Context/background of projectThe ambitious Energy and Climate targets for 2020 demand an increasing effort from the building industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase the share of renewable energies and improve the energy efficiency of buildings using innovative technologies.In the EU Directive on public procurements released in February 2014, the European Commission recommends the adoption of BIM, Building Information Modeling, for its energy and environmental transition policy. BIM is the process and practice of virtual design and construction throughout its life cycle. It is a platform to share knowledge and communicate between project participants. In some of the ELITE project partners’ country BIM has already become compulsory (UK and France), while in Italy, Estonia, Portugal the issue is still under discussion and specific working groups are working on this issue. In this context, where the different national building regulations are more and more innovative and demanding, the professionals in charge of the realization of buildings are not well informed or trained and they lack interdisciplinary skills. They should be trained in order to promote their 'energy literacy', including integrated design, management practices and good operational digital skills which are necessary to face the digital transition which is spreading in the construction sector. The objectives of our ELITE project are: - to close the gaps between industry needs and professionals and future professionals skills, defining an innovative training course which will foster employability of the trained people, - to support the development of innovative and systemic professional approaches in the field of energy efficiency in the building sector, based on the use of BIM, which will enhance building enterprises competitiveness. The participants will be the ELITE partners, representing 5 EU countries, France, Italy, Scotland (UK), Estonia and Portugal. Their heterogeneity will ensure the multilateral approach to the project. Each partner will involve local stakeholders, representing both the construction trade and the education sector. The beneficiaries of the training offer will be construction professionals and future construction professionals (level 3 and 4 of the EQF). The innovative, open on-line tools will ensure the sustainability of ELITE activities within and beyond the partnership on a long-term basis. The local national stakeholders and the silent partners identified in the preparatory phase will guarantee the take up of ELITE outputs by a wide audience fostering the impact of the project. The activities planned by the ELITE partners are the following: - design of an innovative the Didactic Suite based on the use of BIM to tackle energy efficiency in the building sector- implementation of an Open Interactive platform.- design of augmented reality projects which will be available on the on-line platform and suitable to all levels and education sectors.- pilot test of the training materialThe methodology aimed at addressing the ELITE objectives will follow three main phases: 1. Preparation: Work plan development; definition of procedures for risk, quality and impact evaluation, budget control and time management.2. Implementation: implementation of the activities as determined in preparation stage, development of intellectual outputs and organisation of multiplier events. 3. Follow-up: impact evaluation procedures, follow-up survey of multiplier events, sustainability actionsThe results expected are the following: - A new training offer: a didactic suite which will be addressed to learners in a C-VET perspective and will promote work-place learning.- An open interactive platform which will enhance the permeability between formal and non-formal learning, participatory education governance and work methods and will spread the utilisation of open training methods through promoting the use of innovative ICT tools.- Augmented reality projects which will allow learners to work in an intuitive way using a non-formal learning tool and its utilisation be spread for educators and learners at all levels. The expected impact is the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs of the construction sector and the improvement of the employability of the professionals and future professionals on a European scale. Training providers will also benefit from the uptake of the ELITE approach, improving the quality and efficiency of their VET courses, making VET a more attractive learning option and ensuring link to the labour market requirements. In the long term, ELITE project, promoting the improvement of the energy efficiency of the building stock and the upskilling of the building workforce, will represent a strong driver for job creation which is highly important particularly in a period of poor economic growth and high unemployment.