The project includes personalized advice for 12 women who work in different activities linked to the territory, and two training activities: a Basic Course on “Contributions of the rural environment to society” of 20 hours, and an Advanced Course on “Characterization and assessment of the environmental, social and economic contributions associated with rural activities linked to the territory. Options for Improvement”. 30 hours.

4 Autonomous Communities (Castilla y León, Andalusia, Extremadura, and Castilla-La Mancha) with a marked rural character have been selected, affected by depopulation and lack of job opportunities, but in which in turn the inhabitants of rural areas manage a rich natural and cultural heritage that makes numerous contributions to society.

The actions will be semi-face-to-face given the uncertainty of the current situation caused by the pandemic. Work will be done from a virtual e-learning platform that USAL already has.

The consultancies are conceived as pilot projects, which, as demonstrative, act as practical examples in terms of characterisation and quantification of the environmental, social and economic contributions of different types of economic activities carried out by women in rural areas, linked in one way or another to the territory and which contribute to population fixation. This quantification allows us to identify a baseline that can already be used as a factor of differentiation and competitiveness of these products and services, but also allows us to identify options for future improvement.

THE COURSES:

• The Basic Course introduces students to all those environmental, social and economic contributions that, as they are not measured, are rarely taken into account and valued. It has a theoretical focus.
• The Advanced Course has an eminently practical character, with the purpose of allowing students to identify and assess the environmental, social and economic contributions associated with their own activities, following the recommendations of the teaching staff and the practical examples of the advisory activities. The results of the counselling are used as an example. It is intended that the students who attend this training activity see practical examples close to them that serve as motivation and guidance to implement similar actions in their own activities.