in Eastern 
Wielkopolska to create and harness wealth in 
affected local communities. CWB is an internationally 
recognised model of economic development designed 
to tackle profound challenges facing local economies by 
considering the ways in which wealth is generated and 
retained in communities. The CWB approach seeks to 
transform local economic systems to enable communities 
to have a stake in and benefit from the wealth a local 
economy generates. At its core, CWB seeks to: 

•  create fair work opportunities
•  develop progressive procurement approaches
•  create locally supportive financial systems
•  advance just use of land and property
•  place more assets in the hands of local people and 

communities 

CWB places a strong emphasis on the creation 
and expansion of local social enterprises (such as 
workers co-operatives, social co-operatives and 
other entities engaged in public benefit activities). 
By encouraging and supporting social enterprises, CWB 
aims to create an inclusive and productive economic 
base, in which profit and income are retained locally and 
local supply chains are developed. 

Social economy development is one of the 
measures spelled out in the Eastern Wielkopolska 
Development Strategy until 20403, which foresees the 
promotion of the social and solidarity economy within 
the sub-region. The Strategy proposes to boost demand 
for the products and services of social economy entities 
and social enterprises by promoting their involvement 
in the delivery of social services and encouraging local 
self-governing administrations to open their procurement 
to social enterprises (e.g., using social clauses in public 
procurement). Indeed, public procurement is one of the 
crucial elements for social economy to grow.

Public procurement can be a powerful tool both for 
advancing sustainable economic development and 
for achieving regional or local social objectives. 
Under EU public procurement rules, contracting 
authorities may take multiple aspects into account 
when purchasing works, goods, or services. Through 
public procurement that takes into account social and 
environmental goals, public authorities can promote 
employment opportunities, up and reskilling of the 
workforce, decent work, social inclusion, gender equality 
and non-discrimination, accessibility, and seek to achieve 
wider compliance with social standards.4 Local public 
authorities can include social considerations in different 
stages of public procurement procedures to achieve 

2.  Strategy for Climate Neutrality of Eastern Wielkopolska until 2040, https://

wbpp.poznan.pl/download//129/strategia_na_rzecz_neutralnosci_klimatycznej_
wielkopolska_wschodnia_2040.pdf 

3.  https://arrtransformacja.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SRWW-przyjeta.pdf
4.  https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/44504 

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION8

F I G U R E   1 :   C O N C E P T U A L   F R A M E W O R K   F O R   S U P P O R T I N G   S O C I A L   E N T E R P R I S E S   I N   E A S T E R N 

W I E L K O P O L S K A

Local 
Authorities

Youth

ZE PAK 
Workers

Regional Development Agency
European Commission etc.

social and environmental objectives (see Annex 1: Use 
of public procurement to promote social (and green) 
economy development). Therefore, local governments 
in Eastern Wielkopolska can directly support the 
development of social economy enterprises in 
their sub-region by purchasing works, products, or 
services delivered by their local social enterprises.

The workers and local communities in Eastern 
Wielkopolska have been and will continue to be 
negatively impacted by the phase out of coal activities as 
ZE PAK gradually decommissions coal fired power plants 
and plans to cease mining activities by 2030.5 To support 
the affected workers in the transition, a “social economy 
pathway” which will allow ZE PAK workers to find 
employment in new and existing co-operatives and 
social enterprises has been proposed as one of the 
supporting mechanisms to be co-financed from the Just 
Transition Fund.

5.  Employment at ZE PAK (including subsidiaries) was approximately 5,300 in 2018. 
It dropped to around 3,330 in 2022 and is expected to decreased further to 
approximately 1,750 in 2026 and stay at this level until 2029, when approximately 
additional 850 people will lose their jobs. After 2030 around 800-900 of employees 
will maintain employment at the Konin Power Plant and companies unrelated to 
mining (including those related to the development of renewable energy). 

In terms of workers characteristics, nearly all ZE PAK 
workers have a profound sense of belonging to their 
communities and are committed to finding alternate 
employment locally. Moreover, they have higher 
educational levels compared with local standards, 
display a notable desire for relatively well salaried, 
stable employment in a workplace that values collective 
endeavour, and show general willingness to learn new 
skills and openness to working in alternate sectors6. 
Given the workers characteristics, the labour market 
conditions in Eastern Wielkopolska, and the available 
support on the ground to develop social enterprises, the 
social economy pathway can offer a viable employment 
alternative. Accordingly, the social and solidarity economy 
can be an effective vehicle for delivering a just transition 
in accordance with Eastern Wielkopolska’s ambitions for 
decarbonisation of economic activities, environmental 
sustainability, and social solidarity. A regional 
transformation model which relies on expansion of 
social enterprises keeps in sight the main goal of 
the ongoing energy transition: ensuring stable jobs 
and good quality of life for the local community. 

6.  https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-10/Assessment%20of%20

Development%20Opportunities%20for%20Social%20Economy%20Enterprises%20
in%20Eastern%20Wielkopolska%20-%20START%20technical%20assistance.pdf 

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITIONDevelopments and experiences 
in public procurement to 
support social enterprises and 
community wealth building

Social public procurement in practice

European and national-level legal frameworks 
provide the flexibility for contracting authorities to 
use public procurement in a more strategic manner 
that can support social economy development 
and improve the access of social enterprises to 
public markets. Although it is beyond the scope of this 
report to offer detailed guidance on the development 
and implementation of social public procurement 
approaches, Annex A1 highlights some key aspects of 
the possibilities for promoting social public procurement 
available in current legal frameworks, and for developing 
and implementing effective social public procurement at 
regional and local levels. It also indicates some of many 
already existing sources of information, guidance, and 
good practice examples for using public procurement to 
promote social (and green) economy development.

Although legal frameworks provide the flexibility 
for innovative and progressive approaches, it is 
fair to say that the full potential of social public 
procurement is far from being fully utilised. For this 
reason, the recent European Council Recommendation on 
developing social economy framework conditions (see 
Section EU Policy Framework) calls upon Member States 
to do more to foster the use of socially responsible public 
procurement. In the Polish case, recent developments 
in the legal framework (see Section Polish Policy 
Framework) have transposed European procurement 
directives and established solutions to support social 
entrepreneurship and development of the social economy 
in the country. Still, there is scope to do more promote 
the utilisation of public procurement to achieve social 
(and green) development objectives; for example, 
increasing knowledge and building capacity among 
regional and local-level public authorities and economic 
operators, design of socially responsible procurement 
procedures that encourage bidding by SMEs and social 
economy enterprises, and promotion of market dialogue 
between end users, potential social economy suppliers 
and public buyers.

9

EU Policy Framework

The European Commission actively promotes the 
development of social economy enterprises and 
organisations, through developing the conditions 
to allow them to compete effectively and fairly, 
without regulatory discrimination and considering their 
particular needs. Under the European Action Plan on 
Social Economy (2021), the Commission proposed to act 
in three main areas:

1.  Creating the right conditions for the social 
economy to thrive, with a focus on adaptation 
of taxation, public procurement, and State aid 
frameworks to the needs of the social economy.

2.  Opening opportunities for social economy 
organisations to start up and scale up, by 
increasing financial support to the social economy7. 
To this end, among other actions, the Commission 
launched a new EU Social Economy Gateway in 
2023 to ensure social economy actors can find 
all the information they need in one place on EU 
funding, policies, training and initiatives.

3.  Making sure the social economy and its 

potential are recognised, for example, through 
collection of improved qualitative and quantitative 
data to better understand the social economy 
across and organisation of training courses for 
public officials to promote the social economy at 
regional and local levels and fostering cross-border 
exchanges.

In June 2023, the European Commission set out concrete 
measures to support the social economy in the form 
of a proposed European Council Recommendation 
on developing social economy framework conditions. 
On 9 October 2023, political agreement on the 
Recommendation was reached, meaning that it will be 
shortly formally adopted, after which Member States 
will have two years to adopt or update their national 
strategies on the social economy.8 

Regarding public procurement, the Council 
Recommendation (§ 14-16) asks that Member States 
improve social economy entities’ access to markets 
by fostering the use of socially responsible public 
procurement in line with the possibilities offered by the 
current European legal framework on public procurement 
and supporting cooperation between social economy 
entities and mainstream businesses. Essentially, this 
recommendation recognises that although EU public 
procurement rules provide the flexibility for contracting 

7.  Under InvestEU, the allocation for budgetary guarantees and financial instruments in 

the social sector under is increased to €2.8billion, compared to the previous long-term 
EU budget amount of €2.2 billion.

