Over 60 representatives from the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Education, the Department for Sustainable Development of the Romanian Government, the academic sector, construction companies, innovation clusters, employer federations, associations, and training providers in the construction field participated on Thursday, December 15th, in the launch conference of the BUS4RoBOOST project, funded by the LIFE-2021-CET-BUILDSKILLS: BUILD UP Skills program of the European Union.
The imbalances in skills and the decreasing demand for low-skilled labor have exacerbated mismatches in EU labor markets. The construction and manufacturing sectors, traditionally dominated by low-skilled manual labor, have been particularly affected. Innovative technologies are driving an increased demand for new skills in the construction sector. Requirements for digital transformation and energy efficiency are profoundly impacting the industry. The possible future scenario is characterized by net-zero energy buildings, Big Data, and the Internet of Things, with a customer-oriented approach and complex value chains. To improve the quality of the workforce, certain structural obstacles must be overcome:
- A reduced number of young skilled workers due to the poor status of the sectors and unattractive working conditions;
- An aging workforce, jeopardizing the integration of new skills;
- The gap between initial and continuous vocational education and training (VET) and the demand for skills in the sectoral labor market.
In this context, the BUS4RoBOOST project aims to update the qualification system in the construction sector and related fields like digitalization, environment, energy, and green jobs to prepare the workforce to meet the industry's skill needs for 2030.
The event was organized as a plenary session where the objectives and expected results of the project were presented, followed by two interactive sessions held in four working groups moderated by partners, addressing two main topics:
- Reviewing and completing the proposed qualifications. Identifying specific challenges/barriers to workforce qualification, particularly in terms of energy efficiency and sustainable building renovation.
- Identifying relevant sources of information for analyzing the current state of professional training in the construction sector and related fields at the national level and methods of involving members of the National Qualification Platform (PNC) in project activities.
The project aims to relaunch the National Qualification Platform, review the Status Quo Analysis (SQA), and update the national roadmap developed under the 2011 BUILD UP Skills Romania (ROBUST) project. This will support a paradigm shift to meet Romania's targets for 2030 and 2050, through an efficient and reliable building renovation process, as part of the national sustainable development goals. The project, which will last 18 months, will feature conferences, seminars, and regional workshops with the involvement of all stakeholders, both in the analysis phase and in the strategy development phase. All interested actors can get involved in the project at any stage by contacting any of the partners.
The consortium responsible for project implementation consists of the National Institute for Research and Development in Construction, Urbanism, and Sustainable Territorial Development (URBAN-INCERC), the Cluster for the Promotion of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (Pro-nZEB), the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (UTCB), Energy Cities Romania (OER), Business Development Group (BDG), the Technology Enabled Construction Cluster (TEC), the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration (MDLPA), and the Romanian Installation Engineers Association (AIIR).
The goal of the National Qualification Platform (PNC) in construction is to define and implement a coherent and realistic strategy and roadmap for integrating smart energy solutions for buildings into the main vocational training programs and the practices of professionals in the construction sector.
For more information:
Project Coordinator: Horia Petran
INCD URBAN-INCERC
Bucharest, Șos. Pantelimon 266, Tel. 021 2550835, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.