‘Construye 2020+ virtual Route’ starts next week to promote the benefits of sustainable construction in Spain

This is an information and awareness campaign of the Construye 2020+ project, which will tour 16 regions for two months, and is part of the European initiative Build Up Skills, coordinated in Spain by Fundación Laboral since 2011.

‘Construye 2020+ virtual Route’, an awareness-raising and dissemination campaign to support the transition of the construction sector towards a more sustainable sector, started on 19th October. The campaign will tour 16 regions in Spain until 14th December, offering region-specific information and events on energy efficiency, renewable energies and nearly zero-energy buildings.

Its aim is to inform both the sector and the general public about best practices and advice on energy efficiency and renovation, as well as to offer professionals and SMEs in the sector informative webinars, case studies, training and information on energy efficiency grants and subsidies, in order to improve the green building skills of professionals in the sector and boost employment.

This virtual campaign across Spain is the final activity of the project Construye 2020+, part of the Horizon 2020 program, which has been led by Fundación Laboral de la Construcción since June 2018. Together with the entity, five other Spanish partners are participating: Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Fundación Estatal para la Formación en el Empleo (Fundae), Instituto Nacional de las Cualificaciones (Incual) under the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training; Centro de Investigación de Recursos y Consumos Energéticos (Circe) and Instituto de Robótica y Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (IRTIC), attached to the University of Valencia.

A tour of 16 regions

At each stop on this virtual route, a webinar will be held to address the challenges of sustainable construction in each region: the results of Construye 2020+ will be presented and a round table discussion will be held, in which the needs, causes and demands of each autonomous community on energy efficiency, renewable energy systems and Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB), sustainable construction and efficient renovation will be discussed.

Topical issues will be raised, such as: the importance of the professional training needed for green jobs in sustainable construction and efficient renovation to make companies and professionals more competitive; the transformation of organisations towards a circular economy, in line with European guidelines; the impact of the European Next Generation funds in the region, as well as the practices and policies that are being implemented to promote all these issues, and the sharing of examples of good practice and learning.

The Virtual Route will start in Extremadura on 19th October and will then travel to the regions of: Andalusia (22nd October), Murcia (27th October), Valencia (29th October), Balearic Islands (3rd November), Catalonia (5th November), Aragon (10th November), Navarre (12th November), La Rioja (16th November), Basque Country (19th November), Cantabria (23rd November), Galicia (26th November), Castilla y León (30th November), Madrid (1st December), Castilla La Mancha (3rd December) and the Canary Islands (14th December).

In addition, on 17th December, the partnership will hold a hybrid event (face-to-face and via streaming) in Madrid to disseminate the final project.

Carbon neutral, ‘eco’ route

Construye 2020+ virtual route is a totally “eco” and carbon neutral interactive activity, as it only emits the CO2 from the web hosting and the different training activities that are carried out at some of the stops. It is a route that could very well be a bike ride, which is why the platform invites participants to cycle along the route as if it were a tour.