Over 75% of EU citizens now live in urban areas, and the EU aims for 80% of adults to have at least basic digital skills by 2030. These trends underscore the urgency of equipping professionals with the right competencies to support the transition to smart, inclusive, and resilient communities. For this reason, European cities are undergoing rapid digital transformation and striving for urban resilience and sustainability, which necessitates new professional competencies. Engineers and planners in particular must be equipped to design and implement solutions that address complex challenges of the digital and green transitions.
This study presents a collective and participatory process for developing a methodological framework to analyze skills gaps in smart communities across Europe. The approach aligns research activities with European frameworks and stakeholder needs. The authors detail the approach of defining a framework and planning strategies to map current and future skills demand and to inventory existing training, in order to identify mismatches and forecast future skills needs, informing the creation of both immediate upskilling and reskilling courses and long-term educational programmes. The focus is on two emerging occupational profiles: the Resilience Engineer and Resilient Solutions Planner/Procurer, which exemplify the new roles required in smart cities. The article is developed within the Erasmus+ project Smart Communities Skills Development in Europe. It presents a collaborative approach for a methodology design that ensures both scientific rigor and stakeholder relevance, helping guide future skills gaps analysis for higher education and vocational training in Europe.
