Project Overview
SIRCLES is a project establishing employment opportunities and promoting social inclusion through engaging in a circular economy. The partners’ countries aim to explore new opportunities for NEETs youth and women through the circular economy model applied to the biowaste sector. The project will develop new capacities in business development, separation, collection, compositing, and agriculture processes.
Customized trainings that target diverse local needs of territories will be tested through seven pilot projects addressing hotel, food retail, and household sectors. SIRCLES would generate green jobs that involve the most vulnerable population sectors and support environmental sustainability.
Project Goals
The project will provide 107 new jobs, of which 98 are for the NEETs and women. Furthermore, job opportunities are supposed to increase by 20% after five years from the project completion. Even after the project ends, the pilots will continue to develop their CE business model and serve as a training platform for this emerging sector that can create further opportunities in the future.
Target Sectors
Not only will SIRCLES benefit unemployed women and NEETs aged between 18 and 24, but also the following sectors:
- Civil society organizations
- Municipalities and employment services
- Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions
- Accommodation, farming, tourism, and food retail sectors
- Waste management companies
Expected achievements
- The project will form one strategic alliance for circular economy and social inclusion that includes 21 organizations locally.
- The project will also create five curricula focused on skills development and training and one E-learning tool that addresses 176 trainees.
- Around 200 contracts for logistic operators and compositing managers, technical promoters, and socio-labor insertion of technicians in the circular biowaste management loop are secured.
Project Budget
3.8 million euros
Project Duration
30 months
SIRCLES Partners
- Waste Agency of Catalonia (ES)
- Training and Employment Labour Insertion Company (ES)
- National Technical University of Athens
- Organization Earth (GR)
- House of Water and Environment (PS)
- EDAMA Association for Energy, Water and Environment (JO)
- Rene Moawad Foundation (LB)
- Tunisia Ecotourism (TN)
- Italian Composting and Biogas Association (IT)
- PIN S.c.r.l. Scientific and Educational Services for the University of Florence (IT)
