Trash to treasure: introducing circular economy and green jobs in youth work

Have you ever wondered what the relationship between youth work and the circular economy is? Would you like to guide young people towards green jobs and green careers while promoting values such as environmental sustainability, learning by doing, and project-based and problem-based learning—but don’t know where to start?

The Trash to Treasure consortium would like to offer you the opportunity to interact and exchange with organisations and companies whose mission is to promote the circular economy, encourage green jobs and green careers among young people, and educate on digital skills and digital transformation.

By the end of this training, you will:

• Gain a clear understanding of practical activities that can be offered to young people to explore topics such as repairing electronic devices, transforming and reusing materials, digital fabrication, and creative reuse in the arts.
• Be competent in delivering these activities and able to plan them effectively, including logistics, materials needed, and implementation.
• Identify potential partnerships, for example with enterprises active in the circular economy, to strengthen your educational workshops on green jobs.
• Be able to explain to young people what jobs in the circular economy involve, using concrete, real-world examples.

Proposed Session Structure

First part (30 minutes):
We will present our consortium and explain how each partner relates to the circular economy and promotes green jobs and green careers among young people.

Second part (approximately 45 minutes):
We will provide concrete examples of how to engage young people in topics related to reuse, material transformation, digital fabrication, and repair practices. This will include illustrations of our practical workshops, such as recycling plastic, reusing materials through digital fabrication techniques, using digital fabrication machines and computer-aided design (CAD) software within repair practices, and introducing young people to creative reuse in the arts, notably through musical instrument making.

Third part (approximately 30 minutes):
We will share ideas on how to engage young people with the circular economy, where to identify circular economy actors at the local level, and how to approach them in order to initiate collaborations.

Final part (approximately 20 minutes):
A Q&A session will be held between facilitators and participants.

The seminar is scheduled for June 3rd 2026 from 2pm to 4pm Paris time.