This blog is part of our series on “Leveraging the Olympics and Paralympic Games for Local Development”. By sharing insights, best practices and success stories, this campaign seeks to inspire and guide future host cities and relevant stakeholders in maximising the benefits of such global events.
The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the largest event ever organised in France. From the start, the organisers have been determined to make it an event that leaves more than just great memories. One of their goals was to leave a lasting legacy on the Social and Solidarity Economy – through the SSE 2024 Programme led by the association Les Canaux.
To deliver on this, Paris 2024 developed a responsible procurement strategy based on five pillars: circular economy, carbon neutrality and environmental preservation, social innovation, inclusion of people with disabilities, and value creation in local territories. As part of this strategy, the Olympic Works Delivery Company (SOLIDEO) committed to providing 10% of contracted working hours to jobseekers looking to reintegrate into the labour market and providing 25% of contracts to SMEs and Social and Solidarity Economy organisations. This is the first time such targets have included commitments to the SSE.
An innovative and ambitious programme
Since 2018, the SSE 2024 Programme, has been working to support SSE organisations to win these contracts. SSE 2024 undertook a comprehensive study of the SSE ecosystem, identifying over 6 000 companies and organisations, and mapping their capabilities to the needs of the organisers. The SSE 2024 Programme then provides them with targeted information on economic opportunities related to the Games and support for their response, including training and technical assistance.
As part of this support, SSE 2024 partnered with networks for integration, inclusion, and employment, as well as state services and local authorities, to facilitate networking between businesses to promote consortium responses to calls for tender. Businesses that may not have the capacity to respond to a market alone have a greater chance of success when joining forces, whether with other SSE entities or those from the conventional economy.
Simultaneously, a significant effort was made to support the Games’ organisers to better understand the SSE ecosystem and the unique capabilities and needs within the sector. SSE 2024 identified high-potential markets for SSE structures and recommended procurement strategies to favour companies with social and environmental expertise.
One strategy that was deployed was to split tenders into smaller contracts, allowing smaller or more specialised companies to apply, while adding social and environmental clauses or evaluation criteria with significant weighting favouring impact-driven businesses. Some Paris 2024 contracts have even been reserved for professional integration or disability actors, based on SSE 2024‘s recommendations.
© Les Canaux
Concrete and inspiring results
Over six years, 6,000 social economy entities and businesses have registered and benefited from SSE 2024 services. More than 60 public procurement training sessions have been organised, and nearly 1000 personalised support sessions have been provided to businesses.
As the Games approach, the results are evident. SOLIDEO’s commitments have been significantly exceeded, with over 2.9 million hours of work completed by jobseekers looking to reintegrate into the labour market and 37% of committed amounts billed to SMEs and SSE companies. For Paris 2024, 78% of suppliers are SMEs and SSE companies, over 500 of which are SSE and circular economy companies.
Among these success stories is Vesto, a company specialising in the reuse and refurbishment of technical catering equipment. Trained in public procurement by SSE 2024 in 2021, Vesto now supplies almost 300 kitchen units for the Athlete’s Village, subcontracted by Sodexo Live.
Another success, highlighting the joint efforts of SSE 2024 and integration and disability networks, is Paris 2024’s contract for managing and cleaning the linen of the Athlete’s Village residents. This tender was reserved for jobseekers looking to reintegrate into the labour market and workers with disabilities. Following support from ESS 2024 and integration networks, the contract was awarded to a consortium of nine structures combining integration and disability, led by La Conciergerie Solidaire. This contract, valued at nearly two million euros, mobilises more than 350 people.
© Les Canaux
A lasting legacy
The legacy potential is substantial for the businesses that won contracts, but also extends beyond them. This large-scale event serves as a laboratory, demonstrating what can be achieved through more responsible public procurement, and the potential of SSE companies to respond at scale.
Now, we must build on that success to promote their full integration into major public and private projects, as well as public procurement, by improving knowledge and awareness of the SSE economy and its capacities, setting clear targets, educating buyers, and adapting markets by promoting segmentation and consortiums, and informing about opportunities. Les Canaux will continue to be committed to this approach.
The OECD Programme on global events (cultural, sports and business) helps those involved build a legacy of local development. We work with event hosts from national or local governments, the private sector, and cultural, sports or business associations to reap greater local benefits from such events.
The OECD has been working on social economy and innovation for over 25 years to assist national, regional and local governments in designing and implementing strategies to support the social economy and social innovation. We provide in-depth analyses and evidence-based policy recommendations and build multilateral collaborations to foster social economy development.
This article is also available in French.
© Les Canaux
Elisa Yavchitz is the director of Les Canaux, an association dedicated to promoting a committed economy that is local, social, solidarity-based, and circular. The association achieves this by training and raising awareness among local authorities, citizens, and businesses about social and environmental innovation. Les Canaux has been commissioned by Paris 2024 to contribute to organising the first inclusive and solidarity-based Games. Previously, Elisa Yavchitz worked at the World Health Organization and the French Ministry of Health, and spent 12 years advising organisations on change management. She also served as the economic advisor to the Mayor of Paris.