RESULTS OF THE SKILLS4WATER WP2: Needs Assessment and Framework Development

The water industry is currently facing a rising gap between labor-market demand and the availability of sufficiently trained and qualified professionals, leading to difficulties in retaining employees and finding skilled workers. Namely, the water industry requires a highly skilled workforce capable of adapting to the evolving market and societal needs, including appropriate training in soft skills which are essential assets for water professionals.

To tackle the faced challenges, the European Commission has set an ambitious objective of upskilling the European workforce to address skill and occupation shortages, prompting educational projects like SKILLS4Water. The SKILLS4Water consortium recognized the mismatches that exist between the water market demand and the offerings of the universities and built upon them by developing and offering tailor-made innovative learning and teaching practices to be incorporated into the higher education water management curricula. To contribute to building a sustainable and resilient water future and providing the EU with a skilled workforce the SKILLS4Water consortium started its journey a year ago.

The WP2 aimed to bridge the gap between the water industry needs and academic offerings, ultimately leading to the upscaled competencies and innovativeness of the workforce in the water sector. The following deliverables were produced to accomplish the specific objectives of the WP2:

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Taxonomy

• Skill Development
• Life-Skills
• Skills training
• Personal development - skill development