The Habitat sector encompasses a broad range of economic activities related to the design, construction, renovation, operation and management of the built environment. As the sector continues to evolve in response to the green and digital transitions, understanding its occupational landscape has become increasingly important for learners, professionals, VET providers, employers and policy-makers.
The Sector Map of Occupations and Skills has been developed to provide a structured overview of this landscape. Rather than presenting occupations as isolated professional profiles, it reveals how occupations, knowledge, skills and competences are interconnected across the Habitat sector. By bringing together information derived from European classifications and organising it into an intuitive and accessible digital environment, the Sector Map supports a better understanding of occupational requirements, learning opportunities and career development pathways.
The following sections explain how the Habitat sector has been defined within the HABITABLE project, how occupations have been identified and organised, and how the relationships between occupations, knowledge and skills can support skills intelligence and lifelong learning across the sector.
The Habitat sector brings together a wide range of economic activities related to the built environment, including construction, renovation, building services, furniture, wood, energy systems and other complementary activities. Because these activities span multiple industries, defining the boundaries of the sector was an essential first step in developing the Sector Map.
To establish a common reference framework, the project used the European NACE classification of economic activities as its starting point. Based on the methodology developed in the Habitat Sector Skills Landscape, the project identified those economic activities that form part of the Habitat sector across the participating countries, creating a shared definition that supports a consistent analysis of occupations, knowledge and skills.
As a result of this work, the Habitat sector was defined through:
This common framework provides the foundation for identifying the occupations that characterise the Habitat sector and for exploring the knowledge, skills and competences associated with them.
Once the scope of the Habitat sector had been defined, the next step was to identify the occupations associated with those economic activities. To achieve this, the HABITABLE project adopted the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) classification as the common reference framework for occupations, knowledge, skills and competences.
Building on the methodology developed in the Habitat Sector Skills Landscape, the project identified the ESCO occupations that are relevant to the Habitat sector and created a sector-specific reference framework. This process resulted in a curated database that combines official ESCO information with the sectoral analysis carried out by the HABITABLE partnership.
The Sector Map is built upon the European ESCO classification, which provides a common multilingual reference for occupations, knowledge, skills and competences across Europe.
The current Sector Map includes:
Together, these elements provide a comprehensive picture of the occupational landscape of the Habitat sector and form the basis for the interactive navigation available throughout the Sector Map.
To make occupational information easy to explore, the Sector Map organises all occupations according to the hierarchical structure of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08), which is also adopted by the European ESCO classification.
This hierarchical organisation groups occupations according to the type of work performed and the skills required, enabling users to navigate progressively from broad occupational categories to individual occupations. As a result, users can either browse the occupational hierarchy or quickly locate specific occupations using the free-text search function.
The occupational hierarchy used in the Sector Map follows four classification levels before reaching the individual occupation.
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Hierarchy Levels
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Example
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ISCO-08
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Major group
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Broad occupational categories
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2. Professionals
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Sub-major group
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More specific occupational fields
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2.1 Science and engineering professionals
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Minor group
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Related occupational families
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2.1.6 Architects, planners, surveyors and designers
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Unit group
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Closely related occupations
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2.1.6.1 Building architects
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ESCO
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Occupation
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Individual occupation profile
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2.1.6.1.1 Architect
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At the final level, users can access individual occupation profiles, each serving as a gateway to detailed information on the occupation itself, together with its associated knowledge, skills and competences, and related learning opportunities where available..
One of the main strengths of the Sector Map is that it does not simply present occupations, knowledge, skills and competences as independent pieces of information. Instead, it reveals the relationships between these elements, allowing users to explore the occupational landscape of the Habitat sector from multiple perspectives.
Users can browse the occupational hierarchy, use the free-text search function to quickly locate specific occupations, knowledge areas, skills or competences, or navigate directly through the relationships between these elements. This flexible approach allows users to follow different exploration pathways according to their interests and information needs.
Each occupation profile provides direct access to its associated knowledge, skills and competences, while each knowledge item, skill or competence links back to the occupations for which it is considered essential or optional. This interconnected navigation enables users to move seamlessly between occupations and their associated knowledge and competences, gaining a deeper understanding of how professional profiles are connected across the Habitat sector.
Rather than following a single navigation path, the Sector Map encourages users to explore the Habitat sector from different perspectives, making it easier to understand the connections between occupations, competences, learning opportunities and career development pathways.
The Sector Map has been designed to support skills intelligence by transforming occupational information into practical knowledge that can support education, training and workforce development across the Habitat sector. By bringing together occupations, knowledge, skills and competences within a single digital environment, it helps users better understand current occupational requirements and anticipate future skills needs.
This information can support a wide range of stakeholders involved in vocational education, employment and skills development.
As the Habitat sector continues to evolve through the green and digital transitions, the Sector Map contributes to a shared understanding of occupational change and promotes closer links between education, training and employment. By making occupational information more accessible and interconnected, it supports informed decision-making and contributes to a more skilled, adaptable and resilient workforce.
The Sector Map is part of the wider digital ecosystem developed by the HABITABLE project to support skills development, vocational education and career progression across the Habitat sector. Together, these complementary tools help learners, professionals, VET providers and other stakeholders explore occupations, access learning opportunities, validate competences and support lifelong learning.
Continue your journey through the HABITABLE digital tools.
Discover VET programmes and training opportunities related to specific occupations and competence profiles.
Access a growing catalogue of online courses for VET teachers, VET learners and SMEs staff, designed to develop the knowledge and competences required in the Habitat sector.
Receive personalised career guidance based on your interests, competences and professional goals.
Validate your learning and obtain digital micro-credentials that recognise the knowledge and competences you have acquired.
Learn more about the European classifications, frameworks and digital tools that support the Sector Map and the wider HABITABLE ecosystem.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Project Number:
101104680-HABITABLE-ERASMUS-EDU-2022-PEX-COVE
