Abstract:

The European Union has set the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, establishing as first short-term objective a 55% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030. This collective effort initiated by all member countries of the European Union has been in strategic plans and projects at country-level. In the case of Spain, the Long-Term Decarbonisation strategy which aims to reduce CO2 emissions from 334 million tonnes emitted in 2018 to a maximum of 29 tonnes in 2050, or the “PERTE” (Strategic projects for economic recovery and transformation) for circular economy whose aid will contribute to reduce the consumption of raw materials, foster the development of eco-design, advance waste management and digitisation.

In this context of transition of the European economy towards decarbonisation, one of the sectors whose transformation has the greatest impact due to its magnitude, is the construction sector. According to the World Green Building Council, the European construction industry generates 36% of all EU emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 50% of extracted materials, 21% of extracted water and 18 million jobs in Europe.

The European Erasmus+ project “Green Growth” joins this effort to decarbonise the construction sector through awareness raising and the professional training of companies and workers of 5 European countries: Belgium, Germany, Slovenia, Italy, and Spain.

Currently, training addressing circular economy principles is insufficient, both in vocational training and in the initial stages of the education system. This type of training is only provided at University level, leaving out a large part of the construction sector, according to experts.

New European policies are evolving towards a green procurement system. For this reason, Green Growth aims to implement the circular economy as a cross-cutting subject within the sector's training schemes, so that both teachers and students are aware of the advantages of applying this approach. To better gauge the specific training needs linked to circular economy and construction, 17 experts in circular economy and more than 200 VET trainers from all participant countries were consulted through interviews and surveys and.

This needs analysis resulted in the following tangible results:
- A handbook for trainers about circular economy applied to the construction sector.
- A MOOC (massive open online course) for trainers about significant topics in the field of circular economy applied to construction: the Level(s) tool, embedded energy in materials, sustainable materials, BIM and the circular economy and reuse in construction.

The project is also currently developing an informative application (APP) for SMEs to facilitate the processing and reuse of materials with a high circular potential in renovation and rehabilitation works.

In the framework of this paper, we will present the main conclusions of the field work carried out with experts and trainers in the first phase of the project. The tangible results will also be presented, as well as the action tracks for the development of a roadmap for the mainstreaming of the circular economy in the provision of vocational training in the construction sector.

Keywords:

Circular economy construction, VET, decarbonisation sustainability, environmental awareness.