A Belfast Met led digital construction project whose aim is to become an adviser to the EU on skills is to present in Brussels on 20 April to some of the biggest architectural names in the world.

Paul McCormack, Programme Manager of the Belfast Met led EU project ARISE will speak to a key European upskilling audience to help mark the European Year of Skills, 2023.

The Architects Council of Europe, (ACE) and the European Association for Architectural Education are co-organising the one day conference which will also include an address from the President of the European Association for Architectural Education, Oya Atalay Franck.

The public conference, ‘New European Bauhaus-Upskilling, (Education and Practice) will be web streamed live from the ACE website. The day will show how architectural research and education can activate ecosystems that address the challenge of climate change. On the day there will be a speech from Themis Christophidou, Director General for Education, Youth and Sports at the European Commission.

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There has been an increase in the demand for energy skills in construction which ARISE promotes. This Belfast Met led EU project has 9 European partners and encourages a new hybrid way of learning while creating a digital mobile curriculum. Both White Collar and Blue Collar workers can benefit from adopting the ARISE micro modules. This new form of accreditation has taken the input of key construction figures across Europe directed by Belfast Met and helped support upskilling on the topics of energy efficient buildings and BIM, (Building Information Modelling).

The training and transaction system developed by ARISE will reward learners as they achieve competence at a certain level with the cryptocurrency for skills exchange-CERTcoin.

Looking forward to his presentation at the ULB Faculty of Architecture, ARISE Programme Manager Paul McCormack, said: "As we strive to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment, we must develop a new energy/skills landscape populated with a skilled and trained workforce capable of ensuring the sector meets the ambitious carbon reduction targets.

"We must use the advantages of digitalisation to accelerate the upskilling and retraining of the existing workforce and deliver a huge wave of digitally informed and empowered training for the new workers entering the workforce to sustain the growth and transformation of construction to net zero.

"The ARISE project is not just about adopting new technologies. It promotes a complete cycle adaption, changing of mindsets, behaviours and values of the built environment. In order to reduce the C02 footprint of construction, workers need the support of a skills environment that reinforces a culture of innovation, encourages creativity, collaboration, and experimentation, delivering Task and Impact based training in bite size chapters."