CATIE and Southwest Airlines team up to provide employment opportunities to the Turrialba community

• The partnership proposes to manufacture products with reused leather to generate new jobs in the canton.

March 29, 2022. In partnership with Southwest and its global sustainability initiative “Repurpose with Purpose” "Repurpose with Purpose" (RwR), CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) received the donation of 18 tons of leather (an equivalent of 6,000 seats) from the company to enhance the reuse of materials and propose new forms of economic reactivation.

In 2021, CATIE's General Director, Muhammad Ibrahim, signed the Leather Donation Agreement with the purpose of transforming the donated material into employment opportunities for people in the community, in addition to generating financial support for CATIE's Sustainable Tourism program, through the Microenterprise Incubator. 

Through the Sustainable Tourism program, training will be developed for a year and a half for people from the canton of Turrialba to strengthen their professional and technical skills that will allow them to start their own business or work in other companies. 

As part of the action plan, last Monday, March 14, the first artisan induction workshop at CATIE officially began with the community of Mollejones, Turrialba, with the goal of training 30 women this year, a figure that is expected to double by 2023. Upon completion of the training program, participants will receive a certificate of approval endorsed by CATIE and Southwest Airlines. 

Through social enterprises involved in the process, such as Wearsos, founded by Lynne Corvaglia and Christian Riquelme; Uptica, co-founded by Nicol Chinchilla, the project seeks to implement responsible consumption and Uptica (a process by which "old" products are modified and given a second life); activation of the rural economy; the creation of educational spaces with gender equity; and the empowerment of women. Both companies are already working with CATIE's Leather Incubator Program to maximize the scope of the project. 

“Wearsos now aims to create functional, high-quality leather goods to sell in a global market. Not only will this benefit Costa Rica's rural economies, but also a percentage of its profits will go to CATIE's Leather Incubator," Corvaglia noted. 

Following up on the partnership with Southwest, CATIE received a visit to its campus from Ana Schwager and Sayeda Mahler, representatives who work on the airlines Community outreach team. During their visit they learned about the advances in the use of leather, in addition to exploring new forms of collaboration.

RwP is a global sustainability initiative that upcycles items such as leather seat coverings and transforms them into new products. Through RwP, Southwest Airlines supports communities by helping to provide employment, skills training, and donated products.