How innovative procurement can reduce Helsingborg’s carbon footprint

Demand Acceleration is a methodology developed within DigitalWell Arena that uses public procurement as a driver of innovation. Rather than procuring ready-made solutions, the organisation first defines its needs and then invites the market to help develop them.

This means procuring an innovation partnership rather than a product. The companies’ ideas and the organisation’s needs can then be aligned at an early stage and collaboratively, and, step by step, shape better and more targeted solutions – with a view to solutions that can be scaled up and used by more than just the initial customer.

Ambitious target: to halve emissions

When Helsingborg 2023 sought support through this approach, its ambition was clear: to halve the climate impact of the city’s public consumption by 2030. These emissions currently amount to around 115,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.

Following an initial market consultation, five companies were selected for a joint concept phase. Two of them progressed to a prototype phase, during which the solutions were tested and refined. Finally, the collaboration with one company, Marla Miljödialog, continued into a development phase – and over the past year, the approach has begun to be implemented in practice.

– Essentially, it’s about analysing how we work and eliminating unnecessary purchases. When we identify where waste is generated, it becomes easier to take the right action, says Maria Larsson, managing director of Marla Miljödialog.

To be trialled initially in the health and social care sector

Initially, the concept was trialled within the health and social care administration, where seven LSS and disability support units introduced the new working method. A further seven units are now up and running – six care homes and the food service – where staff are working together to review and change how the services manage procurement and resources.

To date, over 30 specific measures have been implemented to reduce the climate impact of our operations. Particular emphasis has been placed on reducing the use of single-use items and food waste.

There are as yet no comprehensive figures for the overall impact in Helsingborg. However, Marla Miljödialog’s experience of similar initiatives provides a clear indication of the potential.

At a care home in Malmö, which had been using a similar method, the use of disposable gloves and incontinence pads fell by 20–30 per cent. This equated to a reduction of 3.5 tonnes in carbon dioxide equivalent emissions – and a cost saving of around 80,000 kronor per year.

“Before we showed what was actually possible, the head of health and social care said they wanted to reduce usage, but that it wasn’t possible,” says Maria Larsson.

Gains immediate support from staff

Carolin Fransson, project manager in the procurement unit, has calculated what the equivalent results would mean for Helsingborg. If the measures have the same impact across all care homes, this would amount to a reduction of around 62 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.

Although there is still a long way to go before the overall target – to halve emissions from all procurement – is achieved, a key part of Marla Miljödialog’s approach is to provide each business unit with the tools to contribute to the overall goal in its own way.

– The idea is to view one’s operations through the lens of sustainability and work in a more resource-efficient way. The analysis is carried out by the staff themselves, which means the changes are immediately embraced. It’s very much about structure, good procedures, keeping storerooms tidy and reducing unnecessary purchases, says Maria Larsson.

New initiatives are on the horizon

However, local improvements within the organisation alone are not enough. Clear decisions and priorities from senior management are crucial to achieving the full potential, says Carolin Fransson.

– Helsingborg has worked hard to gain buy-in for this from management teams, which I believe leads to a more coordinated and long-term approach. For the first time, for example, sustainability and climate impact are included in the health and social care administration’s operational plan.

For Helsingborg, the aim is to move away from the ‘pilot project’ mindset and roll out this approach across the organisation. In the long term, other departments within the city will also need to adopt this methodology.

“There’s still a long way to go, but I feel confident that this is the right way to work,” says Carolin Fransson.

Concepts that enable scalability

Marla Miljödialog is already in discussions with other local authorities and organisations about introducing this approach. The company’s core concept existed even before the tender process and had demonstrated good results on a smaller scale – including in Malmö. Through Demand Acceleration, it has been further developed in two respects: firstly, into a concept that can be rolled out and scaled up; and secondly, to encompass the entire organisation – from frontline staff to the management team.

– A well-known problem in the public sector is that new ways of working are difficult to scale up. A public sector organisation may have an incentive to implement ways of working that work elsewhere, but that incentive is not always strong enough on its own – which can mean that promising initiatives remain pilot projects, or are only implemented within a single organisation,” says Lina Svensberg, who has led the development of the Demand Acceleration methodology.

However, she emphasises that the business sector, on the other hand, has a commercial incentive to disseminate solutions to a wide audience:

– When these two forms of logic come together in the same process, the impact is completely different. That is the synergy this example illustrates.

Created a stronger solution

For Maria Larsson, the work has also provided new perspectives as an entrepreneur, not least when it comes to developing the business model to reach a wider audience.

– I didn’t need to have a fully formed concept when I submitted the tender; instead, I was given the opportunity to develop it in collaboration with Helsingborg City Council and DigitalWell Arena. Thinking on a larger scale was daunting at first, but today I can see how much stronger the solution has become – and work is underway to roll it out to more organisations,” says Maria Larsson.