Fuenlabrada, Spain—
The MILMA (Migrants Labour Integration Model based on Acculturation) Project in Fuenlabrada, Spain, seeks to promote labour market integration of migrants.
Business Challenges labs have been set up as part of the project. In these labs both local and migrant unemployed people work together to increase their employability, receive different types of training, including on entrepreneurship.
Fuenlabrada, located in the Madrid metropolitan area, has experienced a tripling of its population in the last four decades due to increasing national and international migration into the city. However, unemployment in the city is high, particularly among low-skilled young people and migrants. To improve social inclusion and reduce unemployment, Fuenlabrada launched the MILMA project. The objective of the MILMA project is to create new opportunities for the city’s local people and migrants to access Fuenlabrada’s labour market.
The MILMA project has set up Business Challenges labs (BC labs) where both local and migrant unemployed people work together to increase their employability, engage in acculturation innovative programmes and receive technical, practical and soft skills training in strategic sectors, including green production, multimedia development, provision of elderly care, catering and digital production. BC labs also promote entrepreneurship by encouraging interested participants to develop products and services to meet labour market needs.
The Municipality of Fuenlabrada manages the MILMA project in partnership with the Fuenlabrada Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CIFE), a public agency, and other non-governmental organisations in the city. In addition, the project team identifies companies in selected fields and establishes partnerships with them in the management of the BC labs, as well as in the design of the technical and practical contents of the training programmes. Starting in 2017 with 40 partner companies, the project had over 77 partner companies as of 2019. The project is funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
From March to August 2019, the project trained 116 people, 30% of which were immigrants. In addition, 84 people completed the training, with 37 of them gaining employment within six months after completion.
The project reveals the need to engage local stakeholders, institutions and social economy organisations to manage local skills programmes successfully. Despite its great achievements, the MILIMA project faces certain challenges related to the engagement of SMEs, due to their limited resources, and in promoting diversity within companies.
OECD (2022), "Future-proofing adult learning systems in cities and regions: A policy manual for local governments", OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2022/03, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/11fa26cc-en.
