An area for walking, a roundabout with trees and crops, gardens and parks also enabled as sports areas. They are examples of “green” spaces that can ensure that an industrial estate is not only composed of endless asphalt streets and rows of warehouses and buildings. In many countries of the European Union, making industrial lands also “friendly and close” is a reality. In Spain it is going little by little.
An example that seeks to break with the “image of the chimney emitting smoke” is found in Castilla-La Mancha. The Regional Association of Industrial Zones of this autonomous community (Zincaman) carries out an initiative with this objective within the TándEM call of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) with financing of 1.2 million euros from the funds NextGenerationEU.
According to Antonio Cifuentes, responsible for the project, in its first block this initiative includes training in alternation with employment for 48 young people between the ages of 16 and 29 in projects inspired by public workshop schools.
That is to say, the aforementioned objective of initiating an aesthetic and sustainable reversal of industrial zones is achieved through the development of essential skills of young people for the double transition: the educational transition and the transition to the world of work.
“It has a public interest,” emphasizes Cifuentes, since it is not only aimed at young people, but is also aimed at the design and implementation of sustainable green areas in industrial zones. “It can be in the form of arrangement and transformation of the existing ones in each industrial area or through the design of new ones with solar lighting and low consumption elements in accordance with what is established in the new Urban Agenda procedures for the territories.”
Training, job opportunities and ecological future
The association is clear that it is a “totally new” project in Spain to seek regeneration of these areas, to make them “greener so that they are closer and more pleasant.” “Not only are we providing training and a job opportunity for many young people, but we are also aligning ourselves with Europe, where there are already large industrial areas with parks, gardens and sports areas. It’s about not only seeing them as a place to go to work, but also where you can enjoy, walk, play sports, breathe,” emphasizes Antonio Cifuentes.
The project for the training and employment of Urban Regeneration of Industrial Zones (baptized ‘RUZI’) started in September with the training of students and will be carried out for twelve months.
This process is followed by a second phase in which young people combine in-person and online training with the employment contract. It ends with a third phase, in which after twelve months of training and contract, the young participants will have two months of employment advice from the initiative’s technical team.
In the development of the project, participants will receive theoretical and practical training, combined with an employment contract for training, to effectively prepare them for the work of maintaining green areas in industrial areas. How is it done? “Focusing on the skills necessary for the double transition, ensuring that the young participants are equipped with the essential tools both for training and to advance in their entry into the world of work.”
In these polygons there is a need for this project, since not all municipalities have the installation and maintenance service of green areas in the industrial areas of the municipalities.
The person responsible for the program emphasizes that the TándEM project promotes territorial cohesion by focusing on the direct benefit of local communities through the improvement of these spaces. This encourages “civic commitment” and the participation of young people in their environment. Upon completion, all students will be trained for the same specialty, which is the Certificate of Professionalism in Installation and Maintenance of Gardens and Green Areas.
The training is carried out in six industrial areas, with eight students in each one: Albacete Industrial Zone, “Cuesta Blanca” Industrial Estate in Tarazona de la Mancha (Albacete), Herencia Industrial Estate (Ciudad Real); Las Lomas Industrial Estate in Motilla del Palancar (Cuenca); Senda de los Pastores Industrial Park in Tarancón (Cuenca) and in the Iberum Logistics and Multimodal Central Platform in Illescas (Toledo).
“In these polygons there is a need for this project, since not all municipalities have the installation and maintenance service of green areas in the industrial areas of the municipalities.”
Antonio Cifuentes also considers that public-private collaboration is vital for the optimal functioning of industrial zones. “Without it, the development of industrial zones is hindered; private capital must participate with the public and they must complement each other.”
The Association of Industrial Zones of Castilla-La Mancha has embarked on this project with the aim of reaffirming industrial estates as “the true basic economic infrastructure of general interest.” In fact, it proposes that the future Industry Law, which the regional Executive has been preparing for years, includes a chapter or section that can serve as a guide and orientation for actions aimed at achieving “the greatest effectiveness of these productive spaces through the establishment of production methods. public-private collaboration”.
It so happens that the new Industry Law of Castilla-La Mancha (the current one is from 1992) is still pending approval. Establishes objectives such as the development, modernization and consolidation of the industrial sector, the increase in technological level, the creation of sectoral strategic plans and areas in decline that contribute to the “balanced and sustainable development” of the autonomous community or the creation of participation bodies. such as the Castellano-Manchego Industrial Safety Council.
However, an objective for the “green” regeneration of industrial areas has not been incorporated into the draft. Hence the project of this association of industrial areas to give impetus to an objective that they consider essential for the ecological transition.
In search of energy communities and implementation of the 2030 Agenda
This initiative is added to the rest of the projects carried out by Zincaman for territorial improvement and cohesion, such as the ‘PRODIZIPA’ project for the promotion and revitalization of industrial areas in the province of Albacete, in collaboration with the Provincial Council; and another initiative under a TánDEM call for maintenance assistants in Industrial areas that is being developed in eight municipalities of Castilla La Mancha, also with the State Public Employment Service.
Likewise, the association works on raising awareness for the constitution of local energy communities in industrial zones with the collaboration of Immodo Solar, Globalcaja and the Community Board of Castilla-La Mancha through community offices with the Institute for Diversification and Energy Savings (IDAE), dependent on the Ministry of Energy Transition.
Finally, it develops another project to raise awareness and implement the 2030 Agenda in industrial zones through a guide in collaboration with the Ministry of Sustainable Development.
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