- Endesa and the JUAN XXIII FOUNDATION have been running inclusive composting training courses – COMPOST-IN for two years, with the goal of creating inclusive and quality employment for people in a situation of psychosocial vulnerability and addressing depopulation.
- In the last two years, they have helped 330 people with disabilities from all over Spain become certified in composting tasks, clearing, and maintaining forest screens at solar plants.
- 39% of the students have secured employment in just 6 months.
The renewable plants are located in rural areas where there are natural resources like sun and wind, and space to implement them. The development of these technologies and the need to accelerate the energy transition is allowing rural areas, which had previously suffered from higher depopulation, to regain economic activity, as specialized labor is needed for the construction and development of these projects.
Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España, is aware of this, which is why from the moment it designs its projects, it does so with the firm conviction of staying in the area and being an additional actor that generates wealth, employment, and development. For this reason, two years ago, together with the JUAN XXIII FOUNDATION, it launched a training program to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in this growing labor field. The goal is to facilitate their potential inclusion in environmental jobs associated with photovoltaic plants.
The courses, called COMPOST-IN, inclusive composting, started last year, and during this period, 21 editions have been held, training 330 students from the Balearic Islands (26), Aragón (64), Murcia (34), Extremadura (32), Andalusia (110), and Castilla-La Mancha (64).
This training has enabled students who have completed it to find that 39% of them have secured employment six months after their accreditation, with 8% of them working at renewable facilities.
“These figures gradually show us the effectiveness of this initiative,” said Ada Fiteni, Sustainability Manager at Endesa, who emphasized, “We continue to work in these areas where we develop our projects because we want to be an additional actor in rural areas and help integrate such a vulnerable group as people with disabilities.”
Alberto Muñoz, Director of the Employment Training Center at the Juan XXIII Foundation, stated, “Thanks to Endesa’s support, we are training people with intellectual disabilities across the country, increasing their employability and placing them at the center of circular economy and renewable energy processes.”
The course is part of the training activities carried out by Endesa in all areas where it builds clean energy generation facilities. In addition to the teaching material, the students of the course were given a kit of essential materials to carry out composting tasks, as well as a brush cutter, a professional shredder, and the necessary PPE (personal protective equipment) to carry out these tasks. All of this is with the goal of continuing to apply what has been learned, both in their facilities and in any potential jobs resulting from this training.
The content of this training activity consists of a total of 99 hours, of which 37 are practical. This initiative contributes to the fulfillment of 10 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the improvement of digital skills for people with disabilities.
About Endesa
Endesa is a leading electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. It is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. Endesa runs an integrated business of electricity generation, distribution, and commercialization. It also offers electric mobility services, where it is one of the main operators of charging points in Spain, as well as other value-added services focused on the electrification of energy uses in homes, businesses, industries, and public administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the UN SDGs and, as such, strongly promotes the development of renewable energy through Enel Green Power España, the digitization of networks through e-distribution, and corporate social responsibility. In this field, we also act through the Endesa Foundation. Our team has around 9,000 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.