EBC participated on 28 March to the event “Youth employment and the digitalisation of the energy renovation sector” jointly organised by Renovate Europe and the European Parliament Youth Intergroup, and hosted by MEP Brando Benifei (S&D, Italy). This event looked at energy renovation as an increasingly attractive sector for youth, thanks mainly to the digitalisation of this sector.
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With an increasingly widening gap between an ageing construction sector which is unable to find young recruits because of the unappealing image of working on building sites on the one side, and rising youth unemployment on the other, the digitalisation of the energy renovation sector could offer a golden opportunity to equip young people with a new sets of technical skills to address the needs of tomorrow’s labour market in the energy field.
EBC Secretary General Eugenio Quintieri took part to the panel “Digitalisation of energy renovation – Training Youth for SMEs of Tomorrow” next to DG Employment and Renovate Italy. At this occasion, he said: “Digital solutions have the great potential to reach women and young people, nowadays underrepresented in the sector, by alleviating burdensome physical tasks and creating new high qualified jobs. In order to exploit this potential, digitalisation needs to become massive. This will only be possible by developing digital solutions that are affordable, easy to access and that constitute a real added value to construction SMEs and craftsmen, that represent the vast majority of the sector.”
Renovate Europe infographic in collaboration with EBC and FIEC
In addition to this exchange, EBC, FIEC and Renovate Europe shared a common infographic to inform on “How can the digitalisation of the EU energy renovation sector boost youth employment?”. This joint initiative aims at encouraging the European institutions to be the frontrunners of the energy renovation digitalisation in order to remain competitive, tackle youth unemployment, foment digital skills, and reach an highly energy efficient building stock.
To download the infographic, click here.