Spain Plants 500 Trees While Training At-Risk Workers

Students in Bizkaia, Spain are building worm composting stations and planting trees with help from an unlikely partner: their local train factory.

The Alstom Foundation partnered with Lanean Foundation to launch a project that teaches environmental skills while creating real jobs for people facing social exclusion. So far, 503 students from two schools have completed 23 workshops on biodiversity, composting, and how to reuse materials instead of throwing them away.

The project turned 10 cubic metres of timber from Alstom's Trápaga railway facility into two functional school gardens. That same reclaimed wood will protect 500 native trees scheduled for planting between January and March 2027.

Three vermicomposting units now operate at the schools and the factory site. These systems use worms to transform food scraps into nutrient-rich soil, showing students how nature solves waste problems without landfills.

The tree planting phase will bring beech, oak, chestnut, wild pear, ash, and poplar back to Trápaga's landscape. Alstom volunteers and community members will work side by side, following guidance from forestry specialists at the Provincial Council of Bizkaia to give each seedling the best chance to thrive.

The Ripple Effect

Two people at risk of social exclusion will work as paid environmental educators through this program. They'll gain job training and work experience while teaching others about ecosystem restoration, creating a path into stable employment while healing local landscapes.

The Alstom Foundation reviewed 264 employee proposals last September and chose this project for funding. Alstom has operated in the Basque Country for nearly a century, employing over 110 local suppliers and investing more than €70 million annually in the regional economy.

The project proves that industrial sites can become launching pads for environmental education. What started as workshop leftovers became outdoor classrooms where young people learn that waste is just resources waiting for imagination.