This Monday, the headquarters of CNC hosted the presentation of the course and the European qualification ‘Eco-Trainer’, aimed at improving environmental skills of sectoral traineers, as a first step to improving qualifications. More than 70 professionals from the industry, including trainers, company representatives, training centres and workers, followed the presentations of experts in energy efficiency, training and European sector strategy, as well as the speaches of the representatives of Ministries.
During event, the course for construction teachers was presented, available in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek and English, which involves the recognition of qualification of ‘Eco-Trainer’, which will be obtained after exceeding 200 teaching hours, corresponding to 8 credits of European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), recognized at European level.
As the President of CNC and Fundación Laboral, Juan Lazcano, has highlighted: “In addition to reporting on the project, we wanted to address with representatives of our Administration such relevant and current issues for the construction industry as the transition to a more circular economy and the improvement of energy efficiency in buildings as an important factor to, among other things, contribute to achieving the climate objectives in the scenario that the European Union is raising”.
This scenario, European Green Pact launched in December 2019 stands out, which “reflects the commitment of European Commission in its objective to respond to the challenges of climate and environment, and designs a roadmap with some measures that it plans to implement in a nearly future, in order to achieve climate neutrality of EU in 2050 and promote economic growth with greater efficiency in the use of resources, as well as greater integration of the Sustainable Development Objectives in EU policy making and action,” explained Lazcano.
Change of model towards a circular economy
For her part, the Programme Director of the Sub-Directorate General for Waste of Ecological Transition Ministry , Raquel Gómez, has pointed that “although a few years ago it seems that Construction and the Environment did not get on very well, today they are condemned to understanding each other”. And she has pointed out the situation problem: according to Gómez, we generate an average of 2,500 million tons of waste, of which barely a third can be reused, and the construction sector generates a third of this waste, with 374 million tons of construction and demolition waste in the EU.
In this sense, Raquel Gómez has assured that: “we are facing a change of consumption model towards the circular economy, in which it is necessary to make an Action Plan that reflects a forecast for the deconstruction of quality waste, so that recycling is as effective as possible, and for the prevention of workers”.
Binding European commitments
The deputy director of Architecture and Building of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda Ministry, Luis Vega, has reviewed the binding European commitments, started in 2002, highlighting the Directive 2010/31/EU of the energy efficiency of buildings. “According to the Climate and Energy Framework, by 2030 a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is required, as well as a 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency, in addition to a 32% share of renewable energies,” he said. According to the roadmap for a competitive low-carbon economy by 2050, a 60% reduction in GHG emissions is expected by 2040, while by 2050 a reduction of 80% and a decarbonized building stock are demanded”.
Carmen Prieto, head of the Unit of Evaluation, Studies and Training Management of Fundae, explained the need to promote the strengthening and learning skills for sustainable construction in Vocational Training for Employment.
Director General of European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), Domenico Campogrande, stressed that “social dialogue at European level is a fundamental factor”, and therefore Strategic Alliances must be strengthened to involve all agents, with projects such as Bus.Trainers and Construction Blueprint, both coordinated by the Labour Foundation, in which FIEC and CNC also participate. And he announced that in order to achieve greater visibility of the sector in the European Commission, work is being done on the “Construction 2050 Alliance”.
European Green Pact and digitisation
Campogrande has highlighted European Green New Deal and digitisation -with its close to circular economy and BIM- as two of the European objectives for period 2019-2024. “Both represent many new opportunities for the sector, not only from a business point of view, but also as drivers for sectoral attractiveness to young people and women,” he explained.
Director General of FIEC believes that “Europe will not be able to face the challenges without the construction industry” and has encouraged the industry: “We have to take the transition as a great opportunity and invest in the field of training, and it is necessary to take into account three key aspects: national context, sectoral approach and cooperation and collaboration, areas in which social agents can play a fundamental role”. In this sense, according to Campogrande, the strategic project Construction Blueprint tries to bring together all the synergies.
The general director of Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, Enrique Corral, offered a review of the projects in which Spain has participated related to energy efficiency and the qualification of workers in the sector: “In 2012 thirteen European countries were developing initiatives towards the challenges of 2020, later linked to the European Skills Agenda and the Alliances for sectorial skills: Build Up Skills (2011-2013) and Build 2020 (2013-2016), which today we continue with Build 2020+ (2018-2021)”. Today Fundación Laboral also leads the strategic framework for European competences in construction sector, Construction Blueprint.
“The sector is in full transformation, there is a demand for qualified labour and we have to anticipate in order to improve the image of the sector, attract young people and women, stimulate the attractive offer of Basic and Intermediate Vocational Training and speed up the Vocational Training System for employment”, concluded Corral.
Bus.Trainers consortium
Representatives of the eleven partners from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Malta presented the work carried out during these three years of alliance, led by Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, under the Erasmus+ programme support.
The partners highlighted the recognition of ‘Eco-Trainer’ qualification at European level and its ultimate goal of increasing competitiveness of construction industry, thanks to transfer these new skills by teachers to workers and future employees.
This qualification has been incorporated into the national training systems of Malta and Portugal, while in the other countries of partnership, it will be their institutions that will incorporate the course into their training catalogue. In addition, if you want to access to the course you can visit: ecotrainers.eu