8.  See: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/10/09/social-

economy-council-recommends-member-states-tap-its-full-potential/

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 0

authorities to use public procurement in a more strategic 
manner by setting innovative, green, and social criteria 
(see Section Social public procurement in practice), most 
tenders are still awarded solely based on price9, putting 
social enterprises committed to providing societal and 
collective benefits at a disadvantage. Accordingly, the 
proposed Council Recommendation calls on Member 
states to: 

•  adopt policy tools to foster the uptake of 

socially responsible and innovative solutions 
in public procurement (e.g., policy guidance 
and procurement strategies, raising awareness, 
confirming and monitoring compliance with social 
and labour obligations, encouraging dialogue with 
the social economy and other stakeholders);
•  make better use of the flexible provisions 
under the existing legal framework (e.g., 
fostering market dialogue, reserving contracts 
for social enterprises, setting proportionate and 
inclusive selection criteria, using social award 
criteria in line with the ‘most economically 
advantageous tender’ rule and social contract 
clauses, setting performance or functional 
requirements including in technical specifications) 
(see Annex 1: Use of public procurement to 
promote social (and green) economy development);

•  foster cooperation between social economy 
entities and mainstream businesses (e.g., 
raising awareness and promoting best practices 
to involve social enterprises in supply/value 
chains (e.g. ‘buy social’), provision of mentoring, 
matchmaking, and facilitation services, support 
social enterprise employees to gain experience on 
the open labour market, helping social economy 
entities to make the best use of new technologies).

Polish Policy Framework

There are solutions supporting social 
entrepreneurship in the Polish national legal order, 
as evidenced, for example, by the new regulation 
of the Public Procurement Law that inter alia 
implements pro-social solutions resulting from European 
Union public procurement law.10 Solutions supporting 
social entrepreneurship are also contained in the Act 
of 5 August 2022 on social economy (effective from 
30 October 2022), which is the first attempt to legally 
regulate the social economy in Poland. 

Currently, the national legal order ensures the functioning 
of solutions supporting social entrepreneurship, notably 
through the following legal acts:

9.  See: Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2021) 373 accompanying the 

European Action Plan on Social Economy

10.  The Public Procurement Law of 11 September 2019 (“PPL”) came into force on 1 

January 2021. The Public Procurement Law implements the EU Directive 2014/24/EU 
on public procurement, repealing Directive 2004/18/EC.

1.  The Law on Social Economy of August 5, 2022, 

which contains provisions regulating:

a.  the organisation and principles of operation of 

a social enterprise;

b.  rules for obtaining and losing the status of a 
social enterprise and supervision of a social 
enterprise;

c.  instruments of support for the social 

enterprise;

d.  principles and forms of support for the 

development of social economy by public 
administration bodies;

e.  protection of personal data in connection with 
the implementation of the objectives under 
the Act

2.  The Public Procurement Law of September 11, 
2019, which contains provisions on the tools for 
supporting social entrepreneurship, including social 
aspects as well as tools for realizing environmental 
aspects in the procedure of spending public 
funds. This Law includes a clause allowing for 
the reservation of certain public procurement to 
entities whose goal is the social and professional 
reintegration of socially excluded persons and 
employing such persons (features of a social 
enterprise). It also includes clauses allowing for 
an evaluation procedure to take account of how 
the bid will meet social or environmental aspect 
indicated in the contract.

3.  The Act on Social Cooperatives of April 27, 

2006, which contains provisions defining the rules 
for the establishment, operation, merger, and 
liquidation of social cooperatives, which is the basic 
form of running a social enterprise.

4.  The Act on Public Benefit Activity and 

Volunteerism of April 24, 2003, which contains 
provisions regulating the area of public benefit, 
which is an important element in the functioning of 
social entrepreneurship.

5.  The provisions of acts regulating the 

functioning of individual categories of social 
economy entities referred to in the Law on Social 
Economy, including associations, foundations, 
occupational therapy workshops and vocational 
activity establishments, social integration centres 
and social integration clubs, labour cooperatives, 
associations of local government units, church legal 
entities and capital law companies operating in the 
form of “non-profit”.

These legal acts provide the basis for the implementation 
of European Union regulations governing social 
enterprises and social entrepreneurship in Poland, and for 
pursuing the European Commission’s recommendations 

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 1

Public procurement as an instrument for 
Community Wealth Building

As previously noted, one of the five central aims of 
Community Wealth Building is to develop progressive 
local procurement approaches.12 Two places in the 
United Kingdom are seen as international exemplars 
of using public procurement to support Community 
Wealth Building: Preston in northern England; and North 
Ayrshire in south-west Scotland. Both places contain 
many communities that have in recent history suffered 
from industrial restructuring and significant associated 
negative socio-economic impacts. The two cases are 
provided to illustrate good-practice and lessons regarding 
public procurement to support Community Wealth 
Building that have relevance to Eastern Wielkopolska.

for the creation of appropriate legal and support 
conditions for systemic development of the social 
economy (e.g., Law on Social Economy) and solutions 
to promote social responsibility in public procurement 
procedures (e.g., Public Procurement Law). For example, 
the Law on Social Economy guarantees support to 
social economy entities by enabling them to use various 
support instruments and by specifying the principles 
and forms of support for development of the social 
economy to be provided by public administration bodies 
in cooperation with social economy support centres.

Regardless of the outlined national legal framework, 
social economy entities - including social enterprises 
-have for many years had the opportunity to benefit 
from free support through a network of social economy 
support centres operating throughout the country. The 
quality of such services is under the responsibility of 
the Minister in charge of the social security department, 
who is responsible for issuing decisions on accreditation 
and status of a social economy support centre.11 Social 
economy support centres also play an important role in 
educational activities to disseminate knowledge about 
the social economy and to promote pro-social public 
procurement which, although supported under the Public 
Procurement Law, is not obligatory.

Furthermore, under the coordination of actions for the 
development of social economy, which was regulated 
by the Social Economy Act, dissemination of knowledge 
about the social economy is also part of the activities 
of the Minister responsible for social security. One key 
aspect has been to raise awareness and sensitise public 
officials - especially at the municipal level - to the use of 
pro-social tools in their decisions on how to spend public 
funds. Social economy support centres have contributed 
to this activity through the creation of partnerships 
between public entities and social economy entities 
within the framework of the applicable standards of 
operation.

11.  Accreditation and status of a social economy support centre are granted for a period 

not exceeding 2 years

12.  The other four relate to creating fair work opportunities, creating a locally supportive 
financial system, the just use of land and property, and placing more assets in the 
hands of local communities.

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 2

The “Preston Model”, Europe’s Community Wealth Building Exemplar, Preston City Council, England

Context:
Preston is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire. The city has a population of 114,000; a figure 
that rises to over 300,000 when adjacent communities are included. Like many cities in Northern England, the area 
witnessed significant economic restructuring from the 1980s onwards, leading to high unemployment and a loss of 
local income. Just over a decade ago, the unemployment rate in Preston was 15% (2012). However, in November 
2018 Preston was named the “Most improved city in UK”, with unemployment down to 3.1% and improvements 
above the national average for health, transport, work-life balance, and for the skills among both the youth and adult 
populations. Many of these gains have been attributed to the city adopting Community Wealth Building principles 
from 2013 onwards. The resulting “Preston Model” is seen as an exemplar in the UK, Europe and globally for policy 
makers interested in sustainable, community-centered development.

