From metalworking to fashion and construction, the message is clear: technology alone is not enough without people able to govern it. In Rimini, SFC brought the European experience of BSA, which brings together Confindustria, ITS Academy and universities.
The 29th edition of Ecomondo has come to a close in Rimini. On Friday 6 November, as part of Ecomondo’s “Green Jobs & Skills” project, the National Green Jobs Roundtable: A Roadmap for Work took place, moderated by Marco Gisotti. Participants included Unioncamere, Federmeccanica, Confindustria Moda, CONAI, CNA and Federchimica, together with ASviS, Almalaurea, the ITS Italy Network, the Network of Universities for Sustainable Development and trade associations. Sistemi Formativi Confindustria was represented by Emanuele Piaia, who is involved in the CoVE (Centre of Vocational Excellence) “BuildSkills Academy”.
A real, measurable need
For the first time, the Roundtable offered an overall view of how the workforce for the ecological transition is being trained. According to data from the Excelsior Information System of Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labour, Italian companies planned 1,950,210 green job hires in 2025, equal to 33.6% of total hiring. For more than half of these positions, companies report difficulty in finding candidates.
Federmeccanica: new ways of doing jobs that already exist
Giorgia Garola, Vice President of Federmeccanica with responsibility for Education, highlighted a central point. The transition is first and foremost a transition of skills: it is not only about creating new green jobs, but about a new way of carrying out jobs that already exist. Technology alone is not enough. We need people who know how to govern, update and use it. The need for green jobs is real and concrete, and training is the lever for the growth of both people and work. The sector is strategic for the Italian economy. Metalworking and mechatronics generate about 8% of GDP and about 50% of exports, with over 1.5 million employees (Federmeccanica, 2025 General Assembly).
Fashion: green and creativity, essential skills
Paolo Bastianello, board member responsible for training at Confindustria Moda, reminded the audience that the sector is not just about runways. Behind garments and accessories lies a great deal of technical and professional work, and green and creativity are essential skills for maintaining the high quality of a sector that is a pillar of Made in Italy, with exports of around 65 billion euros.
Construction: a decisive sector for decarbonisation
Construction, a sector that has generated about 350,000 new jobs in Italy over the past five years, is fully affected by the green, digital and social transition. In Europe, buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and about 75% of the building stock is inefficient. The European “Green Homes” directive (EPBD) aims for a zero-emission building stock by 2050. Reskilling professionals in new production systems, building maintenance and urban regeneration is therefore essential, in a sector where the share of workers over 50 and over 60 is steadily increasing, while generational turnover is slowing sharply.
BuildSkills Academy: from European project to training pathways
Against this backdrop, the Roundtable presented as a good practice BuildSkills Academy, the European Centre of Vocational Excellence co-funded by Erasmus+, in which SFC is a full partner and key player. Emanuele Piaia explained its method, which rests on a network linking Confindustria, ITS Academy and universities.
BuildSkills Academy starts from the premise that construction needs upskilling and reskilling. Since 2023, the project, led by Cleantech Bulgaria, has built a European network of 17 partners from 10 countries to understand the issues facing the construction sector. If decarbonisation is a given, we must work on the transition of skills that today’s young people need to begin translating and bringing to the market.
Piaia stressed one point: green and digital are not two separate transitions, but one is part of the other. Digital skills are a decisive factor in achieving the green transition, not an add-on.
How BSA worked
- Mapping the supply chain. Through roundtables, the project identified the actors who govern the market today: architects, engineers, electricians, construction site professionals. They are well-known figures, but often without qualifications and preparation aligned with what the market requires today.
- Identifying emerging skills, starting from the issues in updating professional profiles.
- Designing twelve training pathways, two of them together with ITS TEC of Bologna and Ferrara, with the contribution of the University of Ferrara:
- Smart, Resilient & Circular Cities
- Build Liveable Urban Environment
The results
The results are significant in terms of upskilling and updating the institutional training programmes of ITS. In the first edition of BuildSkills Academy training, more than 50 students were trained in Italy and more than 500 at transnational level. The transnational dimension is one of the initiative’s added values: it allowed young people and adult workers from diverse geographical and professional backgrounds to share programmes and career development directions, preparing on priorities and needs shared by European companies. This shortens the distance between training and work and strengthens the ability to face the challenges of the European context.
The role of SFC
BuildSkills Academy is one of SFC’s flagship Erasmus+ projects. It shows how a network of companies, ITS Academy and universities can innovate training pathways and create opportunities for young people, starting from a concrete analysis of the sector’s needs. It is an approach that continues to shape new European projects, such as the more recent RECEBA – Regional Circular Economy Business Accelerator, of which SFC is the lead partner. The innovation criteria pursued by SFC for continuing education are clear:
- Continuing education as a lever to update workers, that is, those who are already employed, and not only to train those entering the labour market.
- The role of the SFC consortium and the Confindustria System in reading companies’ needs and turning them into pathways with ITS Academy and universities.
- Europe as a laboratory: Erasmus+ projects to anticipate the skills required by innovation and change.
