In preparation for the second meeting of the Slovak Round Table, a meeting of the expert group for Construction and value chain took place on the premises of the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia. The expert group focused mainly on financing education and further education at all levels. The proposal of measures and solutions in connection with the need to apply innovations at all levels of the education system was discussed. Priority was given to forms and application, especially at the level of further vocational education. The importance of further vocational education was emphasised, as well as the importance of the so-called lifelong learning in terms of process and the importance of lifelong learning along the whole value chain. The importance of innovation in the construction sector and the role of continuing education and its support from the EU were emphasised.
The key skills needed to implement innovation have also been defined, namely:
- Skills to carry out deep renovation of buildings, including through modular and industrialised solutions;
- Skills for new and existing near-zero energy (nZEB) buildings and bridging the gap towards zero-emission buildings (ZEB);
- Skills for the integration of renewable energy and efficient heating and cooling technologies, in particular heat pumps; skills for plumbers in modernisation of heating and cooling in renovation projects;
- Carbon lifecycle related skills (through assessment of global warming potential), circular construction and resource efficiency, and the use of a tiered framework;
- Digital skills to promote higher energy efficiency in buildings, in particular through better use of the building information modelling;
- Skills to raise the level of smart buildings to higher energy efficiency (based on the intelligence readiness indicator), especially focusing on sensors, controls and building management systems.