Good practice:
Progressive procurement policy and practice is a key part of Preston’s Community Wealth Building approach; 
ensuring that procurement processes are made simpler for potential local and regional suppliers and that the 
procurement of goods and services can benefit local communities. Preston demonstrates how the scale of local 
procurement can change in a relatively short timeframe, if there is buy-in and planned and coordinated action 
amongst public sector actors. Over a five-year period, from 2012/13, locally retained spend increased within Preston 
from 5% to 18% and within Lancashire from 39% to 79%, representing a rise of £74m in Preston and £200m in 
Lancashire, respectively.
This success in increasing the share of local public sector spend was built on utilising national procurement 
legislation and local political commitment and innovation; which made the area an international and national 
exemplar for Community Wealth Building and progressive local procurement.
The Public Services (Social Value) Act came into force on 31 January 2013. The Act encourages commissioners 
to talk to their local provider market or community to design better services, often finding new and innovative 
solutions to difficult problems. Social value will be evaluated based on qualitative responses from bidders, and not 
on volumes. This means that larger suppliers are not able to win on scale alone; all bidders must set out what they 
will deliver and how they will deliver it and it is this information that will be scored in bid evaluations. The minimum 
weighting that should be applied to social value is 10%.
This success in increasing the share of local public sector spend was also built on rigorous research and evidence, 
commitment and co-ordination across local /regional anchor organisations (i.e., local councils, universities, colleges, 
local housing bodies and local emergency services), and having a clear pathway for implementing progressive 
procurement policy and practice.
Key steps in its pathway to increasing local procurement included: development of a Procurement Practitioners’ 
Group, led by and managed by Preston City Council, involving the anchor organisations; research to identify scale 
and sources of potential local / regional procurement spend across the anchor organisations and its assess potential 
local / regional economic impact; development of a shared procurement strategy; development of a dynamic 
supplier database, including local and regional social enterprise suppliers; breaking contracts down into smaller lots 
to encourage smaller enterprises and social enterprises to bid; a dedicated tenders and procurement webpage; and 
regular meet the Buyer events.
Additionally, an agreement was established between public sector organisations and local social enterprises to 
simplify the procurement process to the latter’s advantage. The agreement included: a commitment to simplicity 
and proportionality within public sector procurement (i.e., to make the process commensurate to the size of a 
potential tendering organisation and the amount of money involved); standardisation of the procurement process, 
where possible, across public sector organisations; adequate advance notice of public procurement opportunities to 
enable sufficient resource planning prior to the bidding process; and ongoing learning, communications and capacity 
development support. 

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 3

The “Preston Model”, Europe’s Community Wealth Building Exemplar, Preston City Council, England

Lessons for Eastern Wielkopolska:
The case of Preston demonstrates how progressive procurement can fundamentally improve a local economy and 
generate and retain wealth in local communities. Key lessons:

•  Progressive Procurement is a vital enabling dimension of Community Wealth Building
•  It requires joined up working and shared ambition across local anchor organisations, although one organisation 

can act as the main co-ordinating partner

•  Undertaking research to identify scale and sources of potential local / regional procurement spend is important 

for building political commitment and targeting areas of greatest opportunity

•  An agreement between public sector organisations and local social enterprises encourages the latter can make 
the investment of resources to compete for local contracts in the knowledge that their offer and contribution is 
understood and valued, and that their unique role as a local development partner is recognised

•  Progressive public procurement requires detailed planning over several years; a pathway of change needs to be 

designed and implemented.

Sources
https://cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CLES_Preston-Document_WEB-AW.pdf
https://www.preston.gov.uk/media/926/Preston-s-Procurement-Strategy/pdf/Preston_City_Council_Procurement_
Strategy.pdf?m=637958314579370000
https://www.preston.gov.uk/article/3481/Progressive-procurement
https://www.preston.gov.uk/media/2508/CWB-and-Procurement-Activity-in-Preston/pdf/CWB_and_Procurement_
Activity_in_Preston.pdf?m=638246912498470000
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-value-act-information-and-resources/social-value-act-
information-and-resources

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 4

Scotland’s First Community Wealth Building local authority, North Ayrshire, Scotland

Context:
North Ayrshire is an area that is both urban and rural in character. Its administrative centre, Irvine, has a population 
of 34,000, and the overall local authority area has a population of 134,000. Irvine is a new town, created in 1966 
beside an adjacent older town. The new town provided a workforce for several large enterprises, in sectors such as 
chemicals and engineering, which provided high wages. However, closures and severe downsizing in the private sector, 
especially among the large enterprises, led to unemployment and a significant loss of local income in the town and 
other North Ayrshire communities. To respond to these challenges, the local authority was the first in Scotland to adopt 
a Community Wealth Building strategy for local development in 2020, an accolade that has ensured a high level of 
national interest and government attention.

Good practice:
North Ayrshire Council is committed to maximising Community Benefits from its procurement activities and build 
economic, social and environmental considerations into the delivery of all Council contracts. To this end, the Council 
and other local anchor organisations (the local college, health service and police) have innovatively interpreted the 
Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014.
Any contractor/supplier/service provider is required to actively participate in the economic and social regeneration 
of North Ayrshire. To ensure this, the tender process follows a “Minimum Requirement” route in which tenderers are 
required to complete a “Community Benefits Requirements Template” identifying commensurate and appropriate 
community benefits for each contract. This information needs to demonstrate that the specific mandatory Community 
Benefits within an Invitation to Tender document will be delivered. This is a pass/fail minimum requirement. Tenderers 
are also encouraged to propose additional voluntary Community Benefits. The information on community benefits is 
not scored as part of the tender evaluation, although it is included as part of the evaluation at the award stage. The 
delivery of the stated benefits is a contractual requirement. 
North Ayrshire’s procurement rules also ensure that private sector enterprises work with and support third sector 
organisations (TSOs) wherever possible. TSOs are deemed in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, as bodies, 
other than those established under an enactment, which exist to provide benefits for society and/or the environment. 
To this end, private sector contractors need to confirm and provide details in their tender on how they will: assist 
in delivering the Councils aspiration that one or more TSOs are awarded work through the contract; ensure that 
subcontracting opportunities are accessible to TSOs; work with TSOs from North Ayrshire and provide support in their 
area of expertise to assist their development.

Lessons for Eastern Wielkopolska:
North Ayrshire’s economic and social structures and the challenges it faces are in many respects similar to Eastern 
Wielkopolska. Key lessons are:

•  Public authorities and other local anchor organisations need to be innovative in their procurement behaviour, 

taking advantage of the flexibility available in national legislation to promote social and environmental 
considerations and deliver community benefits. 

•  Tender scoring is not the only means to ensure that Community Wealth Building and TSO development objectives 

are met; a “Minimum Requirement” criterion can also be effective.

•  Anchor organisations in a locality should act in unison regarding procurement, thereby creating greater policy 

leverage and economic impact.

•  Private sector enterprises can be actively encouraged to work with TSOs in the delivery of contracts, especially 

larger contracts, by making them state how they will comply with this contractual requirement in the procurement 
process.

•  Active promotion of local CWB practices in the national media and national policy circles brings significant 

national attention and “soft” support to a locality.

Sources
https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/council/community-wealth-building/community-wealth-building.aspx
https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/council/community-wealth-building/keep-it-local.aspx
https://www.gov.scot/policies/cities-regions/community-wealth-building/
https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/sustainable-procurement-duty/
https://www.preston.gov.uk/media/820/Creating-a-good-local-economy-through-procurement-procure-network-
partners-and-URBACT/pdf/pages-de-procure-state-of-the-art.pdf?m=638112811427730000

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 5

Three-year Pathway Plan for the 
development of Social Enterprises to support 
Community Wealth Building 

A pathway plan informed by progressive international 
public procurement policy and practice and national and 
local legislation and approaches has been created to 
map the development of local social enterprises and, 
in turn, advance Community Wealth Building in Eastern 
Wielkopolska.

The pathway has a three-year time horizon and is built 
around five objectives with related actions, aims, main 
target groups and timings. It is a relatively top-level 
prescription. One that avoids micro-planning to ensure 
that changes in what will be a fluid context of delivery 
can be accommodated and the pathway’s relevance 
remains over time.

