Cascais
Portugal
Overview
Cascais is a Portuguese coastal municipality on the outskirts of the Lisbon metropolitan region. One-third of its territory is protected landscape heritage, and its natural assets provide the infrastructure for quality tourism and an improved work-life balance.
The city aims to maintain and protect its rich set of natural resources for future generations, from the Atlantic coastline to natural parks and riverside, with sustainable strategies and innovative projects.
Cascais is on a journey to become a clean, green and inclusive city where people want to live and work, with industries and businesses that enrich the community while protecting the planet's boundaries.
Facts & Figures
92 km2
territory
216 000
inhabitants
1/3 of the Area
is protected landscape
30 Minute Ride
from the capital Lisbon
Highest Gross GDP Municipality
GDP per capita
Local Voices
01 - 03
“A sustainable city brings out the best of people and the best of our future. We are not delaying it, we are there already.”
Joana Balsemão
Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Cascais
“Environmental innovation comes from disruptive approaches. These rise from unexpected ideas and courageous hearts. City.solutions brings these together like no other.”
Luis Capão
Chairman of Cascais Ambiente
“Working with Cascais has enabled us to give a real life test ride to our tool, making it a successful tool!”
Javad Hatami
CEO of Builtrix
Cascais Roadmap for
carbon neutrality
Cascais was the first Portuguese municipality to adopt a roadmap for carbon neutrality, a pioneering effort that incentivizes local action. The ambitious 2050 roadmap defines the transition goals and resources needed to change the emission paradigm, implementing direct actions that promote decarbonization and recognize the importance of adopting sustainable behaviours, environmental education, awareness and sustainable tourism.
Future-proofing Cascais is not only a sustainability concern but also a proactive measure to adapt and safeguard the municipality against climate change threats like wildfires, heat waves, droughts, and sea level rise. The roadmap puts a strong emphasis on resiliency, a crucial factor in building a thriving and prosperous community.
Considering an optimistic scenario, Cascais' action plan sees a reduction of 97,2% of GHG emissions and includes improvements in four areas:
Initiatives
sustainability
Mobi Cascais
a “mobility as a service” project which manages the public transportation buses in Cascais. This is a free public service for all residents, students or workers in...
sustainability
Green Corridors
Cascais has over 5 rivers that cut the municipality from the highest mountain range altitude through the urban centres and coast in the southern areas...
sustainability
Urban Green Parks
Cascais has over 200 urban green parks which provide a fundamental environmental service but also for social inclusion. The increasing number of parks requires added management efficiency for resource-saving...
sustainability
AdaptCascais
a fund aimed to support NGO’s efforts to promote climate resilience in Cascais. They benefit from a small fund but also technical expertise to ensure they are successfully implemented...
Programs and Support Systems
Ambitious accelerator and incubator programs that help businesses work with the city
“Global challenges become local challenges - local solutions have to become global solutions. So, act locally and share knowledge globally.”
Blair Evans
Board Member Fab Foundation
DNA Cascais
A business incubator to develop innovative potential of young people. Promotes entrepreneurship & creation of new companies, and organizes of seminars and conferences
EIT Climate Kic
The EU’s climate innovation initiative, working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon world
Fundo AdaptCascais
Created by Câmara Municipal de Cascais, the AdaptCascais fund supports local climate change adaptation projects. The objective of the fund is to transform ideas into actions that contribute to adaptation to climate change
CIFAL Cascais
UNITAR’s network of affiliated “CIFAL” centres is an instrumental platform dedicated to providing training and learning opportunities to a wide range of stakeholders, with special emphasis on local authorities and civil society leaders.
Business Procedures
Understand local regulations and compliance requirements related to working with the city
Regulations and Compliance Requirements
Understand the local regulations and compliance requirements related to your product or service. Ensure your offerings align with these regulations.
- Procuring entities must appropriately plan the procurement process with clear selection criteria linked to the subject matter. Detailed notices, tender dossiers and evaluation reports are required for oversight and audit purposes.
- All participants in the procurement process, including economic operators, must avoid conflicts of interest and non-discriminatory practices. Documented justifications are required for any contract amendments or cancellations after award to ensure procedural integrity.
Public Procurement Processes
Familiarize yourself with the city's public procurement processes and requirements. This is critical if your startup intends to bid for city contracts.
- Legislative Framework and Regulation: Portugal has a centralized and highly regulated system for public procurement, with oversight from the Central Purchasing Body (CPB). The CPB establishes mandatory rules and procedures.
- Procedures and Methods: Public procurement in Portugal offers various procedures, including open procedures, restricted procedures, negotiated procedures, competitive dialogues, and electronic auctions. Each procedure is suited to different procurement needs, promoting competition and efficiency.
- Thresholds and EU Compliance: Specific procurement procedures apply based on the estimated contract value. Higher-value contracts require an open procedure with publication of notices, while lower-value contracts have more flexible procedures.
- Electronic Procurement (e-Procurement): Electronic platforms are increasingly used for notices and tenders to promote greater access and transparency. Portugal aims to become a fully digitalized procurement system. i.e acinGov
- Transparency and Accountability: Procurement processes must be transparent, competitive, and non-discriminatory. Tenders and bids are typically open to any economic operator from the European Union. Successful bidders must show legal, financial, and technical compliance with selection criteria. Contracts are awarded based on most economically advantageous tender according to pre-announced evaluation models and award criteria.
- SME Participation and Social Considerations: The public procurement process in Portugal aims to foster the participation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Initiatives are in place to encourage SMEs to compete for contracts. Additionally, social considerations, such as environmental and social impact, are integrated into procurement processes to promote sustainability and social responsibility.
Cascais-specific public procurement and Fast-track potential
- COVID-19 accelerated use of direct competitions and led to special simplified procurement regimes for certain contracts.
- Simplified procedures exist for specific low-value, standard contracts such as office supplies under €15,000 where a single company is invited to bid.
- For works contracts below €5.35 million and services/supplies below €221,000, Cascais utilizes an open competitive procedure with quicker timelines and simplified qualification requirements.
- Between these values and EU thresholds, Cascais can opt for a restricted procedure allowing pre-qualification of candidates through selection criteria.
- Above the EU thresholds, open EU-wide procedures are mandated with additional compliance requirements.
- For extremely urgent works/services under €60,000 due to unforeseeable events, Cascais may utilize a negotiated procedure on fast-track timelines under certain conditions.
Open Challenges
Seeking functional and scalable solutions to reach carbon neutrality and achieve climate adaptation are the top priorities of Cascais Ambiente.
Learn more about their open call challenges that are inviting urban innovators in supporting their ambitions for neutrality and find out how you can get involved.
Waste Management & Circular Economy
Context:
Open Call Challenge in Waste Management & Circular Economy at Cascais
Client:
Cascais Ambiente & Câmara Municipal de Cascais
Location:
Cascais, Portugal
More information
Cascais is steadfast in its pursuit of a green transition and becoming a net-neutral city by 2050. In these efforts, it’s crucial to get the residential and municipal waste in the region in check and find ways to reduce the amount of waste that is produced, lower the level of greenhouse gas (particularly methane) emissions that are linked with treating the waste and find creative ways how to streamline waste collection and it’s treatment to maximize the impact and save resources. Focusing on the transformative power of the circular economy the city aspires to turn the trash to treasure and to use the waste as a resource or keep it in a loop to shape a greener and brighter future.