According to the report by Fundación Alternativas Sostenibilidad en España 2017 (Change of course, time for action), every million tourists that Spain receives generates 25,000 t of CO2, 1,500 tons of waste, 300,000 m3 of wastewater and consumes 11,000 m3 of fuel, 300,000 m3 of water and 2,000 t of food. Bearing in mind that Spain is the second country in the world in number of tourists (82 million in 2017) and that tourism represents more than 11% of Spanish GDP and 13% of employment, implementing measures to promote the sustainability of the sector must be a priority in the context of the economic, ecological and social crisis we are experiencing.

This is the context of the COPADE Foundation’s proposal, within the Empleaverde Program of the Biodiversity Foundation, financed by the European Social Fund, which is aimed at contributing to the transition towards a new environmentally sustainable model for companies in the tourism sector. This takes the form of the development of training processes for unemployed people interested in developing professionally in the tourism sector in order to enter the labour market with the ability to facilitate the transition of tourism companies towards a circular and environmentally sustainable economy .

The project will be developed in the autonomous communities of Galicia, Extremadura and Castilla – La Mancha, where a high unemployment rate converges (social area) with a strong institutional commitment to promote sustainable and quality tourism growth (economic and environmental areas). The main actions consist of the design and organization of training courses of 20 teaching hours each on Environmental Sustainability, Circular Economy, Responsible Consumption and Fair Trade applied to the tourism sector.

COPADE FOUNDATION

https://copade.es/Contacto: tecnico@copade.org