The European Commission highlighted today at an event held in Madrid the Empleaverde Programme, promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, as an example of success in job creation and economic growth in Europe. The European Commission highlighted today at an event held in Madrid the Empleaverde Programme, promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, as an example of success in job creation and economic growth in Europe.
 
With the aim of informing and bringing citizens closer to the actions and policies developed by the European Commission, the event held in the Plaza del Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid was attended by the Director of the Representation of the European Commission in Spain, Francisco Fonseca, and the coordinator of the Empleaverde Programme, Silvia Fernández-Campa.
 
Green entrepreneurs and a European urban artist who has represented from a “street art” perspective some of the outstanding projects that are being carried out in Spain have also joined the event.
 
During the meeting, the potential of the environment and sustainable development in the creation of companies and job creation was highlighted, also during these years of economic recession, where it has been consolidated as a booming sector.
 
In this context, the empleaverde programme, co-financed by the European Social Fund, aims to make the environment and sustainability the basis for better jobs and more competitive companies and, on the other, to make workers and companies key players in improving the environment and sustainable development.

More than 300 projects 

Since its creation, seven years ago, nearly 300 initiatives have been approved in which nearly 1 million recipients participate, of which 60,000 are receiving training. In addition, the creation and consolidation of nearly 2,600 companies or economic activities linked to the environment is being supported and more than 500 direct jobs are being created. The projects, on the other hand, cover a wide variety of topics such as sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, organic agriculture and livestock or sustainable tourism.

 
At the event, the capacity of the Empleaverde Programme to adapt to the current economic situation was also highlighted, supporting projects aimed at workers in sectors with special difficulties, in a situation of reconversion or restructuring. In this context, priority has also been given to projects aimed at young people under 30 years of age in order to increase their skills and qualifications in environmental issues and improve their access to the labour market.
 
Within the framework of the Empleaverde Programme, the Emprendeverde Network was created with the aim of providing more specific support to green companies and entrepreneurs. This network has more than 5,000 members and nearly 100 private investors and financiers.
 
During the event, five entrepreneurs from the Emprendeverde Network presented their initiatives. This is the case of Pecocos, dedicated to the field of production and direct sale of organic cosmetics. For its part, BlueMove has just launched a new carsharing service, whose objective is to share the vehicle with the rest of the neighbourhood’s neighbourhood community by the hour.
 
Representatives of Ecocuadrado, which seeks to reconvert materials, a priori without value in the market, to give them a positive value in line with the circular economy, have also participated. Another example of innovation and entrepreneurship is Fluff, which creates toys with sustainability criteria that help overcome some childhood fears. Finally, Emprendenatura, a company dedicated to consulting and training for rural and nature entrepreneurs, also explained its experience.