At a time when climate change is presenting our cities and communities with major challenges, Prof. Dr. Martina Fuchs and Prof. Dr. Matthias Pilz from the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne have launched the innovative "SkillsEco" project together with Prof. Dr. Claudia Ziller from Cologne University of Applied Sciences. The project is funded by the RheinEnergieStiftung Jugend/Beruf, Wissenschaft. The aim of the project is to research, develop and promote sustainability skills in order to make Cologne a "greener" and more sustainable city. Companies in urban areas play a key role in this and need employees with the appropriate "green skills" to achieve the sustainability goals. These skills include professional, social and personal aspects in the field of environmental sustainability.

The project focuses on three areas:

Micro level: Prof. Dr. Matthias Pilz is leading the research on teaching "green skills" at learning venues in companies and educational institutions.

Meso-level: Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Martina Fuchs, regional actor networks and the local "Green Skills Ecosystem" are being investigated.

Technical concretization level: Prof. Dr. Claudia Ziller focuses on the implementation of sustainability concepts in the area of building technology and use in order to develop Cologne into a "Green City".

The research project includes various measures such as interviews, workshops and scientific publications. The results should not only drive forward Cologne's transformation into a sustainable city, but also provide insights for other regions.

So far, an initial pilot study has been carried out between May and July 2024 based on an initial stakeholder network. In this study, the project team focused on the evaluation of green skills in the field of building automation, as a sub-sector of technical building equipment.

Building on this and the further elaborated stakeholder network, the project team organized a first kick-off workshop on 7 October 2024. Scientists from the three departments involved in the project were present. Thanks to the workshop, the project team was able to refine the actor network and start the main study in a targeted manner.

The main study was carried out between January and July 2025 as part of the research project. This involved 53 semi-structured guided interviews with experts from politics, business, administration, chambers, guilds, associations, vocational colleges and universities. The interviews were evaluated using qualitative content analysis.

A presentation of the results took place on November 25, 2025 at the University of Cologne and digitally via Zoom. The findings were jointly reflected on in various discussion rounds. The exchange provided the research team with valuable input for ongoing evaluation.

We are also delighted that the SkillsEco project has received a commitment for follow-up funding from the Rheinenergie Foundation. This will enable us to continue and expand our work in the next project phase. The funding will run from June 2026 to June 2027 and will support the two doctoral projects of Farina Koller and Hanna Link in particular.