GPPnet, presented by the Province of Cremona, is one of the 16 Italian projects financed within the Life Environment Programme 2002. The programme falls within the field of actions aimed at the minimization of environmental impacts of economic activities.

The project sees the Province of Cremona in the role of activator and accomplisher of an advanced sustainability policy and directly involves thirteen Municipalities located in the provincial area. Its main objective is the dissemination of green public procurement practices through the creation of a network of public administrations that experiment with GPP.

The PAs involved in the project have been informed on national and European legal provisions that can be applied and on the experiences that have already been realised in Italy and in the rest of Europe, so as to highlight those features that can favour or hinder the implementation of GPP. Furthermore, they have been provided with practical tools for the assessment, the selection and the integration of environmental criteria into calls for tenders and bidding procedures that shall lead to the substitution of current purchases with products and services with a “reduced environmental impact”. GPP would thus become an integral part of their efforts for sustainable development.

GPP activities will be disseminated on the territory in order to create a local eco-procurement district, where enterprises will also be encouraged to switch towards environmentally friendly solutions in order to meet the requirements of local authorities.