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SMERALDA – Creative learning formats for digital and sustainable transformation

Digital and sustainable transformation presents many construction companies with major challenges: new technologies, increasing demands for climate protection and resource conservation, as well as the ongoing shortage of skilled workers, are driving changes in day-to-day operations. At the same time, there is often a lack of the right tools, the necessary expertise, or the time to engage with new topics. This is precisely where the project ‘Creative Learning Formats for Digital and Sustainable Transformation’, funded as part of the transnational Interreg project SMERALDA, comes in:

Objective:

To support construction companies in embedding this transformation step by step within their operations – through creative, accessible and practical learning formats. Approaches such as storytelling, visual communication and playful learning modules help to make complex content accessible and actively engage apprentices and staff.

bild Digitalisierung mit Logo Smeralda

Innovative Content of the Project:

The project develops innovative learning formats for the construction industry that convey complex topics in a clear, engaging, and practical way through visual representations, short videos, and gamified elements. In doing so, it complements existing training methods with motivating and contemporary approaches that make learning content more accessible.

The project is structured into four consecutive phases:

  • Needs analysis based on the predecessor project “Digital Maturity”: In collaboration with construction companies, the project assesses their current digital and organizational status and identifies existing challenges.

  • Development of creative learning formats: Practical, everyday methods for training and awareness-raising are created—for example, on the sustainable use of resources or the introduction of new software.

  • Testing and practical application: The formats are tested directly with companies, for instance as digital learning modules on the E-Baulehre platform.

  • Dissemination: The content is shared with companies through workshops, events such as “Bau.Live,” and compact materials. This low-threshold access to key future topics not only provides tangible benefits for businesses, but the attractive, modern learning formats can also help inspire young people to join the construction industry. They offer new opportunities to attract skilled workers, make training more appealing, and actively contribute to securing the next generation in the sector.

Benefits of the Project for the Construction Sector:

Planned Use of Research Results: The results will be disseminated through regional information events, the online format “Bau.Live,” and existing industry networks. The goal is to reach as many companies as possible and to integrate the materials into the existing continuing education program of E-Baulehre.

Project Partners:

  • Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture of Treviso–Belluno
  • t2i – Technology Transfer and Innovation s.c. a r.l.
  • Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia – Central Directorate for Culture and Sport
  • Participation of approximately 20 SMEs

Duration of the Research Project:

2026 – 2027

Total Project Volume:

€ 870,000.-

Das Gesamtprojekt SMERALDA

SMERALDA (Intelligente Modelle für Resilienz und Digitalisierung von Unternehmen in den Alpeni) ist ein grenzüberschreitendes Projekt im Rahmen des Programms Interreg VI-A Italien–Österreich 2021–2027.

Ausgangspunkt ist die Erkenntnis, dass insbesondere kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU) im Alpenraum zwar innovationsbereit sind, jedoch häufig vor ähnlichen Herausforderungen stehen: fehlende digitale Kompetenzen, mangelnde Erfahrung im Veränderungsmanagement und begrenzte personelle Ressourcen erschweren die Einführung neuer Technologien wie Künstliche Intelligenz (KI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Blockchain, Cloud Computing oder Machine Learning.

SMERALDA verfolgt daher einen innovativen Ansatz, bei dem Methoden der Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft (Cultural and Creative Industries – CCI) genutzt werden, um den digitalen Wandel verständlicher, praxisnäher und partizipativer zu gestalten. Storytelling, Gamification, Simulationen und generationenübergreifende Lernformate unterstützen Unternehmen dabei, neue Technologien leichter anzuwenden und Veränderungsprozesse erfolgreich umzusetzen.

Ziel des Projekts ist die Entwicklung menschenzentrierter Modelle, die Unternehmen, Mitarbeitende und regionale Akteurinnen und Akteure aktiv in die digitale Transformation einbinden. Dadurch sollen Innovationskraft, Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Resilienz der Unternehmen im grenzüberschreitenden Alpenraum nachhaltig gestärkt werden.

Projektpartner:

  • Camera di Commercio Industria artigianato agricoltura di Treviso Belluno
  • t2i – trasferimento tecnologico e innovazione s.c. a r.l.
  • Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region – Department for culture and sport

Dauer des Forschungsprojektes:

Projektlaufzeit 19 Monate
Projektbeginn: 01.05.2026
Geplantes Projektende: 31.12.2027 

Projektbudget:  

Gesamtprojektvolumen: 870.200,90 €
Davon entfällt auf die ZAB Zukunftsagentur Bau Gmbh ein Projektvolumen von 252.428,40 €,
wovon 201.942,72 € aus EU-Mitteln finanziert werden.

Funding

The SMERALDA project (ITAT-11-031) is a funded collaborative initiative under the EU’s Interreg VI-A Italy–Austria 2021–2027 programme. It supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their digital and sustainable transformation through creative learning formats.

Partner