The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has resolved two calls for aid from the Empleaverde Programme. One of them is aimed at projects for training, advice and support for job placement, and the other seeks to promote the hiring of unemployed people.
Thanks to these grants, which are co-financed by the European Social Fund, MITECO will allocate 7.5 million euros to 66 projects to promote employment in the field of the green and blue economy and promote training actions on topics such as organic farming, renaturation and restoration, sustainable forest management, fair and ecological transition or sustainable fashion. These projects are expected to promote the training of more than 7,000 people.
The activities will begin throughout the month of April and are aligned with policies on biodiversity conservation, the fight against climate change, pollution prevention and the transition to a more sustainable production and social model.
On the other hand, within the framework of the call for aid to promote hiring, 597 new employment contracts have been supported for a total amount of 2.5 million euros, which have allowed the improvement of knowledge, incorporation of new elements of sustainability in the entities and facilitate the conversion to green jobs.
The beneficiary entities that have made these contracts focus their activity on sectors such as renewable energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture and livestock, sustainable rehabilitation and building, eco-innovation in industry and business and energy saving and efficiency.
NEW NEEDS OF THE LABOUR MARKET
In the period 2014-2020, the Empleaverde Programme has co-financed 288 projects in economic sectors linked to the environment such as the circular economy, sustainable rehabilitation and building, eco-innovation, entrepreneurship or the production, distribution and sale of ecological products, among others. In addition, thanks to the actions of this programme, 2,783 people have improved their situation in the labour market and another 2,000 have received support in the creation or improvement of their company.
The Empleaverde Programme is positioned to have continuity within the framework of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) during the 2021-2027 programming period, to centralise its activity on training for the green transition. In this way, actions aimed at unemployed people, workers and entrepreneurs are planned in order to continue promoting the improvement of skills associated with the ecological transition and new sources of green employment.