O B J E C T I V E   1 :   A D V O C A C Y ,   A W A R E N E S S ,   B U Y - I N   A N D   C O O R D I N A T I O N

Aim

Main target group

Action

1.1 

Planned political 
engagement

1.2

Planned 
beneficiary 
engagement

To explain benefits of 
progressive procurement and 
Community Wealth Building to 
regional and local politicians 
and gain buy-in

To reach out and explain 
benefits of social enterprises 
to potential founders and 
employees

1.3

Planned 
information 
campaign

To explain the benefits of social 
enterprises and linkages to 
social (and green) economic 
development and a Community 
Wealth Building approach

1.4

1.5

Create a 
“Partnership 
for the social 
economy”

To drive and coordinate the 
region’s efforts for social 
economy development and 
Community Wealth Building, 
linked to the creation of an 
intermediary body

Promote and 
publicise Eastern 
Wielkopolska’s 
experience of 
social enterprise 
development and 
CWB

To share experience and 
successes at regional, national, 
and international levels
To make Eastern Wielkopolska 
an exemplar of progressive and 
innovative social (and green) 
procurement policy and practice

Timeline

Year 1

Year 1 – 3

Year 1 – 2 

Year 1-2

Regional and local politicians 
and senior officials of public 
administrations

ZE PAK workers, former ZE PAK 
workers, workers from ZE PAK 
subcontractors and suppliers.
Persons sharing a household 
with workers from the 
abovementioned groups
Other impacted or vulnerable 
groups (e.g., young people)

Target groups identified under 
Action 1.2
Other key representative and 
development actors (e.g. ZE 
PAK, trade unions, labour market 
bodies, business support bodies, 
civil society organisations)
General public (citizens) and 
actors in affected communities

A coalition of core actors – e.g., 
local public authorities, social 
economy representatives, other 
institutional and development 
partners

Regional, national, and 
international policy makers and 
interested parties 

Year 2 - 3

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 6

Timeline

Year 1

Action

2.1 

2.2

2.3

O B J E C T I V E   2 :   P O L I C Y   A N D   A D M I N I S T R A T I V E   C E R T A I N T Y   A N D   T R A N S P A R E N C Y

Aim

Main target group

Interpretation 
of national 
procurement 
policy

To establish – identify and 
clarify –possibilities to facilitate 
and implement progressive 
procurement practices within the 
framework of national legislation

WOES, local government, and 
other appropriate public sector 
bodies

WOES and related beneficiaries

Year 1 

WOES and related beneficiaries

Year 1

Building 
consensus, and 
approval for the 
“social economy 
pathway” of 
the ZE PAK 
Worker’s Support 
Programme

Interpretation 
of national and 
local business 
regulations, 
ordinances, and 
administrative 
requirements

To detail and clarify the scope 
of activities, resources, and 
anticipated outcomes of the 
“social economy pathway”
To build consensus, gain 
approval, and secure “buy-in” 
of delivery partners, recipients/
beneficiaries, and other 
promotors/collaborators of the 
“social economy pathway”

To establish – identify and 
clarify – rules and administrative 
requirements for the creation, 
operation, and conduct of 
commercial activities of social 
enterprises
To ensure operational certainty 
and optimal commercial 
conditions for social enterprise 
(e.g., clarification of fiscal 
obligations and arrangements)

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 7

Timeline

Year 1

O B J E C T I V E   3 :   P A R T N E R S H I P   A N D   K N O W L E D G E   F O R   P R O G R E S S I V E   P U B L I C   P R O C U R E M E N T

Aim

Main target group

Action

3.1 

Creation of a 
public procurement 
practitioners 
forum

3.2

Creation of social 
public procurement 
monitoring system

To assemble all main local public 
procurement bodies (“anchor 
organisations”) to promote 
collaboration, exchange of 
experience, and shared learning on 
social public procurement
The forum will focus on the 
technical and operational aspects 
of public procurement

To put in place a mutually agreed 
system to collectively track change 
in local social procurement spend 
in the short and long-term
To provide information to assess 
procurement performance and to 
support modification of policy and 
practice accordingly

3.3

Establishing a 
public procurement 
baseline

To identify the scale and sources 
of local / regional procurement 
spend across the “anchor 
organisations” 

To establish the characteristics of 
public procurement spending (e.g., 
scope, gaps, local retention, and 
leakage)
To identify opportunities to 
improve access for local suppliers 
(including social enterprises) to 
public procurement contracts
To evaluate the consequential 
monetary, economic, and social 
benefits of improved local supplier 
access

To ensure common, transparent 
ambition and a consistent, 
structured approach across 
“anchor organisations” 

3.4

3.5

3.6

Assessment of 
opportunities to 
enhance social 
public procurement 
and retention of 
expenditures in the 
local economy 

Creation of a 
multi-annual, 
multi-partner 
strategy for 
progressive 
procurement

Implementation 
of a social public 
procurement 
monitoring system

Local government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies (with input from WOES, 
the “Partnership for the social 
economy” and subsequent 
intermediary body) 

Year 1

Local government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies (with input from WOES, 
the “Partnership for the social 
economy” and subsequent 
intermediary body)

Local government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies (with input from WOES, 
the “Partnership for the social 
economy” and subsequent 
intermediary body)

Local government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies (with input from WOES, 
the “Partnership for the social 
economy” and subsequent 
intermediary body)

Local government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies (with input from WOES, 
the “Partnership for the social 
economy” and subsequent 
intermediary body)

Year 1 - 2

Year 1 - 3

Year 2

Year 2 - 3

To undertake annual monitoring of 
local / regional procurement spend 
and assess performance.
To adjust policy and practice 
accordingly, and promote 
transparency

Local government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies (with input from WOES, 
the “Partnership for the social 
economy” and subsequent 
intermediary body)

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 8

O B J E C T I V E   4 :   R E D E S I G N   O F   L O C A L   P R O C U R E M E N T   S Y S T E M S

Action

4.1 

Redesign 
of public 
procurement 
contracting 
processes

4.2

Design of bidding 
requirements 
and criteria, etc. 

4.3

Promotion of 
cooperation 
between private 
sector and social 
enterprises for 
delivery of public 
procurement 
projects

4.4

Implementation 
of procurement 
system redesign

Aim

Main target group

Timeline

To make contracting processes easier for 
social enterprises

For example, through:

Local government and 
other appropriate public 
sector bodies

Year 1

•  Simplify and standardise procurement 

procedures and documents (e.g. 
bidding forms)

•  Enhance consultation and market 

dialogue

•  Enhance transparency and planning 
(e.g. prior information and advanced 
notice)

•  Division of larger contracts into lots
•  Use of reserved and “light regime” 

procurement and framework contracts

To allow social enterprises to compete more 
effectively for local contracts

For example, through inclusion of social 
aspects in:

•  Technical specifications
•  Exclusion, selection, and award criteria
•  Performance requirements

To inform private sector entities of 
opportunities and approaches to working 
with social enterprises when bidding for and 
delivering public procurement contracts
To motivate private sector entities to 
integrate social enterprises in their bids 
for (larger) public procurement contracts 
(e.g., through tendering requirements 
to demonstrate social benefits and/or 
sub-contracting opportunities that will be 
accessible to social enterprises)
To support and enhance mutually beneficial 
cooperation between private sector entities 
and social enterprises for the delivery of 
(larger) public procurement contracts

To operationalise the programme of public 
procurement policy and practice changes 
and, thereby, to create a progressive 
procurement system that supports 
involvement of social enterprise and 
promotes Community Wealth Building

Local government and 
other appropriate public 
sector bodies

Year 1

Local government and 
other appropriate public 
and private sector 
bodies

Year 1

Local government and 
other appropriate public 
sector bodies

Year 2

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION1 9

O B J E C T I V E   5 :   S O C I A L   E N T E R P R I S E   C R E A T I O N ,   C A P A C I T Y   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   D E M O N S T R A T I O N 

P R O J E C T S

Action

Aim

Main target group

Timeline

5.1 

Implement a 
programme of 
social enterprise 
recruitment

To identify, engage and mobilise founders 
and employees of social enterprises through 
training, counselling, and business plan 
support

5.2 Implement a 

programme of 
social enterprise 
support

To build capacity in emergent, new, and 
existing social enterprises through training, 
counselling, expert services, and advice 
(financial, legal, marketing, etc.)

