Project Team

• Seamus Hoyne – DASBE Coordinator (TUS Midwest)
• Elisabeth O’Brien – DASBE Manager (TUS Midwest)
• Edel O’Grady – DASBE Admin (TUS Midwest)
• Juley McGourty – DASBE Digital Platform Designer (TUS Midwest)
• Sean Lyons – Coordinator for TUS Midlands
• Finola Deavy – Manager for TUS Midlands
• John Scahill – Coordinator for ATU
• Jimmy Fahey – Manager for ATU
• Catherine Wall – DASBE Communications (TEA)
• Linda Onzule – DASBE Communications (IGBC)

Provide a short description of the project

The Digital Academy for the Sustainable Built Environment (DASBE) is a digital hub for upskilling, capacity building and education in the areas of circular economy, energy efficiency and digitalisation for the construction sector.

The 3 main aims of DASBE:

Establish a National Digital Platform for the construction industry to enable learners to find a suitable programme or course and develop their own training plan to establish their career progression, by holding the learning content and certificate in one place.

Through collaboration between higher education institutes and industry partners be agile and responsive to the upskilling needs of the construction industry, and design, develop, and deploy accredited programmes from NFQ Level 6 to Level 9.

Design and develop digital educational tools to strengthen the skills of educators and trainers and enhance the education experience for learners through Building Information Modelling tools, Virtual and Augmented Reality learning and Living Labs.

Highlight interesting collaborations / partnerships

ATU and TUS have collaborated on the design, development, and deployment of the Higher Diploma Residential Energy Retrofit Management programme. The design and delivery of the programme is a collaborative approach, which enables both institutes to share their resources and expertise.

To maximise expertise in a specific field, TUS collaborated with The Heritage Council in the Energy Renovation of Traditional Building as an introduction 10 credit Certificate. These industry specific programmes are designed as micro-credentials at multiple levels, responding to industry needs.

There is extensive collaboration with the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) with the aim to identify specific opportunities for programme development and support career progression, by upskilling trades and motivating diversity into other fields in the construction industry. TUS is working alongside LOETB to validate a Residential Energy Site Coordination programme at level 6 with 20 credits. This programme will support the career progression of those with existing experience in the sector and can facilitate recognition of prior learning (RPL) models to be put in place.

Extensive engagement with professional bodies has occurred (e.g. RIAI, Engineers Ireland, CIAT, CIOB etc) with a view to identifying skills needs, programme development opportunities and demonstrations on Virtual Reality and other digital tools

DASBE collaboration with the Build Digital project is ongoing and an MoU has been signed between both initiatives.

Provide a brief summary of the project’s key enterprise engagements to date

Communication about DASBE to the industry is coordinated by the industry partners ensuring that it is connected to the target audiences and aligns with industry needs.  TEA and IGBC, DASBE industry partners, coordinate and manage DASBE social media, newsletters and website. IGBC and TEA networks and communication channels are leveraged to maximise impact.

IGBC and TEA have hosted several DASBE webinars to promote existing and new programmes, but also gain insights on specific industry needs.  DASBE has featured in several construction industry magazines such as Passive House Plus and Construction Industry which is a magazine run by the CIF and the consistency of publishing articles on DASBE website has increased.

The construction sector engagement through the IGBC is growing and deepening (increasing from 160 to over 330 corporate members), all of whom are reached by DASBE communications. This growth will continue, while the introduction of individual professional membership in Q1 2023 will significantly increase the audience for DASBE communications and provide a ready pool of potential DASBE students.

Project Showcase

Website:      https://dasbe.ie/

Twitter:       DASBE_Irl

Instagram:  DASBE_Irl

LinkedIn:    DASBE_Irl

Website insights and news https://dasbe.ie/insights

Last updated: Monday 24 April 2023