UMBAU & KO – Environmentally-friendly construction with competence

Development of a European qualification and certification strategy for initial and continuing vocational education and training in the building and construction profession, in compliance with the new European guidelines

Climate protection, energy saving and environmental protection are core concepts that express our responsibility for the world we are living in. They require competences for energy-economical and environmentally friendly actions. This is also a challenge faced by the entire European building trade, and a major focus of the Berlin policy.

“Umbau & Ko” provides answers as to how innovations in vocational education and the assurance of skilled workers can be achieved. The BGZ took over the overall project management and coordination in the national and transnational network.

The objective of the project was to open up the initial and continuing vocational education and training system in the participating countries by creating comparable standards and to shape it in a more flexible way. The project was therefore aimed at a broad target group: trainers, VET managers as well as at social partners, apprentices and skilled workers in the building sector. At the same time, the initial and continuing vocational education and training had to be adapted to new quality requirements, not only in Berlin, but in Europe, as it is a fact that cross-border cooperation in building projects will become the norm. Working together with different skilled crafts for energy-saving construction is gaining importance.

Another task was to qualify staff in the area of energy performance of buildings. The competence development of professionals and upwardly-mobile apprentices helped to close a skills gap in the level of skilled workers and to strengthen European vocational education.

The project resulted in a coordinated qualification and certification strategy, supplemented by advanced training modules with appropriate teaching methods and materials. It harmonized qualification standards in at least four countries, provided transparent guidelines for the identification of companies’ training needs and the adaptation of vocational education in the building sector.

“Umbau & KO“ was presented with the Leonardo da Vinci Award 2009 “Innovation in Practice” at the annual meeting of the National Agency Education for Europe.

Erasmus+ Project Results Platform

Project photos

Selected products

Modules

In the pilot programme, a module was developed in each country. This is supposed to ensure cross-border recognition of competences in a future European qualification framework.

Competence matrix

A description of the acquired competence underlies each module. This description was developed in a competence matrix corresponding to that in the project.

Certification matrix

The examination of the acquired competence is the basis of certification.

Trainer guides

Trainer guides have been developed for the instruction of trainers and teachers. The contained position descriptions refer to the documents of the modules.

Certification

Each certification requires clear fundamentals. These are primarily designed to ensure that all parties involved understand the same thing with a certificate and have a very precise idea of what he skilled workers can do.

Didactical material

To interest trainees and students in the topic energy-saving construction, a special experiment was developed: the block of ice bet.

Press

Awards