Year 1 - 3

ZE PAK workers, former ZE PAK 
workers, workers from ZE PAK 
subcontractors and suppliers.
Persons sharing a household 
with workers from the 
abovementioned groups
Other impacted or vulnerable 
groups (e.g., young people)

Emergent, new, and existing 
social enterprises

Year 1 - 3

5.3 Create a suppliers 

database

To create a living database of social 
enterprises that can be referenced by 
“anchor organisations” to identify and 
engage with potential suppliers of “socially 
responsible” works, products, and services

Social enterprises, local 
government, and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies

5.4 Enhance market 

transparency and 
dialogue 

To improve transparency, information 
exchange, and dialogue between public 
sector contracting bodies and social 
enterprises

Social enterprises, local 
government, and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies

Year 1 - 3

Year 1 - 3

For example, through a program of 
regular “Meet the buyer” events, to share 
information on procurement intentions and 
potential “socially responsible” delivery 
options

To formalise mutually agreed commitments 
to promote and facilitate social enterprises 
access to the public procurement market

For example, through a Memorandum 
of Understanding between public sector 
organisations and local social enterprises 
to work together to find solutions to 
improve access to the latter’s advantage 
(e.g. redesign and simplifying of the 
procurement process, enhanced market 
dialogue, etc.), while avoiding distortion of 
competition

To demonstrate the economic, social, 
and environmental benefits of “socially 
responsible” public procurement policies and 
processes and the constructive engagement 
and inclusion of social enterprises in the 
delivery of public procurement contracts

5.5 Establish an 

agreement to 
promote social 
enterprises’ access 
to procurement 
markets 

5.6 Deliver a 

programme of 
demonstration 
projects

Social enterprises, local 
government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies

Year 2

Local government and other 
appropriate public sector 
bodies

Year 2 – 3

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 0

Potential opportunities for social enterprise 
development in Eastern Wielkopolska (linked 
to CWB)

Identifying and prioritising potential 
opportunities for Social Economy Enterprises

Based on a previous synthesis of data and information13, 
a concise SWOT analysis has been created to illuminate 
key local considerations to assist identification and 
prioritisation of opportunities for the creation and 
expansion of social economy enterprises.

T A B L E   1 :   E A S T E R N   W I E L K O P O L S K A :   S W O T   A S S E S S M E N T

Strengths

Weaknesses

•  Agriculture / arable land 
•  Central location and connectivity 
•  Education, skills, attributes of ZE PAK workers 
•  External profile for green transition
•  High levels of community belonging/affiliation 
•  Local construction and industrial processing

•  Aging population 
•  Brownfield sites / former industrial sites 
•  Entrepreneurial culture 
•  Housing stock and energy efficiency 
•  Out-migration of young families and people 
•  Service sector 

Opportunities

Threats

•  Contracting tax base and public services 
•  Declining incomes and local wealth
•  Demographic imbalance
•  Digital exclusion
•  Energy poverty 
•  Increase in vulnerable groups 
•  Loss of community cohesion / resilience

Assessment of potential opportunities

Based on the above SWOT and criteria, eight indicative 
opportunities for the creation and expansion of local co-
operatives have been identified for further consideration. 
Although this is not a definitive list, it illustrates the 
breadth of opportunities that exist.

•  Energy efficiency and retrofitting of buildings
•  Circular economy
•  Green mobility
•  Growing national expenditure on food, health and 

care 

•  Public procurement and public sector reform
•  Restoration of brownfield sites
•  Social & care services e.g., for old and young
•  Tourism (e.g., cycling)

Criteria for selection

To facilitate selections and prioritisation of opportunities 
a set of criteria was identified:

i. Addresses several dimensions of the SWOT 

analysis

ii. Fit with skills of affected workers 
iii. Fit with aspirations and working culture of affected 

workers

iv. Availability of funding and support and policy fit
v. Demand and sustainability of opportunity
vi. Level of displacement
vii. Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

13.  Please see the report Assessment of Development Opportunities for Social 

Economy Enterprises in Eastern Wielkopolska 
https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/oil-gas-and-coal/eu-coal-regions/start-
technical-assistance_en

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 1

T A B L E   2 :   E A S T E R N   W I E L K O P O L S K A :   S U M M A R Y   R A T I O N A L E   F O R   O P P O R T U N I T Y   S E L E C T I O N 

Opportunity

Rationale for Selection

Brownfield site 
rehabilitation

Circular economy

•  Addresses Weakness and Opportunity (e.g., tourism)
•  Fit with skills of affected workers
•  Fit with aspirations and working culture of affected workers 
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity (in medium term)
•  Low level of displacement (new activity) 
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

•  Addresses Opportunity
•  Fit with skills of affected workers
•  Availability of funding and support and policy fit 
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity 
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

Digital systems, services 
and platforms

•  Addresses Weakness and Threat
•  Availability of funding and support and policy fit 
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

Greening of transport 
system (incl. charging 
points, e-bikes, cycling)

•  Addresses Strength and Opportunity
•  Fit with skills of affected workers
•  Fit with aspirations and working culture of affected workers
•  Availability of funding and support and policy fit 
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity 
•  Level of displacement (new activity) 
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

Higher value agriculture 
/ food production

•  Addresses Strength and Opportunity
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity 
•  Level of displacement (could be low) 
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

Renewable energy

Retrofitting and energy 
efficiency

•  Addresses Strength, Opportunity, and Threat
•  Fit with skills of affected workers
•  Fit with aspirations and working culture of affected workers
•  Availability of funding and support and policy fit 
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity 
•  Level of displacement (new activity) 
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

•  Addresses Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat
•  Fit with skills of affected workers
•  Fit with aspirations and working culture of affected workers 
•  Availability of funding and support and policy fit 
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity 
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

Social care and social 
services

•  Addresses Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat
•  Availability of funding and support and policy fit 
•  Demand and sustainability of opportunity 
•  Retains opportunity and wealth in local community

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 2

Annex 1: Use of public 
procurement to promote 
social (and green) economy 
development

Guidance and support materials for social 
public procurement

There are many existing guides that demonstrate how 
public procurement can be used to promote development 

of the social economy and social enterprises and that 
provide recommendations for national and local-level 
public bodies seeking to develop and implement social 
public procurement policies, together with multiple 
real-world examples of how social public procurement 
has been applied in practice. Some of these guidance 
documents are identified in Box 1: Guidance and 
examples on social (and green) public procurement.

B O X   1 :   G U I D A N C E   A N D   E X A M P L E S   O N   S O C I A L   ( A N D   G R E E N )   P U B L I C   P R O C U R E M E N T

European Commission Guidance: 

As part of its efforts to promote the development of the social economy and social enterprises the European 
Commission collects and disseminates good practices to inspire and encourage public buyers to use public 
procurement to achieve positive social and ethical impact:

•  Buying Social -A Guide to Taking Account of Social Considerations in Public Procurement (second edition), 

published in May 2021, is a practical guide for public buyers on taking account of social considerations in public 
procurement, covering the whole procurement process, and including concrete suggestions and examples. [Polish 
language version available].

•  Making socially responsible public procurement work, published in September 2020 (revised), is a collection of 
71 good practice cases showing how public buyers have implemented socially responsible public procurement 
(SRPP).

•  Promoting Social Considerations into Public Procurement Procedures for Social Economy Enterprises - Matrix 

of the social clauses of Directive 24/2014/EU, published in 2019, which provides for a legal explanation of the 
social clauses of Directive.

•  Buying for Social Impact: Good practice from around the EU, published in 2019 as part of the Buying for Social 
Impact (BSI) project, contains 22 examples from 12 EU Member States of good practice of public procurement 
procedures and policy initiatives to promote the use of social considerations in public procurement procedures.

•  Best practices in the field of social clauses in public procurements in Europe, published in 2016 as an annex 
to the report of the Commission Expert Group on Social Entrepreneurship ‘Social enterprises and the social 
economy going forward’.

