FilMet – Universitetsbiblioteket

84% of the companies consider it important that municipalities take more active role in supporting a sustainable transitions. Only 1% consider the municipalities to have a big or very big role in sustainabilitywork today. Municipalities do not use all the possibilities they have to be a driving force for sustainable transitions. Often the demands that the businesses get on sustainability do not come from the municipalities, but from partners and customers. The companies that are doing quite well on sustainability say that the municipalities focus more on price in the procurement processes than sustainability, so the companies that perform poorly win, which is a challenge for the sustainable companies when they are trying to do their best to do the right thing. The procurement must not be too demanding for smaller companies. It is important that municipalities demand quality and sustainability, but many are worried that the demands for documentation favor the bigger companies. Municipalities can become more aware of reuse of existing products. That would save costs in the long run, but in the procurement processes they look at the immediate costs. To conclude the advice from BDO to municipalities is that they should prioritize procurement as an important tool in the sustainability transitions and that they should establish clear, predictable and coordinated demands and criteria for both social sustainability and environmental sustainability because there are many companies that are already there. And they want to be held accountable.