Public Procurement, Trade and Sustainable Development
Overview
Academic Lead: Karnala Dawar
Syllabus: SUM5009 Public Procurement, Trade and Sustainable Development [PDF]
This module provides students with the key legal skills necessary to enable compliant, effective and sustainable public procurement contracting. The module engages with different policy objectives for the public procurement life cycle including contracting specifications, evaluation criteria, conflicts of interest and dispute settlement. This dynamic module includes two negotiating exercises addressing procurement contracts and procurement agreements to provide students with the skills to communicate and understand the legal parameters as well as the different trade-offs involved.
Course content is subject to change.
Course aims
This module will prepare you to:
- Understand how trade and sustainability considerations can impact on each stage of the public procurement contracting lifecycle.
- Prioritise and contribute to law and policy development and implementation with respect to different goals for public procurement contracting along with their legal basis for promoting these goals, including: value for money; corruption control; innovation; environment; social inclusion and social value; small businesses.
- Understand key features of the UK Procurement Act; the EU Procurement Directives; the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and selected trade agreements with public procurement chapters.
- Develop/improve your negotiating skills in public procurement contracting.
- Develop/improve your negotiating skills with respect to international trade and other agreements impacting on public procurement policy.
Teaching and learning
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical workshops and field trips.
Learning outcomes
Academic Content:
- Develop practical legal and professional skills relevant to procurement contracting in domestic and international frameworks
- Build ability to assess compliant specifications, evaluation criteria, and basic contractual terms
- Explore trade-offs in legal compliance, commercial viability, and sustainability
Disciplinary Skills - able to:
- Analyse key public procurement laws and regulations at the UK, EU and international levels
- Undertake successful teamwork and communication to promote key policy objectives and applicable procurement rules
- Understand how procurement law and policy interact with practical tools like social value calculators, databases, and AI
Attributes:
- Explore how procurement can support inclusion, sustainability, and innovation
- Develop critical thinking and problem-solving through active learning, legal drafting, and collaborative negotiation exercises.
- Study academic and policy material to resolve or debate issues which arise in public procurement law and policy.
Fees
Additional costs
All reading material will be provided online, so it is not necessary to purchase any books.
For course and housing fees visit our finance webpage
Entry requirements
Course prerequisite:
No prior content knowledge needed.
We welcome Summer School students from around the world. We accept a range of qualifications
How to apply
Have a question? Get in touch - one of the team will be happy to help!
Applications close 26 May 2026