Additionally, as part of guidance on the use of the new and updated standard forms that from 25 October 2023 
must be completed by public buyers, the European Commission has published:

•  eForms Policy Implementation Handbook that explains the use of an optional field allowing for the inclusion 
of information on whether a social objective is being pursued though the procurement procedure; using this 
option should contribute to more accurate data collection and analysis of the use of socially responsible public 
procurement (SRPP).

Finally, good practice examples and criteria with reference to green public procurement (GPP) can be found at:

•  Green Business – Good Practice Library, which provides a compilation of case studies on green and socially 

responsible public procurement across Europe.

•  Green Public Procurement Criteria and Requirements, which provides information on common EU GPP criteria 

that can be incorporated into a public procurement procedure for goods, services or works to reduce the 
environmental impact of a purchase.

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 3

European Commission Guidance: 

Guidance in Polish
The Public Procurement Office, the national institution in charge of public procurement law in Poland, has compiled 
guidance materials on social and green procurement:

•  Dobre praktyki z zakresu społecznych zamówień publicznych (Good practices in the field social procurement)
•  Dobre praktyki w zakresie społecznych zamówień publicznych (Good practices in the field social procurement)
•  Dobre praktyki z zakresu zielonych zamówień publicznych (Good practices in the field of green public 

procurement)

•  Dobre praktyki z zakresu zielonych zamówień publicznych (Good practices in the field of green public 

procurement)

Further, WOES has compiled a collection of materials on the social economy and social enterprises

•  Social economy - collection of publications

Other reports and guidance:

•  Social Clause in the Implementation of the 2014 Public Procurement Directives (2021), published by the 

European Trade Union Confederation, examines how, and how far, four Member States (France, Germany, Italy, 
and Spain) have exploited the social clauses present in the Public Procurement Directives.

•  Social Clauses in Public Procurement: A Practical Handbook (2018), delivered in the framework of the Erasmus+ 
project “EMPUBLIC”, this report provides guidelines on how to include social values in the preparation and award 
of public contracts that support self-entrepreneurship and employment of disadvantaged persons.

•  Social clauses: Why so important and how to implement them (2015), published by RREUSE, provides brief 

examples of effective social clauses in use in four Member States (Belgium, France, Italy , and Spain).

•  Public Procurement for Social Progress: a guide to the EU Public Procurement Directive (2015), published by 

Social Platform, aims to facilitate the understanding of the EU Public Procurement Directive by social economy 
enterprises and non-profit social and health service providers. It includes examples of good and bad practices 
related to different clauses of the Directive (2014/24/EU).

•  The Procura+ Manual - A Guide to Implementing Sustainable Procurement (2016), published by ICLEI for the 

Procura+ European Sustainable Procurement Network.

•  A Social Value Toolkit for District Councils (2019), published by the Social Value Portal to help District Councils in 

the UK implement social value in procurement based on tried and tested approaches.

•  The Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool, jointly developed by the European Commission and OECD, is an online 
tool designed for policymakers and other interested parties at local, regional and national level. It includes 
policy guidance notes and inspirational case studies on key policy areas of inclusive and social entrepreneurship, 
alongside a self-assessment component to assess whether current policies and programmes enable and 
support social enterprises to start -up and scale -up.

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 4

Social public procurement strategy

Turning social public procurement from and abstract 
concept into a practical reality is not something that 
will happen overnight. It is generally recognised that 
implementation of social (and green) public procurement 
requires gathering support and securing political 
commitment, especially where it requires overcoming 
inertia in existing public procurement procedures and 
practices, or where there is a preconception that more 
socially responsible approach to procurement will 
increase the costs of procured goods and services. These 
activities can be the first steps towards adopting social 
public procurement in a formalised strategy or policy. 

Good practice guidance suggests that building a social 
public procurement strategy requires identifying and 
mapping the organisation’s policy objectives and 
priorities and then assessing the potential contribution 
of social procurement to meeting these objectives. It 
also requires considering how social objectives align with 
existing procurement policy and practice, and where there 
are potential synergies, gaps, or barriers to achieving 
social objectives within the current procurement system. 
To build understanding of barriers and opportunities 
for enhancing social procurement may, in turn, require 
consulting relevant stakeholders, both internal (e.g., 
procurement departments) and external (e.g., suppliers 
and service users). Such consultations can serve, also, 
to raise awareness, build ‘buy-in’ from stakeholders, 
and strengthen commitments to achieving social public 
procurement strategy objectives.

An important step in formalising an organisation’s 
strategy for social public procurement is to set out the 
scope of procurement actions that will be covered and to 
set targets – for example, in terms of key performance 
indicators – demonstrating the level of ambition and 
allowing for subsequent assessment of whether the 
strategy has achieved its objectives. Scoping can involve 
identifying and prioritising those categories of products 
and services that will be the focus for social procurement 
actions14, or which parts of the organisation are covered 
by the strategy. Targets should be set for each product or 
service category that relate to each social objective, and 
to be effective these targets should be SMART (Specific, 
Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-related).

The strategy will need to be integrated into the 
organisation’s procurement activities, which will require 
assigning responsibilities for implementation and 
ensuring effective internal and external communication 
to ensure that staff and suppliers are aware of the 
organisation’s social procurement objectives and are 

able to react and prepare accordingly. Communication 
to the public based around the strategy and social 
procurement objectives can serve to raise awareness and 
set an example which can inspire wider action, while also 
increasing the organisation’s accountability to deliver on 
its social procurement commitments.

Public procurement planning

The social dimension of public procurement should be 
adequately considered before publishing a contract 
award notice. Even before designing a contract, there are 
a few preliminary steps that good practice guidance15 
suggests may be undertaken to enhance the outcomes of 
social public procurement processes:

•  Needs assessment: consultation with staff and 
end-users to ensure you are buying the right 
product or service, and in a way that can provide 
positive social outcomes. The needs assessment 
aims to ensure that real demand for the goods, 
services or works exists, and to identify the ways of 
meeting that need in the most socially responsible 
manner. Assessing real needs in terms of outcomes 
sets the scope and nature of requirements, 
allowing a more flexible and potentially cost-
effective response from the market.

•  Market Dialogue: if it is undertaken in a 

transparent way and does not distort competition, 
EU procurement law permits organisations to 
undertake market consultations with a view 
to preparing the procurement and informing 
economic operators of their procurement plans 
and requirements. It is typically used to identify 
potential suppliers and relevant products and 
services and give them time and notice to 
prepare for the tender. Market dialogue can allow 
buyers to discuss their needs, including social 
requirements, while giving suppliers the opportunity 
to explain how they can deliver contracts in a 
socially responsible manner, and allow relevant 
stakeholders, such as social partners or NGOs, to 
provide expert input.

Contract design can play a crucial role in determining the 
social impact of procurement. Of relevance in this context 
are the following:

•  Size and duration of the contract: as social 

economy organisations and social enterprises may 
lack the capacity to deliver on large contracts. 
Smaller contracts, including the division of 
contracts into lots (see next point), may facilitate 
access by organisations that are already active in 

14.  This may involve a risk assessment of the organisation’s procurement to identify the 
social impacts associated with different purchase categories. The risk assessment 
should identify events or conditions, which may prevent the organisation’s 
procurement from meeting social objectives.

15.  Key points in this sub-section are taken from Buying Social -A Guide to Taking Account 

of Social Considerations in Public Procurement (second edition).

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 5

delivering social benefits.16 Duration of the contract 
can be important in allowing adequate time for the 
contractor to invest in and deliver social outcomes; 
this is especially true if new methods or systems 
are being introduced. Also, if the duration of the 
contract is insufficient, it can also negatively affect 
the quality and continuity of a service.

•  Use of lots: EU rules highlight the possibility to 

divide contracts into lots and require public buyers 
to explain where the decision is taken not to do 
this. It is also possible to limit the number of lots 
awarded to any single bidder, based on objective 
and non-discriminatory criteria, established in 
advance. Lots can be defined based on the type 
of deliverable, the size of individual contracts, or 
the geographic area of delivery. The use of lots 
can ensure that smaller operators, social economy 
organisations or social enterprises can compete for 
public contracts even if they may not be able to 
deliver all aspects of a large contract.

