PARTNERSHIP " PROFESSIONAL TRAINING CENTRE"

TEP: Castilla and León

TERRITORIAL AREA CONCERNED Guardo (Palencia)

Key elements which led to the decision to create the partnership The origin of the initiative was the Territorial Employment Pact launched in 1998, as a forum for dialogue and consensus. From the beginning, an urgent need was identified to increase the endowment for training in the area to contribute to attaining the objective of job creation in the medium term.

The partners have contributed to this process by bestowing their initiative, commitment and ideas, under the co-ordination of the Guardo Municipality. The action was approved at the meeting of the Pact’s Steering Committee held on 4 March 1999, and the tasks of adequation were finalised on 20 November 2000.

ORGANISATION CONTACT

General Authority for Employment Aurora ROMERA HERNANDEZ. Junta of Castilla and León Head of Training Department

C/ Maria de Molina,7 Tel:+34 983 414524 E - 47071 Fax: +34 983 414 519 aurora [email protected]

WHAT IS IT?

Partnership description Public institutions:

General Employment Authority of the Junta of Castilla and León, Guardo Municipality

Private organisations: 1

Employers associations: Confederation of Employers Organisations of Palencia Trade unions: Regional Union of Workers Councils Regional Union of the Workers General Union

Demographic, social, economic, political and cultural characteristics Territorial area: 68 km2 (Guardo municipal district); 1780 km2 (Guardo region) Eligible for the Structural funds objective/s: Objective 1 Total population: 8 718 Active population: 5 478 Unemployment rate: 18%

Employment distribution by sector: * agriculture, fishery, forestry 1.2% * industry 35.4% * construction, BTP 11.2% * tertiary 52.2%

Other characteristics: Zone subject to reconversion of mining. 24% of the population are young. Female unemployment rate is 66%

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Actors traditionally involved in local development and in employment policy Since approximately one year, the responsibility for local development and employment policies in Castilla and León has mainly been the responsibility of the Regional Administration which formulates the operating programmes and implements them. Nevertheless, a situation of vertical co-operation exists among local, regional and national administrations. In this situation of co-operation, all the parties are involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in formulating ideas, providing resources and carrying out actions for job creation, according to their abilities.

In this scenario, economic and social agents participate in the planning processes and in implementing the actions for employers and workers, fundamentally in training and technical support.

Role of each partner in the formulation, realisation, monitoring and control of local development and employment policies The partnership was consolidated in the realisation process of the Territorial Pact. Within this consensus framework, projects have been formulated, initiatives have been evaluated, coming from within as well as from non-member third parties active in the Pact, and decisions have been taken unanimously. 2

As a consequence of this process, an initiative has been taken to set up the Guardo Professional Training Centre, with a regional vocation, for the Palencia mining basin where the partners promoting the initiative are continuing to develop activities jointly and on the basis of consensus.

The funding is of a public nature, with the building made available being the property of the Central Administration, and the General Authority for Employment is providing funding for the activities, while the social and economic agents are providing the technical resources for the actions concerning new technologies and creation of companies.

Quality of the partnership Throughout the management of the project, the level of concertation has been very high. Decisions have always been taken based on transparency and the active participation of all the members of the Pact’s Steering Committee. Formal meetings are held regularly and documented, under the co-ordination of the General Authority for Employment and with the support of an external technical secretary. From the beginning, the Steering Committee opted for a series of standards and procedures which have been continuously respected. The meetings are held bi-monthly.

WHAT IS THE VALUE ADDED ?

Partnership's innovative elements The innovation resides in establishing the partnership in a territory with a high rate of unemployment which is trying to emerge from a very profound reconversion situation. This practise of consensus has been very appropriate until now, not as a systematic practise but as applied to concrete subjects.

The partnership has led to the perception in the region of a joint action on the part of all the players involved in policies concerning employment, local administration, trade unions, businesses and regional administration, who had intervened previously in this territory in an individual and uncoordinated manner.

This model has permitted greater efficiency in the actions undertaken, as well as a greater legitimacy of these actions, and a better use of available resources.

Changes occurring in partnership components, with regard to the management of local development initiatives The changes among the members of the partnership are multiple but the following, which are of a cultural nature, should be highlighted:

A more positive attitude towards other consensual or joint actions. Systematisation of the information exchange among all the public and private members. The perception of the concertation procedure as a basic tool for local development. 3

The development of joint actions.

Strategic vision of problems, quality of the actions implemented in the territory All the social and economic partners have always been established in the region, which has a great trade union tradition due to the importance that mining has had historically in its economy. As a region going through reconversion, it is experiencing considerable difficulties in advancing through the economic diversification processes which it is obliged to undergo. The social and economic agents involved in the project are highly representative and have a thorough knowledge of the reality and possibilities of the territory.

Perpetuation of the partnership The partnership has been consolidated by this action, in which the members are managing, formulating and realising the training for the region in the Training Centre that they share.

4