The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, through the General Secretariat for Vocational Training, has granted special recognition to Fundación Laboral de la Construcción for its outstanding coordination of projects of singular interest for Vocational Training. Among these, Women Can Build has stood out as a benchmark for social impact.

This European project, co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, promotes gender equality in the construction sector and has been praised alongside the Green Growth initiative (part of the same programme), which implemented a strategy to address the challenges of the circular economy in the construction industry and vocational training centres. The initiative has provided educational materials for vocational training teachers, as well as tools to improve information on material reuse, recycling, and waste management for SMEs and workers in the sector – enhancing construction material circularity and contributing to a more sustainable industry in line with climate action efforts.

Meanwhile, the Women Can Build project, also co-funded by Erasmus+, focused on redefining vocational training to create a more gender-equal construction sector. The priority was to improve women’s access to training by adapting industry education with a gender perspective, thus responding to labour market demands. This adaptation, combined with the implementation of career guidance measures and training programmes, facilitated greater female participation in a predominantly male sector.

To continue this mission, Fundación Laboral de la Construcción is leading the second edition of the project, this time focusing on integrating women into the construction sector in Latin American countries. In collaboration with five institutions from Spain, Italy, Chile, and Argentina, the Women Can Build LatAm project, co-funded by Erasmus+, aims to transfer the knowledge and best practices in training and employability from the first edition to Latin America.