Exploring the Discourse on Sustainability in Public Procurement: A Q Methodology Study in Development Cooperation Programmes

During last decades, the function of public procurement has been increasingly affected by the ecological and ethical principle of ‘sustainability’. Yet, relatively little we know about how public officers think about sustainability in public procurement. This Q methodology study provides some evidence of the variety of views held on what sustainable procurement is, what are the effects of sustainable procurement on organisational practices, and how sustainability principles should be implemented.