How can public procurement generate not only goods and services, but also employment inclusion, territorial development, and social value? This was the guiding question of the meeting on Public Social Procurement held on Wednesday, 20 May, as part of the Torino 2030 Metropolitan Social Economy Plan, hosted in the Panoramic Room of the Metropolitan City of Turin.

The event brought together procurement managers, directors, and officials from public administrations, agencies, and publicly owned companies across the metropolitan area, initiating an operational dialogue on tools, opportunities, and challenges related to integrating social impact criteria into public procurement processes.

The meeting also marked the third Stakeholders’ Meeting of the European project PROSECO – Interreg Europe, of which Torino Social Impact is a partner alongside the City of Turin, representing an important opportunity for exchange between local policies and European experiences.

Opening remarks were delivered by Sonia Cambursano, delegated Councillor of the Metropolitan City of Turin; Guido Bolatto, Secretary General of the Turin Chamber of Commerce; and Luca Faccenda, Director of the Employment and Prison System Relations Department of the City of Turin, who highlighted the growing role of public administrations in promoting economic development and social inclusion through procurement policies.

This was followed by Giulia Rossi, representing Torino Social Impact and Research Fellow at the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano, who provided a framing of social procurement as a strategic lever from both a financial and public policy perspective.

Territorial experiences

The second part of the afternoon was dedicated to ongoing initiatives across the territory.

The Metropolitan City of Turin presented its pathway towards adopting a dedicated social procurement strategy, illustrating how public contracts can become a concrete tool to pursue social inclusion and local economic development. The General Director, Monica Sciajno, shared how the institution is working on the adoption of its own regulatory framework on the topic and how it intends to support smaller municipalities in the metropolitan area, in its dual role as Central Purchasing Body and Aggregating Authority.

The City of Turin, through contributions by Luca Faccenda, Director of the Employment and Prison System Relations Department, and Adele Settimo, Director of the Contracts and Procurement Division, presented Regulation No. 307, an active labour policy instrument promoting the employment inclusion of disadvantaged people and persons with disabilities through public procurement. First introduced in 2005 and updated in 2024, the regulation represents a concrete example of how social objectives can be integrated into procurement procedures, combining the acquisition of goods and services with the creation of employment opportunities for more vulnerable groups.

A workshop to identify challenges and opportunities

In the afternoon, 40 participants representing public bodies, administrations, and publicly owned companies took part in working tables organised by municipalities, participation bodies, and other public entities.

Among those present were representatives of the Metropolitan City of Turin, the City of Turin, the Municipality of Strambino, the Turin Chamber of Commerce, the University of Turin, Politecnico di Torino, Turismo Torino e Provincia, SCR Piemonte, CinqueT, GTT, and Agenzia Piemonte Lavoro.

The discussion focused on two main areas.

On one hand, the organisational requirements needed to embed social procurement as a stable practice within public administrations: governance structures, skills, internal regulations, decision-making autonomy, and procurement characteristics.

On the other hand, the opportunities and critical issues related to the introduction of tools such as reserved contracts, social clauses, and award criteria. Participants discussed the sectors with the highest potential for social impact, the remaining administrative and organisational barriers, and the conditions needed to effectively experiment with new practices.

From insights to next steps

The day concluded with Professor Sergio Foà, who synthesised the main insights emerging from the discussion.

Three key dimensions were identified across the procurement lifecycle. The first concerns design, requiring a deep understanding of the market and of social economy actors, as well as continuous dialogue between different administrative units. The second relates to the tendering process, where appropriate tools must be selected case by case based on objectives. The third concerns contract execution, where it is essential to ensure that social commitments are effectively implemented and monitored.

Among the shared priorities were the need to strengthen coordination among institutions, invest in staff training, and create structured opportunities for exchange and mutual learning, also leveraging best practices developed at European level.

This work will continue in the coming months as part of the Metropolitan Plan for the Social Economy Turin 2030, with the ambition of making public spending an increasingly powerful tool to generate both economic value and social impact for the territory.