Title of the practice : Training in forest work for rural unemployed

The workshops “Training in forest work for rural unemployed” were created as a tool to deal with the growing depopulation of the small towns of the province of Burgos caused to a large extent by the lack of employment among young people. In addition, it was important to get a training tool that would promote the biodiversity of these rural areas on the one hand and support rural entrepreneurship on the one hand.

The main objective of the project is: 

-Reduce unemployment in depressed rural areas

During 2016-2017 the training initially focused on 3 areas 

  • Personal development: personal skills and emotional intelligence.
  • Skills in job search: English for job interviews, new technologies, development of a personal style.
  • Information technology: ending the technology gap in rural areas through training in this field.

In 2017-2018 an additional training area has been created:

• Training in forestry work for the promotion of biodiversity.

The latter training seeks the creation of new employment niches by training young people from disadvantaged rural environments, while encouraging entrepreneurship to counteract depopulation in rural areas

The main beneficiaries of the project are the Municipalities of less than 20,000 inhabitants with the highest unemployment rates in the province of Burgos, Spain.

In 2016-2017:

  • Total beneficiaries: 319
  • Satisfaction with course: 4.44 out of 5

Evidence of success (results achieved)

  • Public-private collaboration with a social worker who knows the social and business reality of the area and a private entity specialized in training through different programs in the territory and with adaptability in a specific space.
  • Personal and motivational development programs as a preliminary step to the search of employment or to the enterprise avoiding the demotivation of people with low qualification or employability. (over 48, women, people with low level of education, etc.)

Difficulties encountered/ lessons learned

  • Deadlines sometimes do not fit the social reality of the area.
  • Size of the municipalities and the depopulation of the rural world.
  • Difficulty of finding teachers to move to distant localities.
  • The cost of project: includes practices with machinery, materials and protection equipment acquired.

Potential for learning or transfer

The transfer of this tool is especially interesting in depressed rural areas such as those presented.

Thanks to the four training workshops of which the project consists, it is possible to adapt the personal skills of unemployed young people in these areas to the demand for employment by promoting the biodiversity of the environment in which they live.

The project has the advantage of being easily transferable allowing the adaptation of the training modules to the needs of the region to be transferred.

The techniques of personal development and job search or creation of companies are much more effective if they are accompanied by the minimum knowledge necessary in a trade sector.

It is therefore a matter of combining both formations, adapting in their case the one referred to the specific trade / sector to the needs of each zone.

For an acceptable transferability it is necessary to combine both formations, and it is necessary to adapt more to the territory, diversifying the formation.

Further information : https://www.forosolidariocajadeburgos.com/contenidos/archivos/0E32AE31-B510-0797-EDFD6AAF7614CAD6.pdf