Abstract
The UK higher education (HE) system has significant purchasing power, purchasing everything from chemicals from major multinationals to maintenance services from smaller local enterprises. Sustainability is increasingly important for procurement teams and progress on sustainable supply chains represents a key challenge articulated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, attention on the challenges associated with supplier engagement by university procurement teams has historically been low and mainly focused on legislative compliance targeting risks (such as modern slavery). Many suppliers also have limited resources or experience in assessing operational sustainability. In response, the NETpositive Supplier Engagement Action Planning Tool was developed to enable engagement between the HE sector and its supplier base around sustainable development. The tool allows businesses to design bespoke sustainability action plans covering sustainability issues relevant to their context. In this chapter we summarise the development of this tool in higher education, along with insights derived from implementation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | How to Enable Engagement Between Universities and Business |
| Subtitle of host publication | A Guide for Building Relationships |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. |
| Pages | 104-114 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781035316809 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781035316793 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Sept 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 The Editors and Contributors Severally 2024.
Keywords
- Procurement
- Small business
- Software
- Supplier engagement
- Sustainability action plan
- Tool