Children's art for Recope Booklet

EU Healthcare event

Recipe for Change

DEFRA Regional training workshops for decision takers, buyers and specifiers

Mainstreaming Sustainability in the Face of Change

London School produces with recipe booklet with children's artwork

Rushmore Primary School in Hackney North London has produced an innovative and very colourful recipe book aimed at creating better school dinners and promoting cooking and food skills. The publication 'Oranges and Lemons' is wonderful idea which came from their own school dinners Working Party. It enourages home cooking, talks about balanced meals and London food history and has many exciting and simple recipes. Cathy Stewart, one of the driving forces behind the whole school project, is a previous silver medal winner in the BBC Food and Farming Awards. Copies available from Rushmore Primary School 020 8985 3175. PTA spokesperson Tim Webb can be contacted on tim-webb@beeb.net.

EU conference success

BIG-Net Exchange on Sustainable Procurement" The annual expert seminar of the "Buy it Green" -Network of Sustainable Procurement Professionals (BIG-Net) was held on 14/15 October in Aix-en-Provence, France, and was attended by over 70 people from across Europe. The event was supported by the Provincia di Cremona, Italy, and organised by ICLEI's Sustainable Procurement team and the eco-business park Europole Mediterraneen de l'Arbois. The Seminar saw the presentation of results and tools, including the GPPnet Handbook on green public procurement, The Seminar also provided the ideal occasion to present the new European "Practical Handbook on Green Public Procurement", written by the European Commission, and at the same time sent a strong signal of support for green public procurement to European public administrations. Presentations from the seminar are available to be downloaded from http://www.iclei-europe.org/?bignetseminar. For more information on BIG-Net please refer to http://www.iclei-europe.org/index.php?big-net or contact amalia.ochoa@iclei-europe.org

The EU Handbook is available on http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/gpp/pdf/gpphandbook.pdf. Translations into the official languages of the European Union will follow soon.

EU Healthcare event

"CleanMed - International Healthcare Congress on Sustainable Products and Practices, Vienna 6-8 October 2004" CleanMed, the first European healthcare conference on sustainable products and practices in Vienna was a huge success. More than 300 healthcare leaders from 28 countries met from 6-8 October 2004 in Vienna. For more information please visit the conference website: http://www.cleanmed.org/europe/english/home.html

PUBLICATIONS ETC

Recipe for Change

A good practice guide to school meals. Edited by Carrieanne Hurley & Ashley Riley The first book to bring together examples of individual initiatives from around the UK that have significantly improved the quality and take-up of school meals. The book includes an overview of the link between nutrition and child poverty, and developments in school meals policy and practice over the last 50 years. It makes key policy recommendations and includes many practical ideas that school meals providers can adapt for their own use. http://www.cpag.org.uk

New DEFRA general Guidance on procurment

Available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/guidance.htm

Delivering the Essentials of Life - Defra publishes five year strategy.

This includes reference to 'working with the European Commission and Member States to benchmark best practice and learn from the leaders in Europe.We would like to see the performance across the EU improved markedly so that by 2010 the average is equal to the standards currently being achieved by the best.' Lots of trips to Italian schools then? and maybe the Copenhagen Dogme Organic Project ??? See http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2004/defra-1208.htm

Correction: Please note that the main Soil Association tel no is 0117 314 5000.

JOBS

The Southern Uplands Partnership are looking to employ a consultant to investigate the production and processing of Scotch lamb for public procurement in Dumfries and Galloway. See e-mail below for details of their website and invitation to tender. Deadline 14 Jan! see www.sup.org.uk

EVENTS

DEFRA Regional training workshops for decision takers, buyers and specifiers

The workshops aim to motivate public sector bodies in England to take practical actions that will enable them procure their food in a manner that promotes sustainable development and meets the objectives of the PSFPI http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/training.htm . More details of the workshops (including dates and times) will appear on the web sites of the Government Offices for the Regions towards the end of 2004 – see the “Regions” page on this web site. If you wish to attend – please contact the appropriate regional office.

Mainstreaming Sustainability in the Face of Change

The ICLEI European Membership Convention 2005 which will take place on 25-27 May 2005 in Tilburg, the Netherlands, and will address the issue of Mainstreaming Sustainability in the Face of Change. Whilst recognising the countless good achievements over the last decade, sustainable development remains too often a peripheral initiative of innovative thoughts, high quality reports and surveys, pilots and demonstration projects. iclei-europe@iclei-europe.org

DEFRA Suppliers

DEFRA Suppliers Event Defra are organising a conference for national suppliers in March 2005. Contact Roger Hinds at Defra. Roger.Hinds@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Kings Fund Seminar -
CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP IN THE NHS: LEARNING FROM PRACTITIONERS

17th January 2005 at the Kings Fund in London. Contact Karen Jochelson (mailto:k.jochelson@kingsfund.org.uk) for details

Sustainable Procurement Training Tuesday 18th January 2005 central London. Business in the Community, The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and The University of Manchester are partners in the provision of a series of Sustainable Procurement Training days. see http://www.sscf.info/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=43

EFFECTIVE AND COLLABORATIVE PROCUREMENT

The Future for Local and Central Government Tuesday 25th January 2005 QEII Conference Centre, London www.govnet.co.uk/procurement

Conference on organic, local and tasty food The Future of Food: An afternoon to Discuss Organic, Local & Tasty Food on a Tasty Planet! Saturday January 22 2005 peterlang@resurgence.org