EU GPP Helpdesk Webinar: How to procure circular, nZEB and green construction skills?

The webinar, held on 27 September 2023, addressed the topic of circular, nZEB, and green contruction skills, analysing how public procurement can be used as a strategic tool that can support the upskilling and reskilling of the construction workforce. 

Buildings are not only one of the largest assets managed by public authorities, they also have a large carbon footprint. Construction extracts the most resources (50%) and emits the most CO2 (36%) out of any sector. Using more circular and sustainable strategies in the built environment can help to reduce the embodied emissions of building materials by half. However, achieving a circular built environment at scale will not happen unless the workforce acquires the relevant skills and competencies to design, construct and maintain circular and green buildings. 

This webinar explored the various EU, national and regional initiatives that have aimed at closing the skills gap in the construction sector with the use of public procurement. At the EU level, the GPP Helpdesk of the European Commission is showcasing best practices of public procurement from across Europe. The Build Up Skills initiative is supporting a range of projects that use public procurement to upskill the construction workforce across Europe. The EU-funded BUS League project piloted the use of on-site training clauses in tenders across several countries. At the local level, the Municipality of Gabrovo in Bulgaria has included energy efficiency training clauses in construction projects. And Embuild.Brussels, the regional entity of the Belgian Construction Association is providing contractors with training to support them in their transition towards more circular building practices.  

The webinar featured the following presentations:

• Welcome and Introduction from the EU GPP Helpdesk, Ivan Azevedo, Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
• Overview of the Build Up Skills Initiative, Luca Angelino, Project Advisor, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), European Commission
• How to incorporate training clauses into tenders? - Marion Jammet, Head of policy and advocacy, Irish Green Building Council (Video)
• How is the Municipality of Gabrovo using energy efficiency training clauses in public procurement??- Stanislav Andreev, Manager, EnEffect
• How to support contractors in their journey towards circular construction? - Lara Pérez Dueñas, Circular Construction Coordinator, Embuild.Brussels 

In addition, a slido was used to see whether the audience has incorporated skills and training requirement in construction tenders. The slido also collected a word cloud of the current skills gap in the construction sector in Europe. Here are the results.

The presentations given and the recording can be found in Circabc.

For comments and/ or questions regarding the webinar, please write to the GPP helpdesk on gpp-helpdeskiclei [dot] org.