GRINSCO

Website of the project – LINK

Background:

Green insulation contains less harmful ingredients for the environment, contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions, and life cycle costs are much lower compared to traditional insulation materials. However, the mainstream construction sector has not been applying such materials extensively, due to deficiencies in the supply of skills and training among construction workers. These skills deficits are exacerbated by the rapid greening of the construction sector and the advances in techniques and methods, changing skill requirements faster than the education and training systems have been able to respond. At the same time, the shortage of insulation workers with knowledge of green insulation techniques is considered a major obstacle in implementing EU and national strategies (e.g. EU Green Deal) to cut greenhouse gas emissions and address environmental changes. Upskilling construction workers with green insulation skills through workbased learning VET is therefore essential to improve employability and better pay while contributing to meet the current and future demand for green and sustainable solutions in the construction and renovation sector. As a result, the project responds to

  1. the labour market needs upskilling resources in the domain of sustainable insulation
  2. workers essential need to sustain and improve employability and pay by acquiring enhanced access to relevant trainings.

The consortium has compiled this project in order to alleviate the skills deficit and equip both the participating VET providers as well as all European VET providers with resources suitable to build relevant VET offerings.

Objectives:

GRINSCO forms a Cooperation Partnership to improve work-based learning VET, by developing and making available educational resources. Its main objective is to address current and emerging occupational skills needs and to enable VET providers to adapt offerings in novel insulation techniques and boost construction workers’ skills and employability in a rapidly evolving labour market.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

  1. Enrich the mapping and document the needs of green insulation skills in the construction sector.
  2. Design an evidence-based curriculum & training content (i.e. WBL educational resources) on green insulation materials and applications to be embedded into existing formal & non-formal training provision.
  3. Support VET providers to integrate green insulation techniques into their WBL and apprenticeship offerings through teaching materials and guidelines.
  4. Foster the recognition and integration of relevant occupational requirements into certification schemes.

Implementation:

  • Analysis of current and future skills and knowledge needs leading to the development of learning outcomes.
  • Development of a curriculum on green insulation applications.
  • Creation of corresponding pedagogical materials to be offered as Open Education Resources.
  • Development, testing, and delivery of Online Training Scenarios on green insulation in construction, promoting innovative and flexible practices in VET.
  • Sharing of results with multiplier events, inviting target groups to uptake GRINSCO results and to act as further multipliers.
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