From metalworking to fashion and construction, the message is clear: technology alone is not enough without people able to govern it. In Rimini, SFC brought the European experience of BSA, which brings together Confindustria, ITS Academy and universities.
The 29th edition of Ecomondo has come to a close in Rimini. On Friday 6 November, as part of Ecomondo’s “Green Jobs & Skills” project, the National Green Jobs Roundtable: A Roadmap for Work took place, moderated by Marco Gisotti. Participants included Unioncamere, Federmeccanica, Confindustria Moda, CONAI, CNA and Federchimica, together with ASviS, Almalaurea, the ITS Italy Network, the Network of Universities for Sustainable Development and trade associations. Sistemi Formativi Confindustria was represented by Emanuele Piaia, who is involved in the CoVE (Centre of Vocational Excellence) “BuildSkills Academy”.
A real, measurable need
For the first time, the Roundtable offered an overall view of how the workforce for the ecological transition is being trained. According to data from the Excelsior Information System of Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labour, Italian companies planned 1,950,210 green job hires in 2025, equal to 33.6% of total hiring. For more than half of these positions, companies report difficulty in finding candidates.
Federmeccanica: new ways of doing jobs that already exist
Giorgia Garola, Vice President of Federmeccanica with responsibility for Education, highlighted a central point. The transition is first and foremost a transition of skills: it is not only about creating new green jobs, but about a new way of carrying out jobs that already exist. Technology alone is not enough. We need people who know how to govern, update and use it. The need for green jobs is real and concrete, and training is the lever for the growth of both people and work. The sector is strategic for the Italian economy. Metalworking and mechatronics generate about 8% of GDP and about 50% of exports, with over 1.5 million employees (Federmeccanica, 2025 General Assembly).
Fashion: green and creativity, essential skills
Paolo Bastianello, board member responsible for training at Confindustria Moda, reminded the audience that the sector is not just about runways. Behind garments and accessories lies a great deal of technical and professional work, and green and creativity are essential skills for maintaining the high quality of a sector that is a pillar of Made in Italy, with exports of around 65 billion euros.
Construction: a decisive sector for decarbonisation
Construction, a sector that has generated about 350,000 new jobs in Italy over the past five years, is fully affected by the green, digital and social transition. In Europe, buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and about 75% of the building stock is inefficient. The European “Green Homes” directive (EPBD) aims for a zero-emission building stock by 2050. Reskilling professionals in new production systems, building maintenance and urban regeneration is therefore essential, in a sector where the share of workers over 50 and over 60 is steadily increasing, while generational turnover is slowing sharply.
BuildSkills Academy: from European project to training pathways
Against this backdrop, the Roundtable presented as a good practice BuildSkills Academy, the European Centre of Vocational Excellence co-funded by Erasmus+, in which SFC is a full partner and key player. Emanuele Piaia explained its method, which rests on a network linking Confindustria, ITS Academy and universities.
BuildSkills Academy starts from the premise that construction needs upskilling and reskilling. Since 2023, the project, led by Cleantech Bulgaria, has built a European network of 17 partners from 10 countries to understand the issues facing the construction sector. If decarbonisation is a given, we must work on the transition of skills that today’s young people need to begin translating and bringing to the market.
Piaia stressed one point: green and digital are not two separate transitions, but one is part of the other. Digital skills are a decisive factor in achieving the green transition, not an add-on.
How BSA worked
- Mapping the supply chain. Through roundtables, the project identified the actors who govern the market today: architects, engineers, electricians, construction site professionals. They are well-known figures, but often without qualifications and preparation aligned with what the market requires today.
- Identifying emerging skills, starting from the issues in updating professional profiles.
- Designing twelve training pathways, two of them together with ITS TEC of Bologna and Ferrara, with the contribution of the University of Ferrara:
- Smart, Resilient & Circular Cities
- Build Liveable Urban Environment
The results
The results are significant in terms of upskilling and updating the institutional training programmes of ITS. In the first edition of BuildSkills Academy training, more than 50 students were trained in Italy and more than 500 at transnational level. The transnational dimension is one of the initiative’s added values: it allowed young people and adult workers from diverse geographical and professional backgrounds to share programmes and career development directions, preparing on priorities and needs shared by European companies. This shortens the distance between training and work and strengthens the ability to face the challenges of the European context.
The role of SFC
BuildSkills Academy is one of SFC’s flagship Erasmus+ projects. It shows how a network of companies, ITS Academy and universities can innovate training pathways and create opportunities for young people, starting from a concrete analysis of the sector’s needs. It is an approach that continues to shape new European projects, such as the more recent RECEBA – Regional Circular Economy Business Accelerator, of which SFC is the lead partner. The innovation criteria pursued by SFC for continuing education are clear:
- Continuing education as a lever to update workers, that is, those who are already employed, and not only to train those entering the labour market.
- The role of the SFC consortium and the Confindustria System in reading companies’ needs and turning them into pathways with ITS Academy and universities.
- Europe as a laboratory: Erasmus+ projects to anticipate the skills required by innovation and change.