Modernisation of curricula on renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency for the built environment in Higher Education Institutions of Western Balkan countries

The building sector in Western Balkan countries not only represents one of the main energy consumers (>40 %) but is also currently based on dated and low-efficient technologies far from EU standards. Therefore, implementing the energy transition in these countries requires a new type of professional with a stronger background in clean technologies and energy efficiency for achieving near zero energy buildings. Herein we present the efforts within the EU co-funded project ‘reZEB’ of a group of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) towards modernising the current content of modules and teaching methods in four Universities in Albania and Kosovo and one Vocational Education Training for energy efficient solutions and renewable energy technologies (RETs) in buildings. The selection of the modernised content and the design of the learning outcomes to be pursued was guided by an analysis of the labour market needs and the peculiarities of the existing study programs. More precisely, more than 80 organisations have been interviewed, showing great interest in professionals and engineers with enhanced knowledge on energy efficiency and RETs for the built environment, and 26 modules belonging to bachelor, master and professional study programs have been proposed as new or modernised (accounting for around 110 ECTS).