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Introduction
How to use this toolkit
What is Open SPP?
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Plan
Establish an enabling environment 
Prioritize
Monitoring & evaluation
Build support and capabilities
Create an Action Plan 
Implement
Assess needs
Choose a procurement method
Engage with the market
Set sustainability criteria
Prepare contract obligations
Monitor implementation
Open data & measuring progress
Options for data use 
SPP uptake
Carbon reduction
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Life cycle costing
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Guide to ecolabels 
Open SPP FAQsSelecting the right procurement approach
The design of a public procurement process can limit or facilitate the application of Open SPP practices. In this section we include approaches to procurement that can be useful to introduce Open SPP practices. Procuring agencies should openly communicate, for each procurement process, which of these approaches will be taken, and how they are underpinned by the Open SPP enabling framework.
Outcome-based procurement
Outcome-based procurement can be another way to start implementing SPP. Applying an outcome-based procurement approach consists in framing purchasing needs in terms of the outcome that should be achieved, rather than how to achieve that outcome, allowing the supplier market to offer different solutions.
Two-stage tender processes
Using two-stage procurement procedures, entails the possibility of establishing an ongoing dialogue, and openly disclosing information, between suppliers and procurement practitioners.
Joint procurement
One of the procurement approaches that you can take within SPP implementation is joint procurement. This approach refers to the collaboration of multiple public authorities on a specific procurement. This collaboration can include jointly conducting early-stage market testing and engagement at the beginning of a procurement, or jointly tendering or contracting with a supplier, during the execution of a procurement.
In 2015, Wichita, the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, aimed to improve the quality of the city’s parks while reducing costs. At the time, grounds maintenance bid amounts were up 30 percent over the prior year, contractors were not meeting quality standards, and City officials were receiving complaints regarding the height of the grass on playgrounds and playing fields.
With help from the Harvard Government Performance Lab, the city created a data collection tool which inspectors could use in the field to track performance on key indicators (including grass height, prevalence of weeds and property damage). They then conducted a competitive procurement where, for the first time, the City considered factors such as past performance and ability to report on key metrics as part of the vendor selection. The Purchasing Department also divided large land areas into smaller parcels, and reached out to vendors that had not previously bid on the City’s contracts. The new contracts replaced punitive damages for under-performance with a 5 percent performance bonus to incentivize strong performance. Vendors submitted invoices with pictures of the completed work. This eliminated the need for City staff to perform on-site inspections.
With this approach, the city boosted overall competition (the number of vendors submitting responses rose by 38 percent) without raising the costs. What is more important, complaints to the City Manager about grounds maintenance fell substantially.