In AT and DE, a remarkable observation can be made when looking at the gender split in the professions of architecture and civil engineering: More than 50% of all study beginners in architecture are female but only 20% of women ultimately practice their chosen profession; in the profession of chartered engineering consultancy (which architects can become after several years work experience and by undergoing additional VET programmes) the rate drops once again to 5-10% being women. This reflects the overall poor gender quality situation in some European countries whereas others are doing fine: Whilst AT and DE are at the bottom amongst EU Member States, ES and FR are in the upper third of the rankings and SI even sits at the top of the class. Certainly, the gender split is strongly determined by macro-structural factors, however, as we know from ES, FR and SI, intensive engagement at the policy level as well as offering VET programmes and guidance concepts specifically dedicated to women’s needs and demands foster their full participation in working life.Therefore, the project seeks to achieve the following aims and objectives:• The issue of poor gender equality in the profession of chartered engineering consultancy is much less known, therefore it will raise general awareness towards this topic amongst the main target groups and stakeholders (women studying/working in architecture and civil engineering; architecture and civil engineering offices; chambers and professional associations of relevance, HE/VET providers; policy makers).• Identification and collection of relevant features, frameworks and indicators which promote or hinder the proportion of women within the profession of chartered engineering consultancy in the different partner countries.• Selection of best practice results from each country and their transfer to and testing in other partner countries (e.g. professional coaching and continuing VET offers for women, support for personal development activities etc.).• Development and sustainable application of a valid and reliable measuring job tracking system which allows for documenting the careers of both, men and women, to identify similarities and differences; based on the required data, education providers, chambers and job coaches can develop better tailor-made training and consulting programmes to overcome the existing gender split.• Setting-up a sustainable thematic network of different experts, target groups and stakeholders that share their expertise, know-how and experience from different countries and learning/working cultures.The partnership develops two main tangible results:• The 4 IN 1 COMPENDIUM containing four parts: A) the NATIONAL COUNTRY REPORTS give an insight into gender-related situations and frameworks in each partner country and allow for relevant indicators and examples of best practice; B) in the BEST PRACTICE COLLECTION 20 examples of VET programmes and job coaching are introduced which are likely to prepare women better for specific challenges in the male-dominated environment of civil engineering; C) the CAREER TRACKER ANALYSIS gives an overview of findings when piloting the career tracking system (see below), including recommendations and lessons learnt for improvements D) the STRATEGY AND POLICY PAPER provides an overall summary of the project outcomes and requests appropriate actions from regional, national and EU policy makers to make gender equality in Europe a reality.• With the CAREER TRACKER, the partnership creates the first ever job tracking system for chartered engineering consultants. This online tool allows the continuous collection of information and feedback on how graduates start their working life, what kind of gender-based discrimination they are exposed to and whether or not they are sufficiently prepared with the skills needed to perform well in their job, especially if one is woman. Based on this data, VET and job consulting programmes can be better customised to women’s needs and demands; they also allow policy makers to improve their ambitions in realising gender equality. The partnership represents the national chambers of chartered engineering consultants from AT, DE and SI, the gender equality group of the Technical Univ. of Valencia/ES, the gender VET expert ARVHA from FR, and lastly the dissemination, QM and measuring tool development expert OXYS from DE.Short-term impact is achieved by raising general awareness, sharing knowhow and best practice examples between countries and upskilling VET and job consulting experts in chambers and business associations; medium-term impact is achieved by upskilling women through innovative training and consultancy programmes to tackle better gender-related challenges in the workplace; through the direct involvement of policy makers at different levels in the project work, a changing of mindset will lead to changing policies, which again facilitate gender equality in Europe in the long-term.

A successful design and construction process for NZE buildings and renovation requires to follow an integrated design approach and to work in multi-disciplinary teams. However, this approach is still not common PROF-TRAC offers a solution for this barrier by developing and maintaining an education platform for dedicated trainings and continuous development for professionals, i.e., both technical experts as architects, in integrated multi-disciplinary approach for nZEB principles, in a Post Graduate qualification/curriculum. PROF-TRAC has the following objectives: 1. Mapping of the required skills and current skills gap of professionals in NZEB. 2. Development of an open training platform including methods for a systematic and sustainable access to knowledge. 3. Development of a Train the Trainers programme for the developed curriculum and/or qualification scheme This training programme will be tested on a national scale in six national pilots and on an international scale by a train-the-trainer program provided by two EU umbrella organisations representing engineers (REHVA) and architects (ACE). 4. Development of a repository of the training material for use in education and post-initial education PROF-TRAC is specifically targeting the need to train architects, engineers, building managers and other building professionals in the necessary skills for designing, constructing, managing and operating NZE construction and retrofitting. The proposed approach will lead to a substantial reduction of skills mismatch for professionals, Increased managerial capacity to support innovation and sustainable energy use in buildings through new leadership, design, construction and management skills for professionals at middle and senior level and fostering of a better cooperation between disciplines. PROF-TRAC is building upon previous IEE projects (BuildUpSkills, IDES-EDU etc.) and is initiated by the largest European associations for the sector (REHVA, ACE, CECODHAS).