The construction sector plays an important role in the European economy as it generates almost 10% of GDP and provides approx. 20 million jobs (see COM/2012/0433 final). In the same time Cedefop’s 2016 Skills Forecast suggests that employment in construction will grow during 2015-2025, Member States will need to replace an ageing workforce, around 1 mln. new workers will be needed by 2025. The ECSO 2017 report (Improving the Human Capital Basis) also identifies the major structural barriers in the area: Decrease in the number of young skilled workers and ageing workforce. The report underlines energy efficiency as one of the main drivers of skills development in the sector. All countries involved in the project (BG, SK, TK, AT) have a significant number of learners completing upper secondary VET schools and above average attainment rates. However, apart from Austria, data from different country reports (incl. CEDEFOP) shows that many of these young people meet difficulties in being employed in the construction sector according to their qualification. Therefore the project "Transforming VET in Construction – Innovative Materials for Building and Energy Efficiency" (BEE-VET) joins the efforts of eight organisations from four countries in order to address the highlighted challenges in the sector and to contribute for narrowing the gap between school and business with a focus on practical innovation-oriented learning by using of digital technologies. Through cooperation between VET schools (from BG, SK, TK), suppliers of trainings, literature and methodological guidance in the field of education (from BG and SK), leading companies oriented to R&D and advanced technologies (from BG and TK) and an university which is a pioneer in introducing innovations into education and training, the BEE-VET consortium aims to design, develop, test, validate, exploit, disseminate and sustain a set of interrelated innovative products with a sound effect both for the secondary VET and the construction sector, as follows: -Interactive training materials on green, sustainable and energy efficient construction for upper secondary VET students on the application of new and advanced technologies/materials in the construction sector, i.e. BEE-VET Digital Toolkit. -Methodological materials for VET teachers in specific vocational subjects providing guidance on the using, inclusion and presentation of the Digital Toolkit as an effective tool, supporting the modernisation of VET training programs in Construction and promoting the use of digital technologies in creative, collaborative and efficient ways, i.e. BEE-VET Teachers Handbook; -Concept for curriculum update based on the information from the four partners’ countries and EU best practices identified, as well as on the specific products prepared, mapping expected learning outcomes acquired by VET students in the field of Construction to allow their transnational mobility and recognition of knowledge, skills and competencies, i.e. BEE-VET Concept for Curriculum Update. A joint staff training is also envisaged at the initial stage of the project in order to allow VET teachers from partners schools to get acquainted with latest developments in the construction sector, existing know-how and R&D activities and the possibilities for their integration into VET. All results achieved shall be further promoted through an extensive dissemination campaign on national and EU level, which includes a major dissemination event in the end of the project for more than 200 participants from the relevant target groups, related to Construction VET. We plan to achieve our objectives over a 30-month project lifetime. During that period each of the outputs will be carefully tested and evaluated and all activities will involve thorough quality assurance. The project is expected to directly benefit more than 1000 individuals, to include VET teachers in construction, upper-secondary VET students in specialties in the field of Construction. The project is also expected to have impact on policy-making authorities and construction sector company mentors and workers that may benefit from the developed BEE-VET products and the proposal for a common approach in the field of BEE-VET. The impact we expect to achieve could be summarized as follows: - increased competencies to design structured, up-to-date and practical training materials in the field of BEE-VET fostering the use of ICT; - increased knowledge on how to build long-term education-business partnerships to foster economic prosperity (with a focus on R&D and innovations); - establishment of a common framework in the BEE-VET and recognition of learning outcomes and qualifications. The desired long-term impact of the BEE-VET project is to contribute employability at EU level and economic prosperity through increasing the attractiveness of VET in Construction.
The objectives and impact we aimed at by implementing the BEE-VET project involve: - the enhanced competencies to design structured, up-to-date, and practical training materials in the field of BEE-VET; - the fostering of use of ICT in education and in IVET in particular; - the increased knowledge on how to build long-term education-business partnerships between education and training providers and business; - the contribution to the economic prosperity by employment of R&D and innovations in the learning process; - the contribution to the establishment of a common framework in the BEE-VET and mutual recognition of learning outcomes and qualifications. Ultimately, through increasing the attractiveness of VET in construction our ambition was to contribute for better employability at EU level and for the economic prosperity. These were achieved through design, development, testing, validating, exploitation, dissemination and sustaining of innovative products, namely: - BEE-VET Digital Toolkit; - BEE-VET Teachers’ Handbook; - BEE-VET Concept for Curricula Update.
The construction sector plays an important role in the European economy as it generates almost 10% of GDP and provides approx. 20 million jobs (COM/2012/0433 final). At the same time, the green and digital transitions are reshaping the economy, moving it towards a resource-efficient, circular, digitized and climate neutral shape, and with this – transforming the domain of labour market, where the new technologies and digitalization create new jobs, change the existing ones and replace others. These transitions require constant and dynamic upgrade and update skills of both young and adult workers to keep up with the pace and the needs of economy and labour market. Innovative and adaptable curricula, training programmes and materials belong to the most important instruments in this process. On the other hand, various surveys and reports show that many of young people leaving VET schools face challenges in being employed in the construction sector according to their qualification. The reasons – outdated curricula and syllabi, lack of connection with the labour market needs, insufficient application of innovations – both in teaching methods and in learning content and structure.