Project: BLUEPRINT to a circular economy

WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) 2015 estimates that the transition to a circular economy across Europe will create up to 3 million new jobs and reduce unemployment by 520,000 people. Hence, 400,000 new jobs are expected in France (Club of Rome 2016) and 500,000 in the UK.

These will mainly be new jobs resulting from increased recycling, income logistics and secondary markets. If local authorities are given an appropriate education and training strategy, they will have the opportunity to create new jobs for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

A significant change is needed in the France Channel England area, as the latest figures show unemployment rates at 3.9% (1.3 million people) in England and 8.6% (2.4 million people) in France, one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe in 2019 with youth unemployment reaching a record number in the country (Statista 2019).

Aligning growth of new markets, like the Circular Economy, with upskilling people to secure work in those markets is key to positively tackling unemployment in the area.

To address this, this project will create a cross-border model that enables Local Authorities to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable Circular Economy. This be carried out from 3 directions, each corresponding to a project Work Package:

• WPT1: Ensuring that local authorities have a strategic framework for combined action driving the Circular Economy to achieve waste and recycling targets of 65% by 2035.
• WPT2: Mobilisation of Social Enterprises to train individuals that can benefit from the new job opportunities the Circular Economy will create.
• WPT3: Enable households and the community to adjust their behaviour to increase their recycling rates and support the growth a transition to Circular Economy will bring.

The project started in April 2020, to run for 38 months. Overall budget EUR5.6m (European Regional Development Fund contribution EUR3.8m) ARU budget EUR566,479.

Project delivery outputs:

• A new BLUEPRINT Model, which 30 local authorities have signed up to help design and test
• A local authority monitoring and evaluation framework service
• A training programme to develop skills and employability to upskill 1,300 disadvantaged learners, with 15% securing work within two years
• A networking hub for social innovation, to comprise 100 social enterprises
• A series of behaviour change campaigns to influence 78,000 individuals.