•  Use of framework agreements: a framework 

agreement with one or more operators allows for 
the award of multiple contracts without repeating 
the whole procurement process. This can provide 
greater flexibility in the award of contracts and 
may also increase the incentives for suppliers 
to offer solutions with higher social returns, due 
to the potential to win multiple contracts and 
therefore recoup any additional expense involved in 
implementing these solutions.

Finally, procurers have a choice over the type of 
procedure they use. European Law (Directives 2014/24/
EU and 2014/25/EU) identifies 5 types of procedures, 
also recognised under the Polish Public Procurement Law 
of September 11, 201917:

•  Open procedure: any interested economic 

operator may submit a tender.

•  Restricted Procedure: at least five bidders are 

selected to submit bids based on objective criteria 
– following a call for tenders, tenders may be 
submitted only by economic operators who have 
been invited to tender as they meet the conditions 
for participation.

•  Competitive Procedure with Negotiation: at 
least three bidders are selected to submit bids 
based on objective criteria – after a contract notice 
and prequalification, selected economic operators 
are invited to submit initial bids, which are then 

16.  It is prohibited to subdivide a contract with the effect of circumventing EU obligations, 

unless this is objectively justified

17.  In addition to the procedure noted here, the Public Procurement Law allows for: 
negotiation procedure without prior publication; single-source procedure; design 
contest; and simplified procedure for low-value contracts (contracts under EU 
thresholds). Source: ICLG.Com: https://iclg.com/practice-areas/public-procurement-
laws-and-regulations/poland#:~:text=The%20Public%20Procurement%20Law%20
of,and%2089%2F665%2FEEC. 

subject to negotiation, after which economic 
operators are invited to submit final bids.

•  Competitive Dialogue: at least three candidates 

are chosen to supply solutions based on a 
description of the public buyer’s requirements 
– after a contract notice and prequalification, 
selected economic operators are invited to 
negotiate, after which economic operators are 
invited to submit final bids.

•  Innovation partnership: at least three candidates 

are chosen to develop and supply goods or 
services which do not yet exist on the market, 
using a phased contract structure – this is a special 
procedure designed for the purchase of innovative 
goods, services or works containing elements of a 
negotiated procedure with prior publication.

In an open procedure, although any supplier can bid, 
their technical and professional ability (including previous 
experience) can be evaluated on a pass/fail basis either 
before or after the evaluation of tenders. Multi-stage 
procedures (i.e., all except the open procedure) offer the 
opportunity to select bidders in advance based on criteria, 
which may include the capacity to deliver social aspects 
of the contract.

Although there may be concern that criteria applied for 
social public procurement can dissuade bidders, this may 
be addressed through market dialogue/consultation, as 
discussed above. Moreover, procedures that allow more 
interaction with bidders can be used to ensure a good 
response to social criteria. For example, in a competitive 
procedure with negotiation, it is possible to negotiate 
aspects of social performance (above any set minimum 
requirements) and the reporting arrangements which 
will apply. The competitive dialogue and innovation 
partnership procedures can help to address complex 
social problems by allowing bidders to develop and refine 
new solutions.

Reserved and ‘light regime’ tendering 
procedures

European Public Procurement Law allows contracting 
authorities to reserve some tendering procedures 
to organisations – such as sheltered workshops and 
social enterprises – that promote the integration of 
disadvantaged persons. Reserved procedures can be used 
for all types of work, services and supplies but to be able 
to participate at least 30% of the bidding company’s 
employees must be persons with disabilities or from 
disadvantaged groups18. 

Additionally, a separate reservation is available to 
Member States for certain services (e.g., specific social, 

18.  “Disadvantaged person” should be interpreted as for example, the unemployed, 
members of disadvantaged minorities or otherwise socially marginalised groups.

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITIONhealth, education, and cultural services) covered by the 
‘light regime’. The ‘light regime’ has been introduced in 
recognition that such services are generally of limited 
cross-border interest, and are organised in different ways 
across the EU, reflecting different cultural traditions. 
Procedures for awarding light regime contracts can 
be more flexible that for other contracts allowing, for 
example, for closer involvement of users and potential 
service providers in the design of the service, or in 
negotiations on aspects such as quality, coverage, and 
staffing arrangements. The light regime is focussed on 
organisations which pursue a public service mission 
linked to the contract being awarded, such as social 
enterprises, employee-led mutuals and charities. To 
participate, organisation must meet conditions relating 
to their objectives, reinvestment of profits, and employee 
ownership or participatory governance.

Defining the subject matter of the contract

Generally, procurement law does not restrict the subject-
matter of a contract, leaving contracting authorities 
with a wide discretion in determining what they want 
to buy to meet their needs.19,20 Nonetheless, how a 
contracting authority defines the subject matter of the 
contract can open-up opportunities to link procurement 
to social, environmental, and other objectives. This is 
because any social or environmental criteria applied as 
part of the procurement process must be linked to the 
subject matter of the contract. Typically, the subject 
matter of the contract will consist of a description of the 
goods, services or works that the contracting authority 
intends to purchase. If this description goes beyond a 
narrow technical specification and, instead, expresses 
requirements in functional or performance terms then it 
can allow for a greater emphasis on social considerations 
in procurement decisions and help to promote social 
innovations and new ideas from the market.

The definition of the subject matter of the contract will 
determine which criteria can be considered as relevant 
and, therefore, potentially applicable to the procurement 
process. Use of public procurement to achieve social 
objectives will, in turn, depend on shaping and combining 
technical specifications, selection criteria, award criteria, 
and contract performance conditions (as described 
below) so that the contract delivers on the desired social 
outcomes. Care also needs to be taken to ensure that 
selection and award criteria are distinct from each other 

2 6

(i.e., criteria used in the selection or pre-qualification 
process should not or be revisited at the award stage).21

Drafting technical specifications

Once the contracting authority has defined the subject of 
the contract, it needs to be translated into measurable 
technical specifications that can be applied directly in 
a public procurement procedure.22 Offers not complying 
all technical specifications are rejected.23 Functional or 
performance-based specifications24 may be particularly 
appropriate for service contracts which include social 
aspects (e.g., relating to the desired social outcomes of 
the service). For example, when procuring home care 
services for older people, the specifications may require 
certain outcomes in terms of the independence and well-
being of recipients of the service.25 

Technical specifications may refer to the specific process 
or method of production or provision of the requested 
works, supplies or services or to a specific process for 
another stage of its lifecycle. This also applies when 
these elements are not part of the material substance of 
the procurement, provided they are linked to the subject 
matter of the contract and proportionate to its value and 
its objectives.26 

Defining exclusion and selection criteria:

EU Public Procurement Law recognise that certain 
economic operators should not be eligible to win 
public contracts. Mandatory grounds for exclusions 
include convictions for serious criminal offences or 
unethical practices, or breach of obligations relating to 
the payment of taxes or social security contributions 
(where this is established by a judicial or administrative 
decision). Non-mandatory grounds for exclusion may 
include violation of applicable social and environmental 
obligations (as defined under EU or national law, or 
collective agreements, or international conventions); 

21.  Information Note: Incorporating Social Considerations into Public Procurement, 

Government of Ireland https://assets.gov.ie/135726/0e83e854-7811-418b-bc26-
7b11c23cac66.pdf 

22.  It is a legal obligation for public buyers to provide goods, services and works which 

are accessible to all users. Accordingly, for all procurement which is intended for use 
by natural persons, whether general public or staff of the contracting authority, the 
technical specifications shall, except in duly justified cases, be drawn up so as to take 
into account accessibility criteria for persons with disabilities or design for all users. 
Furthermore, the EU Public Procurement Directives include a social and environmental 
clause, stating that Member States need to take appropriate measures to ensure 
that in the performance of public procurement contracts economic operators comply 
with ‘applicable obligations in the fields of environmental, social and labour law 
established by Union law, national law, collective agreements or by the international 
environmental, social and labour law provisions.

23.  https://www.socialplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Public_procurement_for_

social_progress.pdf

19.  For example, a contracting authority can choose to purchase electric, hybrid or 

24.  A performance-based or functional specification will describe the desired result and 

low-emission vehicles (instead of a petrol or diesel fuelled fleet), or they can opt to 
purchase electricity produced from renewable energy sources.

which outputs (for example in terms of quality, quantity, and reliability) are expected, 
including how they will be measured.

