BUILD UP Skills national platforms
Strengthens national BUILD UP Skills platforms to upskill the construction workforce for the clean-energy transition.
Description
Objective
Builds on the BUILD UP Skills initiative (launched 2011) to increase the number of skilled professionals along construction and renovation value chains, in support of the Pact for Skills, the Energy Efficiency Directive (Article 28), the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (Article 17(12)), the Renewable Energy Directive (Article 18) and the EU Affordable Housing Plan. Targets eligible countries that have not yet updated their national BUILD UP Skills platform and roadmap.
Areas of intervention
- (Re)establish the national skills platform and secure involvement of key stakeholders (construction sector associations, training institutions, public authorities, building professionals)
- Carry out skills-intelligence activities — evaluation of previous national roadmaps, market research, data collection, analysis of labour statistics
- Design a national roadmap to address identified gaps and barriers, including priority measures, target dates, and indicators
- Promote widely the results of the status-quo analysis and the measures in the roadmap, and make the arrangements to pave the way for roadmap implementation
- Design and conduct a large-scale national communication and awareness campaign promoting the contribution of skilled professionals to the clean energy transition
What this means for cities and regions
A national-level instrument; cities are typically partners or stakeholders rather than lead applicants. Useful for regional development agencies or city training centres positioning themselves inside the national skills platform. Single applicant allowed; topic budget €3M at 95% co-financing.
Key facts
Submission deadline
16 September 2026, 17:00 (Brussels time)
Published
Opens
Programme
Parent call
Total envelope
Per project
Expected grants
Co-funding rate
Eligibility
Eligible countries
Eligible NUTS regions
—Eligible organisation types
Min. consortium size
—Min. partner countries
—Eligibility notes
Who can apply
- Legal entities, public or private — municipalities, regions, intermunicipal authorities, public utilities, public transport operators, regional development agencies, NGOs, SMEs and large enterprises all qualify.
- Established in EU-27 (including Overseas Countries and Territories), EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), or countries associated to LIFE 2021–2027.
- The coordinator must be established in an eligible country.
Consortium rule for this topic
Proposals can be submitted by a single applicant from an eligible country (no minimum consortium size).
Restrictions and special cases
- Natural persons are not eligible, except sole traders.
- International organisations are eligible; the eligible-country rules do not apply to them.
- EU bodies cannot participate, except the Joint Research Centre.
- Financial support to third parties is not allowed (except where the topic explicitly provides for it).
- Co-financing rate: 95% of eligible costs (standard for LIFE CET Coordination and Support Actions).
EU restrictive measures (TEU Article 29 / TFEU Article 215) and EU conditionality measures (Regulation 2020/2092) apply. Currently this excludes Hungarian public-interest trusts established under Hungarian Act IX of 2021, or any entity they maintain (Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, 16 December 2022).
Classification
Thematic domains
Activity types
Space relevance
Tier C — space tools could plausibly support the call but aren't named.
Space services
Sources
LIFE-2026-CET-BUILDSKILLS
Ingested May 20th, 2026
Sibling topics under this call
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Related opportunities
Implementation of key clean-energy legislation
Supporting national, regional and local implementation of EU clean-energy legislation (EPBD, EED, RED).
One-Stop-Shops for clean energy transition
Establishing and scaling one-stop-shops that deliver integrated renovation services for households and public buildings.
Alleviating household energy poverty
Supports measures to address household energy poverty through advisory services, retrofits and policy frameworks.