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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core objective: To increase the number of skilled professionals in Europe for the clean energy transition, focusing on the construction and renovation value chains, by supporting national skills platforms.
Target recipient: Organisations capable of establishing or continuing national multi-stakeholder platforms.
MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': SECTOR-SPECIFIC
Geographic scope: EU Member States, with projects focusing on national-level initiatives within those countries.
Key filtering criteria: Focus on energy efficiency skills, clear action plans for upskilling/reskilling, and measurable impact on training rates, energy savings, and greenhouse gas emission reduction.
Grant frequency: Part of the recurring BUILD UP Skills initiative, under the LIFE Clean Energy Transition program (LIFE-2025-CET call).

Financial Structure

Funding type: LIFE Project Grants (Action Grants).
Maximum grant amount: The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 1,500,000 would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately. This does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
Total budget for this specific topic (LIFE-2025-CET-BUILDSKILLS): EUR 6,000,000.
Currency: EUR.
Funding rate: 95% of eligible costs.
Co-financing: Applicants are expected to cover the remaining 5% of eligible costs.
Financial guarantees: Details on legal and financial set-up of grants are described in section 10 of the call document.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Organizations

Applicants can be single legal entities or a group of legal entities.
Must be able to establish or continue a national platform involving a broad range of relevant stakeholders.
Examples of involved stakeholders: government authorities (responsible for education and energy), professional chambers, education and training providers, trade unions, academia.

Geographic Location

Organisations from EU Member States are eligible.
Scope A applies to: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain.
Scope B applies to other EU Member States not listed under Scope A.

Project Scope Requirements

Proposals must focus on only one of two scopes:
Scope A: Continuing operations of an existing national skills platform, implementing measures from a 2030 national roadmap, and designing a large-scale national communication and awareness campaign.
Scope B: (Re)establishing a national platform, carrying out skills intelligence activities (e.g., market research, data analysis, mapping gaps), designing a national roadmap with action plans, and promoting results to secure official endorsement.
Focus areas: skills and professions relevant for the energy transition of construction and renovation value chains, integration of renewable energy sources in buildings, and other energy efficiency professions listed under Article 28(1) EED (e.g., providers of energy services, energy audits, energy managers, installers of building elements, and providers of integrated renovation works).

Collaboration Requirements

Must demonstrate substantial preliminary interest from a range of relevant national stakeholders (including public authorities) through letters of support.
Projects should include a small share of activities for exchange with similar platforms across Europe.
Close cooperation with the BUILD UP Skills Community of Practice (to be launched in 2025) is required.
Projects should build on existing national initiatives in the field of training on skills for the clean energy transition, including those established by the BUILD UP Skills initiative and under the EU Pact for Skills.

Other Conditions

Only one platform will be supported in a given country under this topic.
Admissibility conditions (page limits, layout), other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity, and exclusion criteria are described in the specific call document (sections 5, 6, 7).

Application Process

Application Timeline

Application deadline: 2025-09-23 00:00:00+00.
Submission session opened: 2025-04-24.
Evaluation and award indicative timeline: Described in section 4 of the call document.

Submission Process

Submission is a single-stage process.
Applications must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Required Documentation

Standard application form (LIFE SAP and OAG) – specific form available in the Submission System (Part B outlines page limits and layout).
Detailed budget table (LIFE).
Participant information (LIFE).
Letters of support: Must demonstrate substantial preliminary interest from a range of relevant national stakeholders, including public authorities.

Support and Assistance

Applicants can seek support from their National Contact Points (NCP).
IT Helpdesk is available for technical questions, login issues, and submission queries.
An Online Manual provides a step-by-step guide.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and info session recordings/presentations are available.

Project Implementation and Reporting

Project planning: Proposals should include clear action plans, identify actors, resources, and financing needed for implementation.
Monitoring and evaluation: The national roadmap should include measures and indicators to monitor the progress of proposed activities.
Reporting schedule and frequency: Financial reporting and audit requirements are described in section 10 of the call document.

Evaluation Criteria

Award Criteria

Detailed criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document.
Proposals must present concrete results that will be delivered by the activities and demonstrate how these results will contribute to the topic-specific impacts.
This demonstration should include a detailed analysis of the starting point, a set of well-substantiated assumptions, and establish clear causality links between the results and the expected impact.

Expected Impact Metrics (Scope A)

Number of key stakeholders involved in the platform.
Number of meetings of the platform, including thematic working groups organised.
Number of national policy documents resulting from the platform.
Number of measures from the national roadmap implemented.
Number of people impacted by the communication and awareness-raising campaign (measured through specific indicators e.g. gross reach, net reach, recall, increased knowledge, percentage of audience who took action).
Number of trained professionals.
Increase in the annual training rate of relevant professionals resulting from the roadmap implementation.
Amount of funding secured (public or private) to roll out training and qualification programmes.

Expected Impact Metrics (Scope B)

Number of key stakeholders involved in the national platform.
Number of meetings of the platform, including thematic working groups organised.
Number of national policy documents resulting from the platform, including the national roadmap and action plan.
Number of relevant national stakeholders endorsing the updated national roadmap.
Number of people impacted by the communication and awareness-raising campaign.
Projected annual training rate of relevant professionals resulting from the roadmap implementation.
Amount of funding secured (public or private) to roll out training and qualification programmes.

Common Impact Indicators (for both scopes)

Primary energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year.
Final energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year.
Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (in GWh/year).
Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (in tCO2-eq/year).
Investments in sustainable energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy) triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro).

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Projects must align with and contribute to the implementation of key EU Directives:
Revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EU/2023/1791), specifically Article 28 (establishing networks for energy efficiency professions, promoting certification, training, and assessing skills gaps).
Revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU/2024/1275), specifically Article 17(12) (measures and financing for a sufficient skilled workforce in the building sector).
Revised Renewable Energy Directive (EU/2023/2413), specifically Article 18 (requirements related to skills, qualifications, and certification).
Compliance with EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 and LIFE Regulation 2021/783.

Ethical and Data Protection Standards

General ethical standards and requirements applicable to EU grants are expected.
Compliance with the Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement is required for data protection.

Strategic Opportunities and Considerations

Strategic Alignment: This grant offers a significant opportunity to align with major EU policies and initiatives aimed at the clean energy transition and skilled workforce development, notably the EU Pact for Skills and its Large-Scale Partnerships.
Impact on Policy: Platforms are expected to influence national policy and decision-makers by highlighting the skills dimension of the clean energy transition.
Innovation: Supported projects previously piloted innovative approaches to facilitate skill roll-out, indicating a preference for innovative solutions in training and qualification schemes.
Inclusivity: Communication and awareness campaigns should actively attract relevant profiles external to the energy sector (reskilling potential) and underrepresented groups such as women and youth, including students from vocational and higher education institutions.
Knowledge Sharing: Proposals should allocate a small share of activities for exchanges with similar platforms across Europe, coordinated by the Commission services.
Building on Existing Efforts: Projects are strongly encouraged to build on existing national initiatives and the outcomes of previous BUILD UP Skills projects.

Grant Details