- 2022Design
- 2023Design
- 2024Completed
Background
In 2011, the BUILD UP Skills initiative was launched by the European Commission to support the education and training of professionals in the construction sector and thus develop the skills to realise near-zero energy buildings (nZEB) and building renovations with high energy efficiency.
Under the call Life 2021 CET Buildskills, this initiative is being relaunched and adapted to the new objectives in the building sector.
Objectives
The aim of the initiative is to develop a national roadmap to 2030 to develop the necessary skills for the transition to clean energy, building renovation and resource efficiency.
Description
The ReBusk (Reboot Build Up Skills) project aims to implement the requirements of the EU Call Life 2021 CET Buildskills at national level.
As a first step, the national qualification platform is to be reactivated in order to involve the diverse stakeholders in the construction sector in the entire process. Consequently, a status quo report on the national situation in the construction sector will be prepared with a focus on education and training. A key result of the status quo report is the gap analysis, which compares current and future requirements with the current situation. These analyses form the basis for the development of a national roadmap.
The activities of the project have a special focus on the knowledge, skills and qualifications needed in the future in relation to digital technologies, smart buildings, resource efficiency, renewable energies for heating and cooling, serial renovation and life cycle assessments.
Additional work will cover 'How can the projected shortage of labour in the building sector best be addressed? Proposals will be developed for this.
The activity to develop the roadmap runs until March 2024.
The project work started in 2022 with the design phase. In a start-up workshop, a first analysis of the status quo was carried out and the goals, processes, contents and next steps in the project team were defined in more detail.
In 2023 the status quo analysis has been proceeded. It contains the basics relevant for the development of a national education and training to achieve the energy and climate targets in the building sector in Austria. They refer to information about the current state of the energy policy and legal framework and the status quo of the Austrian building sector, the existing framework conditions in education and training as well as the results of an evaluation of the implementation of the national roadmap until 2030. It also includes an examination of skills and qualification gaps as well as a SWOT analysis to identify possible barriers and opportunities related to the qualification of professionals on the building sector, which could support or hinder the achievement of energy and climate targets in this field. A range of methods was used to prepare the Status Quo Report, including literature and desktop research, internal working meetings, interviews and workshops with experts, practitioners and stakeholders from the fields of construction and property, education and training, as well as labour market research. Two stakeholder workshops took place - in March 2023 in Vienna and in October 2023 in Graz.
For quality assurance, interim results were continually reviewed and the Status Quo Report adapted and finalised.
To enable a successful development of the Status Quo analysis and the National Qualification Roadmap, a national qualification platform was implemented, and an intensive stakeholder engagement process was conducted during the whole project period. In the end, the national platform counted 269 stakeholders highly relevant for the success of the developed national roadmap 2030. In course of an endorsement process, 70 signed endorsement documents from stakeholders could be collected that underpin the implementation and content of the developed roadmap.
The national Training and Continuing Education Roadmap for Austria up to 2030 emphasises five strategic fields of action, identified through the status quo analysis and the SWOT analysis:
- addressing new target groups with educational offers;
- integration of climate relevant skills in education and training;
- promotion of participation in further educational offers;
- enhancement of vocational training and skilled trades;
- improvement of the interface between planning and execution.
For these strategic fields of action, 23 specific measures were developed, intended to serve as a guide for the further development of continuing education and training for the Austrian building sector.
In a final stakeholder event in March 2024 in Vienna the project results were presented, and an interactive workshop was held to discuss future and current cooperation opportunities related to the roadmap.
Bodies responsible
- Austrian Energy Agency
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- VET providers (all kinds)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
VET standards and curricula define the content and outcomes of learning, most often at national or sectoral levels. VET programmes are based on standards and curricula and refer to specific vocations/occupations. They all need to be regularly reviewed, updated and aligned with the needs of the labour market and society. They need to include a balanced mix of vocational and technical skills corresponding to economic cycles, evolving jobs and working methods, and key competences, providing for resilience, lifelong learning, employability, social inclusion, active citizenship, sustainable awareness and personal development (Council of the European Union, 2020). The thematic sub-category also refers to establishing new VET programmes, reducing their number or discontinuing some. It also includes design of CVET programmes and training courses to adapt to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and re-skilling needs.
Green transition and environmental sustainability have a significant place in the EU agenda (Green Deal), including the agenda for VET. This thematic sub-category refers to identifying in cooperation with industry, incorporating into VET curricula and programmes and teaching the skills related and needed for the green transition, including sector- and occupation-specific skills and those across sectors. It covers measures aimed at ‘greening’ VET programmes, including awareness and knowledge about climate change, green technologies and innovation, energy efficiency, circular economy and environmental sustainability. It also includes the use of appropriate learning methods that develop such awareness.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). ReBusk: Roadmap to education and training in sustainable building 2030: Austria. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/44477