Strengthening Digital Skills and Industry Collaboration
From gradual innovation to consolidated curriculum change
Over the last four years, CIOFS-FP has progressively strengthened the green and digital dimension of its vocational education and training offer. This process did not begin with a single isolated intervention. Rather, it developed through the continuous updating of teaching content, closer dialogue with companies and growing attention to the technological transformation of the building and energy sectors. Within this broader evolution, SECOVE provided a European framework that helped validate, reinforce and consolidate changes already underway.
BIM as a stable component of vocational pathways
One of the most significant and concrete developments has been the stable integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) into relevant training pathways. BIM is no longer treated only as an emerging technology or as an optional specialist topic. It has become an established reference for understanding the digital transformation of construction processes, the coordination of information throughout the building life cycle and the relationship between design, energy performance, maintenance and sustainability.
This development directly reflects the recommendations of SECOVE Deliverable 3.2 for Italy, which identified digitalisation as a central driver of change in the building and construction sector. The report highlighted BIM, virtual and augmented reality, digital project-management tools, simulation, modelling and digital twins among the technologies that VET curricula should increasingly address. It also stressed that digital competence cannot be separated from sustainable construction, energy efficiency and the integration of renewable energy systems.
The inclusion of BIM has therefore contributed to making training more relevant to current occupational profiles and more responsive to the evolving needs of companies. Learners are introduced not only to a software environment, but also to a different way of organising information, collaborating across professional roles and approaching the design and management of buildings. In this sense, BIM acts as a bridge between technical, digital and green competences.
A permanent channel of cooperation with industry
A second important change concerns the relationship between training provision and the productive sector. CIOFS-FP maintains an open, close and continuous dialogue with companies working in digital construction, energy efficiency and related technologies. This relationship supports the regular identification of emerging skills needs and helps trainers understand how tools and professional practices are evolving in real working environments.
Industry cooperation is not conceived as an occasional contribution added at the end of a course. It increasingly informs the way training content is selected, updated and delivered. Companies can provide technical input, contribute to practical activities, present case studies and support learners and trainers in understanding the potential and limits of new technologies. This approach is consistent with the D3.2 recommendation to involve enterprises and industry experts in curriculum development and to ensure that VET provision remains aligned with labour-market requirements and professional standards.
SECOVE as an accelerator of teaching innovation
SECOVE reinforced this process by creating opportunities for applied experimentation, international exchange and cooperation between VET centres, universities and companies. Activities such as the RISE Competition, student mobility and the collaboration with Etechus on Digital Twin applications offered learners and trainers concrete opportunities to connect classroom knowledge with innovation challenges. These experiences did not replace the formal curriculum, but enriched it and strengthened the case for more project-based, collaborative and practice-oriented teaching.
The project also confirmed the value of methodologies emphasised in the Italian recommendations: laboratory work, experiential learning, problem solving, challenge-based activities and active participation. Such approaches are particularly relevant when learners are asked to understand complex processes that combine construction, energy systems and digital technologies. They allow students to move from the passive acquisition of concepts to the development of solutions, supported by trainers and industry professionals.
Alignment with Smart Specialisation priorities
The changes introduced are closely linked to the priorities identified in the Smart Specialisation Strategies of Lazio and Sardinia and discussed in Deliverable 3.2. These strategies highlight sustainable building, energy efficiency, smart grids, digital technologies and cooperation between training providers, research organisations and enterprises. The stable inclusion of BIM and the strengthening of industry collaboration therefore contribute to a more coherent relationship between vocational curricula, regional innovation priorities and the transformation of the labour market.
Looking ahead
The main contribution of SECOVE has been to strengthen and accelerate an ongoing process of curriculum modernisation. It has offered a shared framework through which CIOFS-FP could connect digital competence, sustainable energy, innovative teaching and cooperation with industry. The result is not a completely new curriculum created from scratch, but a more relevant, updated and outward-looking training offer, in which BIM has become a stable component and dialogue with companies supports continuous improvement.
This incremental but structural change is central to vocational excellence: curricula remain responsive to technological development, trainers maintain contact with real production contexts and learners acquire competences that are increasingly important for sustainable and digitally enabled construction. In this way, SECOVE has helped CIOFS-FP consolidate a model of VET that is more adaptive, practice-oriented and aligned with the needs of the green and digital transitions.
