Adeje Town Council has taken an exemplary step in the intersection between sustainability and social inclusion with the creation of a Special Employment Centre in the Bosque de Las Nieves. This initiative, presented on 5 June 2025 - World Environment Day - has as its main objective to promote the integration of people with disabilities into the workplace by working in a natural and productive environment. The proposal combines a commitment to the environment and social justice, offering real and dignified work opportunities to groups that often face major barriers in accessing employment.
The new centre, promoted by the ALAS Foundation, allows people with disabilities to actively participate in the maintenance and development of the Bosque de Las Nieves, a space of more than 30,000 square metres that houses a botanical garden, an edible forest, agricultural areas, and a lagoon with aquatic fauna and birds. This carefully planned area combines reforestation with sustainable cultivation, and also serves as an open classroom for environmental education. Each hectare of the forest has the capacity to absorb up to 18 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, helping to improve air quality, restore soils and generate oxygen, which reinforces its ecological value.
The project not only provides work and training, but also aims at full inclusion. Special Employment Centres, regulated by the General Law on Disability in Spain, are obliged to have a minimum of 70 % of disabled people on their staff. In the case of Adeje, the initiative is accompanied by training itineraries and a system of professional accompaniment adapted to the abilities and needs of each worker, which guarantees that the work experience is not just a job, but a real path to personal development and autonomy.
During the inauguration, guided tours of the facilities were given, showing the agricultural and botanical work that is already bearing fruit: the forest produces around a thousand kilos of vegetables every quarter, destined for the Municipal Food Bank. In addition, children's workshops were held in which children could learn about seeds, create biodegradable pots and obtain a "biodiversity passport". The day brought together numerous social groups, such as Atelsam, Autismo Sur, Rotary Club, FAST and CEST, as well as health workers, local police, volunteer firemen and representatives of the hotel sector, demonstrating the breadth of public support for this initiative.
In addition, the Adeje Town Hall has announced the creation of a second green space with the same inclusive model, to be located at the entrance to the municipality. To this end, the corresponding specifications and calls for tender are being prepared, with the intention of consolidating a network of natural environments that not only beautify and benefit the local ecosystem, but also serve as a driving force for social and economic integration.
This project represents a firm commitment to a more equitable society, where disability is not synonymous with exclusion and where the environment is not a luxury, but a common good. The Bosque de Las Nieves demonstrates that caring for nature can go hand in hand with social justice, and that the most effective sustainability is that which has a human face. Adeje, with this proposal, positions itself as a benchmark in the creation of local development models that are respectful, inclusive and committed to the future.
In La Laguna, 9th June 2025.
The coordinator,
Miguel Muñoz
 |
| From left to right, our coordinator, Miguel Muñoz, and the secretary of our business initiatives, Ramiro Rosón, at Mesón Los Ángeles. -Mesón Los Ángeles Address: Avenida Islas Canarias, 28 (38006, Santa Cruz de Tenerife) Website: https://www.mesonlosangeles.com Telephone: 922 28 04 13 |
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario