Background Flows of material and energy in the socio-economic system must be dramatically reduced in order to achieve sustainable development objectives. Waste generation must also be reduced. Green public procurement (GPP) can play a role in this: it is a tool for changing consumption and production modes. When public authorities decide to adopt GPP practices, and thus to purchase greener products and services, they base their purchasing decisions on information about environmental impacts over the life cycle of those products and services, that is they include environmental considerations among the variables that influence their purchasing decisions. However, to embed GPP, awareness raising and the provision of information is needed. Objectives The GPPinfoNET project's specific objectives were to: Raise awareness of the role of GPP for the implementation of strategies for sustainable consumption and production, including the promotion of environmental technologies; Identify and fill the information gaps that hinder the implementation of GPP. By doing this, the project aimed to: Contribute to the reduction of resource consumption and pollution resulting from public procurement; Help prepare for the introduction and implementation of national GPP plans; Promote the implementation of GPP at national and European level.Results During the three year project duration, GPPinfoNET has networked the local public administrations of 9 regions with the aim of filling in the existing information gaps and share solutions and strategies necessary to overcome the obstacles to implementing GPP. The project organised regional seminars that served the purpose of raising awareness of policy makers about GPP advantages and potential use and filling in information gaps on the development of green public purchasing procedures. Regional networks and regional newsletters have been the means for achieving a better information of public authorities on GPP-related issues and for constantly updating them on development of relevant EU and national legislation and policies. These informative actions enhanced the uptake of GPP practices by involved public administrations, responding to the requirements of the Sixth Environmental Action Programme. The organisation of National GPP days and of interregional meetings for the exchange of good practices contributed to strengthen information activities carried out in the target regions, but also widened the scope of the project towards the creation of suitable conditions for the adoption of the National GPP Action Plan, whose implementation is among EU objectives, particularly in terms of promotion of environmental technologies spread and uptake. The project led to: Consolidation of GPP in the administrations involved in the project; Spread of GPP policies and strategies to new administrations. The project worked with local administrations in 9 regions: 6 in Italy, and one each in Poland, Romania and Spain. The project established networks in these regions, which adopted the principles of the Italian Association for Local Agenda 21 Green Procurement Working Group. The work paths, parallelly carried out by the regional networks, have strengthened the firm belief that all the obstacles that prevent the application of Green Public Procurement can be overcome by sharing methods, best practices and critical issues, and experiences can be replicated. Where the authorities had already started to implement GPP principles, these were enhanced and strengthened. Where GPP was implemented at a lower level, authorities were given tools to: Improve planning of procurement strategies; Move from procurement choices exclusively based on purchase price to responsible choices; Improve dialogue and coordination among the different sectors within public authorities; Overcome difficulties in the evaluation of offers of goods and services through the better definition of processes and the use of analytical tools based on the life cycle approach; Obtain better information on the environmental impacts of products and services. The different regional networks collaborated extensively and established thematic discussion groups, which addressed the following topics: How to use GPP to achieve waste reduction targets and, more in general, the targets provided for by waste management strategies; How to use GPP to achieve energy targets, and targets for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to the implementation of the Covenant of Mayors; How to develop 'green' tender specifications including criteria related to eco-labels and environmental management systems, in compliance with public procurement rules; How to introduce the life cycle costing in procurement procedures for combined economic and environmental benefits.This work has resulted in the participating regions in the drawing up of a GPP Handbook, and of policy and operational documents, such as GPP adoption resolutions, regulations on green procurement, GPP policies, needs analysis checklists and technical specifications including ecological criteria. Awareness raising events targeted at other public authorities also took place outside the core group. The 9 participating authorities were Liguria, Lombardia, Sardegna, Campania, Lazio, Sicilia (Italy), Lodzkie (Poland), Prahova (Romania) and Catalonia (Spain). From a socio-economic point of view, the creation of networks among public bodies sparked off the idea for joint purchasing actions and the establishment of central purchasing headquarters. This encouraged the development of scale economies based on the procurement of goods and services, as larger purchased quantities correspond to lower unit prices. Moreover, the public bodies were able to study the topic of Life Cycle Costing in depth, a tool that, when methodically used in assessing offers, allows to consider both the economic and environmental benefits in green procurement. At a macro-economic level, the shift of attention of public authorities towards the reduction of the environmental impact goods and services, triggers the spread of environmental technologies and thus the development of the green economy. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).