The president of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Josep Puxeu, today presided over the signing ceremony of the collaboration agreements with the representatives of the 15 entities based in Madrid that will develop projects to promote employment and good environmental practices in the Spanish territory. within the framework of the Empleaverde Program.

The event, which took place at the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, was also attended by the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, as well as representatives of the signatory organizations: the Association of Foresters of Spain Ricardo Codorniú, the Association to Promote the Rational Use of Forest Products and Services (FSC-Spain), the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG – Rural Initiative), the Confederation of Organizations of Foresters of Spain (COSE), Ecologists in Action-CODA, the Agri-Food Federation of UGT (UGT-FTA), the Federation of Spanish Footwear Industries (FICE), the National Federation of Electrical and Telecommunications Installation Entrepreneurs of Spain (FENIE), the Conde Valle de Salazar Foundation (FUCOVASA), the Spanish Railways Foundation, the Edufores Foundation, the Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente Foundation, the Fernando González Bernáldez Foundation for Natural Spaces – EUROPARC Spain, the Union of Associations of Self-Employed and Entrepreneurial Workers (UATAE) and the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA).

The investment of almost 12 million euros will be used to launch initiatives aimed at creating employment, increasing the qualification of workers, modernising companies for sustainable development and adapting them to environmental regulations.

Approved within the framework of the Empleaverde Programme, projects will be carried out that include actions in the agricultural, livestock, forestry, energy, fishing, construction, food, environmental management, waste management and sustainable tourism sectors.

The program in numbers

Through the Empleaverde Programme, the Foundation manages the funds allocated to it by the Adaptability and Employment Operational Programme of the European Social Fund (ESF) for the period 2007-2013. The 49 projects approved in this call add up to an amount of 11.8 million euros.

The Empleaverde Programme has set goals for the period 2007-2013 to support more than 50,000 people and promote the creation of 1,000 companies in the environmental sector. To this end, it has a total endowment of 44.1 million euros, of which the European Social Fund co-finances between 50% and 80% of the projects, depending on the Autonomous Communities in which they are developed.

Within the framework of these projects, nearly a thousand different actions will be carried out: courses, conferences, information and communication campaigns, personalized advice, among others.

These initiatives will contribute to the creation of almost 150 direct jobs, since the entities plan to hire personnel for their development. In addition, more than 250,000 workers will be involved through the projects and more than 550 economic activities are expected to be launched.

Agriculture, fisheries and sustainability

The Ricardo Codorniú Forestry Association of Spain will launch the “Empleafores” project in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Asturias. The aim is to identify and promote the economic possibilities offered by the sustainable exploitation of forests in rural areas. The Confederation of Forestry Organizations of Spain will also be committed to sustainable management with training actions among owners of forest farms in Aragon, Catalonia, Madrid, Navarre and the Basque Country.

In the same vein, the Association to Promote the Rational Use of Forest Products and Services (FSC-Spain) proposes the project “Responsible Forest Management: Forest Conservation and Rural Development” for Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, Extremadura and Murcia. The objective is to generate innovative employment alternatives within the rural area, through information, training and advice for workers on issues of sustainable forest management, forest certification and social economy.

The Edufores Foundation also directs its actions to workers and professionals related to the forestry, environmental and education sectors located in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Cantabria. The JANUS Programme aims to improve and consolidate employment in the environmental and forestry sectors, as well as to give a boost to the reconversion of economic activities related to natural resources and forest ecosystems.

For its part, the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG – Rural Initiative) will carry out the project “Training in the Compatibility of Agricultural Management and Wildlife” in 14 Autonomous Communities. Within the framework of the project, a guide will be published that contributes to good agricultural practices and the conservation of biodiversity.

Meanwhile, Ecologists in Action will promote agroecological production in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura, through the implementation of practical training courses on the management of natural resources, the enhancement of traditional peasant knowledge, the creation of new agroecological farms, and the conversion of some of the existing ones, the dynamization of short marketing circuits and the strengthening of associative networks local agrarians.

Finally, the Agri-Food Federation of UGT also intends to train workers from SMEs and micro-SMEs, in this case, in the sector of processing and conservation of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, in order to improve their skills in environmental and sustainability issues in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, Extremadura, Murcia, Asturias, the Valencian Community and the Canary Islands.

Imagination at the service of development

The Spanish Railways Foundation proposes “Green Employment Pathways” in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura. The project aims to build and consolidate services for the sustainable use of natural and environmental resources through the development of nature conservation, sustainable tourism and leisure activities in the surroundings of greenways (eco-tourism itineraries that run on old railway lines).

For its part, the Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente Foundation will develop “Run@Forma-Emprende”, a project that aims to train workers in rural and urban areas, for the active search for entrepreneurs, through training in new technologies for management, systematization and organization of information. The project seeks to stop the depopulation of rural areas and encourage recolonization, promoting a multifunctional economy in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura.

EUROPARC Spain has imagined “ENPlea Sostenible” to encourage innovation (transfer of research results) among workers in the conservation and tourism sectors of protected areas (Natura 2000 Network spaces and Biosphere Reserves) in all the Autonomous Communities.

Meanwhile, the Union of Associations of Self-Employed and Entrepreneurial Workers (UATAE) will act in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Madrid, in the training of self-employed workers in environmental issues, so that they have tools to adapt to the changes that originate in production systems.

The Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA) will launch a “Plan for the promotion of waste management and recycling and creation of green companies by the self-employed and workers of micro-enterprises in hospitality, commerce and construction”, in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia and Extremadura.

For a new energy model

Through the Sol Project, the National Federation of Electrical Installations and Telecommunications Entrepreneurs of Spain will seek to boost the creation of new business initiatives and train workers in the area of photovoltaic solar energy, especially in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, the Valencian Community and Madrid.

Likewise, the Federation of Spanish Footwear Industries, FICE, will focus on issues of eco-innovation, sustainability of transport and materials, as well as improvement of the professional skills of its workers, in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, the Valencian Community, La Rioja and the Balearic Islands.

For its part, the Conde Valle de Salazar Foundation with the Ecoempleo project seeks solutions in two sectors with great potential such as the rehabilitation of buildings and new models of transport and sustainable mobility. That is why its actions are aimed at people who work in construction and in related industries and sectors, as well as workers in the transport sector.