Technological innovation is changing professional profiles and increasing the demand for skilled labour across the EU. The COVID-19 pandemic challenges additionally those respon-sible for education in all EU countries – trainers, teachers and managers of vocational schools and corporate training institutions – to rethink the quality criteria for good teaching. There is a need for attractive educational offers to secure skilled workers, a need for attractive offers to young people and a need for the acceleration of educational institution restructuring. This includes the construction sector. The demand for new housing or professional renovation of old buildings has not decreased, even though the industry is currently also affected by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, many young people are becoming less and less interested in learning a building trade. VET is faced with the challenge of securing skilled workers and at the same time promoting digitalisation and the introduction of new technologies in VET programmes. In addition, coop-eration structures have changed with regard to the mobility of construction workers. A con-struction site is becoming increasingly multicultural and the skills of construction workers dif-fer, sometimes greatly. Therefore, the project “CoConstruct” brings together countries from different European geographical regions. PROJECT OBJECTIVE The aim of our project "CoConstruct" is to show, in an exemplary manner for the construction sector, perspectives for a successful integration of digitalisation and innovative technologies in VET in order to promote the modernisation of VET systems (Education 4.0). The aim is to strengthen the reorganisation of the VET system to meet the challenges posed by the abrupt shift to online & distance learning. This includes the promotion of digital work-related skills, the promotion of transversal ICT skills while taking environmental and sustainability aspects into account. PARTNERSHIP BGZ's project partners are vocational training centres and universities from Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Poland and Romania as well as Belgium and Denmark as associates – all with many years of training experience and extensive expertise in the construction sector. Trade associations, chambers and construction companies support the project as associated part-ners. TARGET GROUPS The target groups are the management and teaching staff in the construction sector from vocational schools (as well as universities), but also public authorities as designers of the framework conditions. Final beneficiaries are the trainees in construction professions and the companies. ACTIVITIES: Good practices and new approaches to the design of VET and cooperation between VET and HE will be bundled and tested for future viability / usability for EU-wide transfer and institu-tional anchoring. Transnational exchange with the involvement of local and regional actors will be key to the dissemination. Working political actors, public authorities, education institutions and businesses, we interlink several levels of influence: teaching practice, competences of the teaching staff, institutional capacities. The findings will be incorporated into concepts for institutional capacity building and will be the basis for recommendations for the further development of VET systems. This will be accompanied by PR and dissemination measures to increase the visibility of the project and its results. RESULTS include: *the use of the content, methods, materials and tools related the new technologies in teaching practice and their integration into curricula; *improved competence of teachers in dealing with the new content, materials and tools; *closer cooperation between vocational and higher education institutions and improved oppor-tunities for learners to make the VET-HE transition; *concepts for capacity building of vocational schools and more international cooperation; *competence development among trainees. EFFECTS include: *a higher quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training; *strengthened capacities of educational institutions (innovative curricula, learning models etc.); *greater competitiveness of construction companies (availability of well-trained workers). By addressing actors with regulatory competences, the project also influences the regulatory framework of VET (e.g. in answering the question of how future technologies should be re-flected in training). Thus, VET can fulfil its function as an engine of growth in the long term. Additional long-term benefits are the strengthened competitiveness of the construction sector, attractive employment opportunities, the broad application of digital solutions. It also includes the promotion of environmental sustainability. Finally, through the project, new technologies will become increasingly integrated in society and their mastery will become an integral as-pect of everyday life.
The aim of "CoConstruct" was to provide, as an example for the construction sector, perspectives for a successful integration of digitalisation and innovative technologies in VET in order to advance the reorientation of VET and the modernisation of VET systems (Education 4.0). The promotion of digital job-related competences, the promotion of transversal ICT competences while taking into account environmental and sustainability aspects were also part of this. The aim was to improve the quality of training provision and to meet the needs of the labour market, to exchange good as well as innovative practices in VET and on efficient management of VET institutions in order to improve the quality of learning provision and the methodology of skills transfer, as well as to support the modernisation of VET institutions. At the same time, we aimed at intensifying the dialogue between the VET-HE with the industry and decision-makers in order to increase the attractiveness of the construction professions with innovative approaches and thus sustainably secure skilled workers for the construction sector.
In the construction industry, there is an increasing demand for new residential buildings and the skilled renovation of old structures, etc. This is compounded by the fact that many young people are becoming less interested in pursuing a career in construction. At the same time, vocational education and training face the challenge of securing skilled workers while integrating the digitization and incorporation of new technologies into the training programs. The collaborative structures regarding the mobility of construction workers have shifted, and a construction site is now more multicultural. The competencies of the construction workers vary significantly in some cases. Additionally, the sudden transition to online and remote learning during the pandemic revealed weaknesses in the existing vocational education and training systems. Therefore, in the project, we brought together countries from different European geographical regions to exchange Good Practices for capacity building and teacher competence development. We worked together to propose sustainable adaptations of effective concepts and to disseminate them widely.