CFIT programme

Buyer groups

To support and inspire procuring organizations, CFIT seeks to establish a network of national (or regional) buyer groups. Working in a buyer group means doing your own pilots or tenders, while learning from each other, building up knowledge and tools together, engaging the market together and joining forces when needed for research and innovation. The coordinating organizations have the role to bring together and support their own buyer group, help set the ambitions, organize monitoring and communicate the collective results. The buyer groups have a flexible set-up, allowing for differences in how procurement is organized in each country or region.

International network

All buyer groups will be linked together as a single network on an international level. Through this network, the partnership will support setting up buyer groups, capacity building, joint market consultation, a collective tender calendar and the sharing of best practices and lessons learned across borders. This network gives procurers access to a growing base of proven criteria and good examples. It allows procurers to start asking for the best circular and fair products and start making a real difference from the moment they join.

Working groups

CFIT will set up international working groups on product groups (e.g. laptops or mobile phones) and specific issues (e.g. social justice). These working groups will draw up common guidelines, criteria and tools for procurers to use in dialogue with the market and other relevant organizations. A working group can also draw up a joint statement of demand that buyers can sign up to, focusing on current demand or future innovation. Working groups members will be drawn from different partner countries and regions. They will represent relevant fields of expertise, such as procurement, sustainability or product group knowledge.

Criteria and monitoring experts

Criteria development and impact monitoring often require specialized knowledge and skills in order to deliver realistic, feasible and legally correct results. CFIT aims to support this by inviting international experts in the field from its networks of participants.

Steering committee

The implementation is governed by the Steering Committee. It is among others responsible for the overall strategy, workplan and budget.  A rotating membership will ensure both continuity and good representation. Current members of the Steering Committee are:

• Adam Turner, Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, United Kingdom
• Carolien Brinks, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, The Netherlands
• Jo-Anne St. Godard, Circular Innovation Council, Canada
• Lars Johannsen, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Germany
• Rudi Strubbe, Flanders Agency for Facility Operations, Belgium

Secretariat

The Secretariat provides practical support to the activities of the partnership by organizing working groups, network building, monitoring and communication.