Graduation of the first group of specialists for Ukraine’s reconstruction at USUST

On 16 February 2026, the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies hosted the graduation of participants from the first group of the program ‘BUILDING THE FUTURE: Innovative construction for new Ukraine’, held at the training and research Center for the Development of Vocational Education. The program is part of an international initiative aimed at strengthening Ukrainians’ professional competencies in the field of construction and infrastructure recovery following the full-scale invasion.

The program combines fundamental construction skills, digital tools, and principles of sustainable building that meet the current labor market standards and the needs of national recovery. Training of the first group began on 19 January 2026, lasted 120 hours, and included both theoretical modules and practical sessions. The participants successfully defended their final practical projects, demonstrated the competencies they had acquired, and received certificates of completion confirming their readiness to work in construction teams and implement modern solutions in professional practice.

The training program covered key areas such as orientation and safety, fundamentals of digital construction, preservation of the built heritage and career opportunities, as well as modern construction and measurement tools. The classes were conducted in full compliance with safety requirements: in case of air raid alerts, the learning process continued in shelters, enabling participants to combine hands-on training with adaptation to the realities of wartime conditions.

The next stage of the project implementation was the launch of training for the second group of participants, which began on 2 February 2026. Over the course of four weeks, the participants will focus on mastering modules that cover key topics in construction technologies and market-relevant competencies.

The ‘Building the Future’ program is being implemented by an organizational partnership consortium with the support of international organizations. The initiative is led by Swisscontact with financial support from the UK government through UK aid within the BLOOM Programme (Building Livelihoods and Opportunities for Optimised Markets), together with project partners – Mercy Corps, International Rescue Committee, Construction Association HERZ LLC, and a charitable organization ‘Right to protection’.

BLOOM is a large-scale program aimed at supporting livelihoods, developing small businesses, and improving professional skills in communities affected by the war across several regions of Ukraine, including the Dnipropetrovsk region. By the end of March 2026, the program is expected to help more than 21,000 Ukrainians acquire or enhance professional skills, particularly those seeking to contribute to the reconstruction of the country’s economy and infrastructure.

The implementation of the program at USUST is part of a broader process of developing vocational education as a key pillar of Ukraine’s recovery: high-quality, practice-oriented training of specialists strengthens the workforce capacity of the construction sector and lays the foundation for sustainable development and post-war infrastructure modernization.