South West College’s GRASP Building Net Zero symposium brought education and industry together to discuss sustainable construction and workforce development across Northern Ireland and the Border Regions of Ireland.

GRASP is a €9.8m PEACEPLUS-funded cross-border initiative led by the college, targeting more than 2,000 participants through 50 accredited Green Skills programmes developed alongside industry.

Gary Kelly, Founder and Director of Kelly Studio Architects and a South West College Passive House Designer lecturer, said:

“The move towards high-performance, low-energy buildings is accelerating, and that creates a clear need for people across the construction sector who understand how these principles can be applied effectively in practice.

“Programmes such as GRASP are important because they connect education directly with the needs of industry. Through courses including the Passive House Designer programme, we can equip people with the technical knowledge and confidence to deliver better-performing buildings and contribute to the transition towards Net Zero.”

Dr Barry McCarron, Managing Director of KORE Retrofit, said: “For businesses such as KORE Retrofit, having access to a skilled workforce is fundamental to our ability to grow and respond to the scale of retrofit activity ahead. The range of courses being developed through GRASP goes directly to the heart of that challenge, helping to develop skilled operatives and technical professionals with the knowledge industry needs. With new retrofit and sustainability initiatives emerging across Northern Ireland and the Border Regions of Ireland, these programmes will be vital in helping businesses scale up and build the capacity to deliver on both sides of the border.”

Siobhan Ferguson, Programme Development and Delivery Manager for GRASP at South West College, said: “This symposium was about bringing industry, education and key stakeholders together around a shared challenge: ensuring we have the skills and workforce required to deliver a more sustainable built environment.

“Through GRASP, we are developing accredited training and strengthening cross-border collaboration, while working directly with industry to ensure our programmes respond to genuine skills needs.”

Presentations covered Passive House design, EnerPHit retrofit and embodied carbon, with discussion of workforce needs, digital technologies and green careers.

PEACEPLUS is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and co-funded by the European Union, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Government of Ireland, and the Northern Ireland Executive.

South West College is the lead partner in the nine-organisation GRASP partnership, which brings together education, training, industry and regional partners across Northern Ireland and the Border Regions of Ireland.

Pictured above: Ciaran McManus, Moira Kelly, JJ O’Hara, Barry Neilson OBE and Leighanne Fay.

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