The interest in the circular economy is no longer expressed only in the dreams or good intentions of environmentalists or ordinary citizens, but has now become an industrial need to be pursued in order to respond to market demands

The stringent European regulations on polluting emissions and the need to produce in a sustainable way have increased the demand for new specialized professional figures in the world of work. As la Repubblica reports in this article, the world of work is in turmoil due to these important transformations.

Green and sustainability have increasingly larger numbers: over 3 million employed. And now Experts in Circular Economy are being trained for industry

Sustainability, circular economy, green. They are no longer trends or fashions, but new economic and social paradigms. Various aspects of society will be shaped on their growth, which will be driven even further by large community investments, starting with training.

Meanwhile, the numbers from the Symbola Foundation report: Italians who work in the green sector are 3.1 million, 432 thousand companies have invested in the green economy in the last 5 years, green employment growth of 3.4% from 2017 to 2018.

According to the numbers contained in a LinkedIn survey, Italy is one of the best countries for a career in 'green jobs', with Milan in 7th place globally for the concentration of sustainability professionals.

Europe has seen a 13% increase in the number of sustainability professionals over the past year, with growth of 7.5%, higher than the global average. Demand for sustainability-related jobs also grew by 49% of jobs available on LinkedIn for sustainability-related roles in Europe.

As regards work in the circular economy, Italy is second only to Germany, with 517,000 employed against 659,000. The people who in our country are employed in the 'circular' sectors are 2.06% of the total, a value higher than the EU 28 average which is 1.7% (source: National report on the circular economy in Italy, created by Circular Economy Network).

In such a scenario, the world of training is addressing the issue of creating professional figures that are consistent with market trends. Especially in the application of the concepts of the circular economy to the world of industry.

From this approach was born the first higher technical training course for circular economy experts for industry , promoted by ART-ER (the Emilia-Romagna Consortium Society, with the aim of promoting sustainable growth in the region) in within the European IFTS Circular Society project.

The world of professional training is increasingly oriented towards sustainability but the peculiarity of this course, unique in Italy, is the creation of a new professional figure, that of the Technician for Sustainability and Circular Economy of Industrial Processes complete with the release of Higher Technical Specialization Certificate. A figure increasingly requested by the world of work.