‘Where does the state fit in?’ – How greening public policy can help local economies

Jimmy Blake is an Administrative Officer with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. He holds an MA in European Studies and previously worked in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, first in the Bilateral Trade Section then in the Intellectual Property Section. Transferring to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in 2006, he was appointed to the Sustainable Development Unit which is tasked with developing Ireland's policy on Green Public Procurement (GPP). Jimmy recently (April 2010) completed the Master of Economic Science (Policy Analysis) course at the Institute of Public Administration, for which he wrote a thesis on GPP. He also holds a "Training of Trainers" Certificate in GPP, having successfully completed the ILO's "Training of Trainers" Programme, financed by and organised in collaboration with the European Commission (DG Environment).