CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN PRACTICE
Programme: Erasmus + KA204
Circular economy represents an opportunity to address labour market imbalances and threats. Circular economy policies are expected to help reduce environmental impacts while generating higher levels of employment. As we move towards a more circular economy, it is estimated that GDP in the EU will increase by almost 0.5% by 2030. According to the Cambridge Econometrics, Trinomics, and ICF report (2018), there will be an estimated net increase in employment of approximately 700 000. During the next few years, the sectors that produce and process raw materials will decrease in size, while the waste management, recycling and repair sectors will experience extra growth. If a sustainable circular economy is to be implemented, the quality of those jobs is essential to their success, improving that quality through improving worker skills, including environmental, health and safety skills. For this reason, the CE-IP project aims to develop new training solutions that can help match the expected expansion of green job opportunities with skilled workers, to promote a shift towards a more sustainable economy. Our project will provide training solutions related to current jobs in the recycling sector, and new green and fair job opportunities for adults with low skills, including unemployed youth.
The activities to be developed will focus on the generation of new skills and opportunities to access green and fair jobs, mainly related to the circular economy in terms of garment waste management. For this reason, the project will focus on the circular economy of the textile sector as an example.
The target groups of the project are:
- Self-employed, unemployed and low-skilled workers from other productive sectors.
- Trainers of continuous training systems that provide courses for adults related to new
employment opportunities.
Thus, the main objective of the project is to achieve a systemic change in the skills and capacities of this target group.
Other objectives are:
- Promotion of self-employment linked to these activities in low-skilled workers.
- Creation of new innovative training solutions related to opportunities in the circular economy.
The Consortium that will develop the project is made up of six organizations from five countries:
- Universitat Jaume I de Castellón as the project coordinator (Spain).
- AEGARE- Asociación de empresarios gallegos en Aragón y riberas del Ebro (Spain).
- Cologne Business School (Germany).
- Social Innovation and Cohesion Institute (Greece).
- Razvojna agencija Sotla (Slovenia).
- CNIPA Puglia (Italy).
A course on key concepts of Circular Economy will be held for 18 sustainability experts from the partner organizations to exchange ideas and generate a mutual understanding of the key concepts of Circular Economy and sustainability.
In addition, the following intellectual outputs will be developed:
- Training guide on circular economy management strategies for microenterprises.
- Multimedia training resources with a 360o web base on good practices and innovative ways of extending the useful life of textile products.
- E-learning course for trainers on circular economy. In the development of this intellectual output, a pilot course for 60 trainers will be launched, the final result of which will be that every trainer will design a training course for unqualified adults.
180 unemployed, self-employed and low-skilled workers will participate in the tests of the intellectual outputs of the project.
The results expected from the implementation of the project include:
- The development of teaching competences of adult trainers related to the circular economy.
- Innovative training solutions in this field through the use of digital technologies.
- To promote the circular economy through the generation of micro-enterprises in the activity of garment waste management (textile sector).
- The development and dissemination of the circular economy as an employment opportunity for adults with low qualifications and in a situation of exclusion from the labour market, from other productive sectors.
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.