Designation: Pact4Youth. Supporting the Pact for Skills. Foundations for youth employability in the construction sector.
Project: Belonging to the European Union’s Erasmus+ Key Action 2 (Forward-looking projects). Lot 2 (VET). Priority 3 (Support to the Pact for Skills).
Identification of the project: 101087631.
Duration: 24 months, from January 2023 to December 2024.
Budget: 691,198.00 €.
Coordinator: Fundación Laboral de la Construcción (Spain).
Partners: Confederación Nacional de la Construcción (Spain), Pedmede Somateio (Greece), Unicert Solutions (Greece), Formedil (Italy), Associazione Nazionale Costruttori Edili (Italy), Kentro Ekpaideysis “O Oikodomos” K.E.P.O. LTD (Cyprus) and Omospondia SyndesmonErgolavon Oikodomon Kyprou -OSEOK- (Cyprus).
Website: Coming soon.
Social network: Coming soon.
The European construction sector lacks a generational renewal, but at the same time, the youth unemployment rate is unsustainable. This imbalance is clearly detrimental, so the main objective of this project is to act in favour of the employability of young people in the construction sector, focusing on skills, as the green and digital transition present important opportunities for job creation in the sector, which will need a large number of workers with the right skills.
In this context, the main EU sectoral organisations have launched the Pact for Skills for Construction to support a fair and resilient recovery and contribute to the green and digital transitions, among other factors, and whose key principles include attracting young people to the sector. The project aligns with and supports this Pact by developing specific actions to increase opportunities for young people in the sector, to address the shortage of skilled labour force and to pave the way for the adaptation of SMEs to the future context.
The countries involved in the project (Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain, Southern European countries) share common challenges in relation to the construction industry, especially regarding the lack of skilled labour, the lack of young workers and women, and the high youth unemployment rates at national level. The profile of the partners corresponds to sectoral employers’ organisations and VET providers.
Results
The project will develop the following outputs:
- Roadmap and Action Plan for youth employability;
- Intermediation services and accompanying measures;
- Signing of collaboration agreements between SMEs and training centres to implement work-based learning programmes;
- Practical training days to increase young people’s interest in the construction sector;
- Increased participation of SMEs in apprenticeship procedures.
- Awareness, communication and dissemination campaigns targeting SMEs and young people.
- Adherence to the Pact for Skills
Why is Pact4Youth interesting?
The sector is currently being pushed by external circumstances (new recommendations and regulations at European/national level on sustainability, digitalisation, innovation in materials and work, etc.), as well as by the search for innovative training methods, especially after the recent pandemic situation. The project aims to establish new approaches and tools, not with the objective of changing the ultimate purpose of the construction sector, which is to provide society with housing and infrastructure, but to change the way in which this purpose is achieved.
The qualification needs of the construction industry are well known by all actors involved in the sector (stakeholders, business organisations, VET providers, national and European bodies…), and currently, most of these needs are related to sustainable construction, energy efficiency, circular economy, digitalisation, apart, of course, from Health and Safety issues, specific technical skills for the different trades, and cross-trade and ‘soft’ skills.
Likewise, some challenges and barriers have been identified, and it can be stated that currently one of the main obstacles is the lack of attractiveness of the sector, which neither helps construction companies (especially SMEs) to recruit new qualified staff for their projects, nor training centres to enrol students in their courses. It is therefore essential to design and implement Europe-wide campaigns to improve the image of the construction sector, targeting in particular young people with the aim of encouraging them to enter the sector through training.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.