20.  This freedom to determine the subject-matter of the contract is subject to certain 
safeguards, notable compliance with the principles of non-discrimination, free 
movement of goods, freedom to provide services, and avoidance of unjustified 
obstacles to competition. 

25.  https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/45767/attachments/1/translations/en/

renditions/native 

26.  For example, this would allow for requirements for the supply of electricity which is 
produced from renewable sources, or food produced from organic agriculture.

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 7

documented breaches of corporate responsibility or grave 
professional misconduct; or poor previous performance 
(i.e., significant, or persistent deficiencies in the 
performance of a substantive requirement under a prior 
contract). 

As compared to exclusion criteria, which focus on 
negative aspects, selection criteria may be used to 
identify operators that are best placed to deliver social 
or environmental aspects of a contract. Selection 
criteria may cover, for example, economic and financial 
standing, technical and human resources, experience 
and expertise, and evidence of successful completion 
of previous contracts of a similar nature, scale, or 
complexity as that which is being procured. Such criteria 
can be used to help deliver on social and environmental 
outcomes, for example through requirements on specific 
previous experience of delivering contracts with similar 
social, environmental and sustainability requirements, 
or by requiring that the operator have access to certain 
technical equipment or facilities for ensuring compliance 
with sustainable and environmental objectives. Such 
criteria must, however, always be relevant to the subject 
matter of the contract.

Defining award criteria

Public Procurement Law allows for contracts to be 
awarded based on the lowest price, the lowest cost, or 
the Best Price-Quality Ratio (called “most economically 
advantageous tender – MEAT”).27 This latter option 
is considered as the one that contracting authorities 
should choose in most circumstances, unless the good or 
service to be supplied is largely homogenous in nature. 
In addition to price (or cost) and quality, additional 
criteria that may be used to award contracts using the 
Best Price-Quality Ratio include aesthetic and functional 
characteristics, cost-effectiveness, after-sales service 
and technical assistance, delivery date and delivery 
period or period of completion. Social, environmental and 
sustainability criteria may be added to this list, and the 
EU Directives specifically mention social aspects as being 
amongst the factors which can be included in award 
criteria, along with accessibility, design for all users, and 
trading and its conditions (i.e., ‘fair trade’ considerations). 

Examples of social award criteria highlighted in the EU 
Buying Social Guide (see Box 1: Guidance and examples 
on social (and green) public procurement) are:

27.  Under European Public Procurement Law, contracting authorities are obliged to 

investigate any tender for which the price (or cost) appears to be abnormally low and 
to seek an explanation from the bidder regarding its pricing. This may be particularly 
relevant where the pricing of a tender causes concerns that the bidder will not be 
able to deliver on social or environments requirements. Bidder can be required to 
confirm their compliance with applicable social and labour legislation and collective 
agreements, and in the case of non-compliance, the bid must be rejected.

•  Methodology for ensuring social inclusion in the 

delivery of the service. 

•  Number and quality of apprenticeships/training 

opportunities created in the delivery of the 
contract. 

•  Third-party certification for ethical sourcing of 

products delivered under the contract.

•  Measures to ensure gender equality.
•  Additional accessibility requirements.

Use of such criteria can allow contracting authorities 
to award contracts to suppliers that provide for social 
considerations, such as a company employing long-term 
unemployed or disadvantaged persons to perform the 
contract, provided that the social consideration is linked 
to the subject matter of the contract (i.e., the specific 
goods, services or works being purchased, as described in 
Section 3.4.5).

EU Public Procurement Law does not assign a maximum 
or minimum weighting to be given to price (or cost), 
quality, social or other award criteria. However, it 
makes sense that social award criteria are given a 
greater weighting when potential social risks or social 
benefits of the procurement are high. For example, 
the UK-based Social Value Portal recommends that a 
standalone weighting of 10-20% for Social Value is 
included alongside the Quality/Price matrix for evaluating 
procurements to ensure that contractors take social value 
seriously in their bids (Table 3: Suggested social value 
weightings to be used in bid evaluation).

Defining contract performance clauses

Contract performance clauses, which are used to specify 
how a contract is to be carried out, can be included 
in public procurement contracts if they are linked to 
the subject matter of the contract. As well as social 
and environmental considerations28, these or cover 
economic, innovation-related, and employment-related 
performance requirements. Provided the requirements 
are linked to the subject matter, performance clauses can 
cover aspects such as human rights compliance along 
the supply chain, fair trade, or specific social outcomes. 
Performance conditions delivering social outcomes could, 
for example, require that a certain share of the work 
under a construction project is carried out by workers on 
an apprenticeship or a training contract, or could require 
provision of specific training to workers delivering services 
to a particular social group (e.g., elderly or persons with 
disabilities). Similarly, environmental performance clauses 
could include requirements for contractors to take back, 
recycle or reuse product packaging or require efficient use 
of energy and water on site.

28.  A Social Value Toolkit for District Councils: https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/
documents/District%20Councils%20Social%20Value%20Toolkit%20Final.pdf

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 8

T A B L E   3 :   S U G G E S T E D   S O C I A L   V A L U E   W E I G H T I N G S   T O   B E   U S E D   I N   B I D   E V A L U A T I O N

Evaluation 
Criteria

Where price is 
important

Where quality of 
service is important

Where social value 
opportunity is high

Quality

Price

Social Value

Source: Social Value Portal29

35%

50-55%

10-15%

50-55%

35%

10-15%

40%

45%

15-20%

29.  https://www.socialplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Public_procurement_for_social_progress.pdf

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITION2 9

Annex 2: Considerations for 
other Coal+ regions

EU coal+ regions are undergoing fundamental change 
as traditional carbon-intensive economic activities in the 
local economy are phased-out. This transformation not 
only presents fundamental challenges for the structure 
of the local economy and related employment, but 
also local wealth creation, demographic stability, tax 
generation, the provision of local public and private 
services, and the maintenance of cultural identity and 
sense of collective belonging.

Transformations in Coal+ regions, particularly in those 
with narrow industrial bases, require innovative policy and 
practice responses, such as Community Wealth Building 
(CWB) and social enterprise development.

CWB is an internationally recognised model of economic 
development designed to tackle profound challenges 
facing local economies by considering the ways in which 
wealth is generated and retained in communities, to 
encourage socio-economic resilience and opportunity 
based on an endogenous development paradigm. 
The CWB approach seeks to transform local economic 
systems to enable communities to have a stake in and 
benefit from the wealth a local economy generates.

CWB places emphasis on the creation and expansion of 
local social enterprises (such as workers co-operatives, 
social co-operatives and other entities engaged in public 
benefit activities). By encouraging and supporting social 
enterprises to meet local demand, CWB aims to create an 
inclusive and productive economic base, in which profit 
and income are retained locally and local supply chains 
are developed.

Given the high levels of socio-economic and cultural 
solidarity found in Coal+ communities they represent 
particularly promising places for such policy and practice 
innovation.

Additionally, as noted in this report, the European 
Union is increasingly interested in alternate models of 
enterprise, economic and social development, and their 
role in achieving a Just Transition and the ambitions 
of the European Green Deal. Thus, social enterprise 
development linked to the CWB approach merits further 
attention by EU, national, regional, and local policy actors 
in localities pointedly affected by energy transition.

If no place or person is to be left behind, all credible 
policy instruments must be considered, including CWB 
and social enterprise development. Therefore, Eastern 
Wielkopolska represents a key reference and source of 
learning for other EU Coal+ regions who wish to pursue a 
people-centred and fair transition.

REIMAGINING TRANSITION IN EASTERN WIELKOPOLSKAINITIATIVE FOR COAL REGIONS IN TRANSITIONGETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU

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FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE EU

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an-union.europa.eu).

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EU law and related documents
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EU open data
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Initiative for coal
regions in transition

The Initiative for coal regions in transition 
is led by the European Commission.

 ec.europa.eu/coal-regions-in-transition

 secretariat@coalregions.eu

 @Energy4Europe