Green Job Training and Green Buildings in Belarus

I spoke yesterday at a conference entitled "Vocational Education in the Context of Global Challenges" organized by the Ministry of Education of Belarus in Minsk.    Officially the number of attendees was 240 persons for the ongoing conference but with the large local contingent and attendees from Russia it seems considerably larger.   The international speakers represent a variety of countries including Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Croatia, the United States and Korea.  The European Commission's European Training Foundation, UNESCO, and UNEVOC are also participating. 

The subject was not specifically related to green buildings but I was invited to speak about "Creating a Bright Green Construction Economy" and tried to make a convincing argument about the growing importance and acceptance of significantly higher environmental and energy performance of buildings and the related opportunities for expanding skills and considering new job categories to match this shift.  It was encouraging to see other speakers whose expertise was on Vocational and Educational Training often referenced sustainable construction as a bright spot in the context of current jobs threatened by automation, off shoring, and accelerating change. 

I am also encouraged to say that the sustainable construction discussion has triggered an impromptu information session I will hold in partnership with Ecoproject Partnership in central Minsk.   The session will discuss the status of sustainable construction in Central & Eastern Europe, the opportunities for technology, materials, services and other green solutions, and an explanation on what are Green Building Councils and Construction21.eu.   

This free session is this Friday a.m. at 10am at Hotel Yubileiny.   For more details or to register, please contact [email protected]