Leveraging new skills for the building value-chain to deliver on the European Green Deal

Through its BUILD UP Skills initiative, the EU aims to increase the number of trained and qualified building professionals across Europe, with a view to delivering new nearly zero-energy buildings as well as building renovations offering high-energy performance. BUILD UP Skills has been running since 2011, with more than 75 projects supported so far.

The updated CORDIS Results Pack, which has recently been released, features a portfolio of recently finalised projects that successfully addressed the challenge of upskilling building professionals, whether on traditional construction skills or newly required digital skills. 

The examples presented illustrate the need for breaking silos between the different professions involved on-site and off-site, ensuring a holistic understanding of the building as a system. This means that soft skills (e.g. communication) are at least as important as hard technical skills.
Another lesson is the need to develop mechanisms that ensure the visibility of skilled professionals on the market, e.g. through certification, professional cards etc.

Following the end of the Horizon 2020 programme, the work carried out under BUILD UP Skills continues under the LIFE 2021-2027 programme.