C4C Alliance is a three-year project funded under the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education call. It is coordinated by the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje and brings together 16 partners from N. Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria and Portugal. Its overall objective is to strengthen higher education institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania so they can drive the green and digital transition of the construction sector. The project tackles skills mismatches, the limited presence of circular economy and digital competences in study programmes, weak academia–industry cooperation and insufficient professional development of academic staff, while supporting the implementation of European and regional sustainability policies.

To achieve this, the project will upgrade 6 study programmes, develop 4 new modular learning packages, create 15 new and update 30 existing courses, and deliver 20 lifelong learning programmes, at least 10 of them in national languages. Cooperation with industry will be reinforced through 7 joint Innovative Business Projects, and 5 university centres will be strengthened as permanent hubs for education, research and innovation. The project targets students, academic staff, professionals, companies, HEIs, professional associations, chambers of commerce and policymakers. Expected results include modernised curricula, closer university–industry collaboration, greater innovation capacity and improved graduate employability. By embedding its outcomes into regular study programmes, lifelong learning systems and university structures, C4C Alliance aims for lasting impact on skills, innovation ecosystems and the circular transformation of the Western Balkan construction sector.

IECE has a central role in turning the project’s educational outputs into practice. IECE leads pilot implementation and exploitation-related actions, including integrating the developed training materials into the CATALYST digital learning platform. IECE also leads activity “Academia–Industry Collaboration and Innovative Business Projects”. In this role, it co-create and implement the Innovative Business Projects with industry partners to address real circular construction challenges, and support skills development.