[Making Spend Matter – Transfer Story – Koszalin]

Making Spend Matter

Transfer Story

Koszalin – at the Forefront of Procurement Practice in

As Tomasz finished his cup of tea on a cold winter’s morning in December 2015, he wondered whether what Tamar and Matthew had just told him could become a practical reality in Poland. Could the bureaucracy of procurement really be reduced? Could procurement really be used to create jobs, support SMEs, and address environmental challenges? And could procurement really bring local economic benefits for his home city and for Koszalin City Council, of which he was now Director? At a further meeting later that day, with a newly formed group of Koszalin based stakeholders, Tomasz continued to have his doubts. ‘We need to ensure that procurement is framed by Polish law’, said Urszula; ‘cost should be the only factor in our procurement decisions’, said Regina; and ‘procurement contracts are always awarded to large companies anyway’ said Piotr.

Despite the concern, Tomasz was convinced by the counter-arguments of Matthew and Tamar, and he felt there was an opportunity to use procurement as a lever for economic change in both Koszalin and wider Poland – he just knew it would take time. Working with Adam especially, Urszula, Regina, Piotr and many more, Tomasz therefore embarked on a journey to change the way in which procurement was undertaken in Koszalin and to influence others in Poland. The journey commenced with Koszalin’s involvement in the Procure Action Planning Network (APN) (2015-2018). Led by the City of Preston from the UK, and involving 10 other cities, the APN focused upon the theory as to how cities could change their approach to procurement and subsequently become more progressive. Amongst many other things, Tomasz and Adam learnt about some of the policy behind procurement strategies, around social and environmental criteria, and around monitoring the outcomes of procurement decisions. More importantly they learnt from the other participating cities and what they were already doing to change procurement cultures. At the conclusion of the APN, Koszalin finalised their Integrated Action Plan (IAP) which set out ambitious plans to turn the theory around progressive procurement learnt through the Procure Network into practical reality. “We wanted to understand more effectively where our procurement spend went; we wanted to encourage our Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to bid for procurement opportunities with

[Making Spend Matter – Transfer Story – Koszalin]

Koszalin City Council; we wanted to include social and environmental considerations in our decision- making; and we wanted to influence the procurement behaviour of other anchor institutions” (Adam Sawicki, Project Coordinator). Koszalin just needed some help to realise this. Luckily, the City of Preston again came on Tomasz’s and Adam’s radar – they had just been awarded an URBACT Good Practice City label for their work around procurement and particularly spend analysis, and were looking to develop another network, this time a Transfer Network, called Making Spend Matter (2018-2021). As Tomasz strolled along the beach in (a coastal resort near Koszalin) with Tamar and Matthew on a hot summer’s day in July 2018, he realised that Making Spend Matter was just the help that Koszalin needed to implement their IAP – he was hooked again by the excitement of procurement and participating in another URBACT network.

By participating in Making Spend Matter and using the spend analysis tool, Koszalin has realised the core objective of their APN which was to understand the scale of procurement spend in the city and to use this evidence to shape wider procurement practice. Across all procurers and including anchor institutions, they identified that there is an annual spend of over 100 Million Euros; making procurement a significant contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In terms of the City Council, there was a surprise as to the extent to which procurement spend was already with organisations in the Koszalin Functional Urban Area (83%) and with SMEs (91%).

Koszalin’s involvement in Making Spend Matter has however been about much more than statistics and understanding procurement spend. Koszalin has used the transnational meetings to learn more about advanced spend analysis, social and environmental considerations, and SME engagement; and they have used local meetings to change the behaviour of a number of other anchor institutions, and to stimulate more effective relationships with SMEs. In particular, the spend analysis tool has been transferred by Koszalin City Council to other anchor institutions through their ULG, with the Regional Hospital, Technical University of Koszalin, and Koszalin District Administration also exploring how much they spend in total, and where that money goes geographically.

Making Spend Matter has also enabled Koszalin City Council to further develop their relationships with business representative bodies and SMEs directly. The municipality has undertaken surveys and held discussions with business chambers to identify challenges and how they can be addressed to support SME participation in procurement, something that has been shaped by the good practice of Preston and the activities of the other cities in Making Spend Matter.

Involvement in Procure and Making Spend Matter has been incredibly beneficial for Koszalin’s procurement journey. “We have learnt an awful lot from Preston, the Experts, and the other cities. We have changed our view of how procurement can be used to realise local economic outcomes. We have better relationships with anchor institutions and SMEs. And we are seeing real positive changes in the economy of our city” (Urszula Miller-Grzybowska, ULG Coordinator).

[Making Spend Matter – Transfer Story – Koszalin]

The role of Koszalin City Council in progressing procurement is not just restricted to the city – they have influenced behaviour across the wider region, Poland, and Eastern Europe and are showcased as an example of a city that has realised real incremental change. Koszalin has presented the findings of their procurement activities to other Polish cities through events organised by their National URBACT Point. They have worked directly with the Metropolitan Area of Gdansk and to share their learning. And they will feature in an URBACT online training programme on strategic procurement as a case study city.

As Tomasz reflects on six years of involvement in URBACT Networks focused on procurement in January 2021, he remembers with fondness that initial meeting with Tamar and Matthew and his initial questions. Through hard work, risk-taking, stakeholder engagement, and learning, the City of Koszalin has achieved something very special – they have changed the way in which they think about procurement. Tomasz feels proud but knows there is much much more to do.

“It takes time to change the way in which people think about procurement, and the challenges our cities face are constantly evolving. The Covid-19 Pandemic will bring new challenges around unemployment and health and well-being – we will continue to believe that procurement and our journey over the last six years can assist in our response. This is not the end of our journey around procurement – indeed it is just the beginning” (Tomasz Czuczak, Director of City of Koszalin).