This year, two students from Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, Eneko Elizalde, from the VET Intermediate Degree in Excavations and Drilling in Navarre, and Samuel Calvo, from the VET Intermediate Degree in Construction Technician in Aragon, have been selected to participate together with other students from Spain, Turkey and Italy in the 'CONCRETO' project, which will take place from April to August 2024.

The entities participating in the project aim to train on the theoretical and practical knowledge that is necessary for the rehabilitation and regeneration of the Cultural Heritage of Concrete in Europe, structuring them in three blocks:

April: an introductory online training will be held, which will allow participants to familiarise themselves with the content and subject matter.

June: for almost two weeks students will be trained at the campus of the Polytechnic University of Milan, in the city of Lecco (Italy), where they will learn about the assessment of buildings that are part of the Cultural Heritage of Concrete, traditional repair, surface treatment, performance improvement and monitoring systems.

August: for 15 days the participants will travel to Ivrea (Italy), Unesco's headquarters, to practice the different rehabilitation and regeneration techniques they have learnt, contributing to the maintenance and conservation of the buildings declared Cultural Heritage of Concrete in the Italian city.

This activity is part of the results of the 'CONCRETO' project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, led by Foundation PLN Project of Belgium and in which Fundación Laboral de la Construcción participates, together with twelve other institutions from Spain, Belgium, Italy, Turkey and the Netherlands. The aim is to maintain and transmit the knowledge and skills that are part of the European Cultural Heritage which, according to the coordinating entity: "must be preserved while we build and transform our cities in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way".

The technological and scientific achievement of concrete

Since the early days of its use, concrete has presented a technological and scientific achievement. However, many of these structures need specialised attention and repair if they are to remain relevant for future generations.

Through the 'CONCRETO' project, the partners aim to address the renovation of European concrete heritage through a training school inspired by the Renaissance concept of 'La Bottega', a training model in which apprentices improve their skills by learning directly from the master and putting their knowledge into practice through real-life examples.

An Alliance for transnational cooperation and mutual learning on 'green retrofitting in European concrete architecture' between academia, VET and the sectoral workforce will also be established, among other outcomes.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.