The fourth book in the best-selling series ‘Klara buduje’ (Klara Builds) has just been published. The series, initiated by ERBUD, fights stereotypes regarding the division of professions into ‘boys' jobs’ and ‘girls' jobs’. Encouraging women to pursue technical professions is a way to address the anticipated labour shortage in the construction industry.
Klara and her friends return in the fourth instalment of the popular series ‘Klara Builds’. After building a tree house and harnessing wind energy, the characters face another challenge: how to keep their house warm. Klara's new friend Kasia, an expert in welding, comes to the rescue. This character is inspired by a real engineer, Katarzyna Karolewska-Kapica from ERBUD Industry, one of the few women in Poland specialising in welding.
The book ‘Klara buduje miły zakątek’ (Klara builds a cosy corner), published in collaboration with the ERBUD Foundation, is not so much a story about building and assembling, but above all about the courage, initiative and unlimited ingenuity of children. It promotes teamwork and self-confidence. The author is Jakub Skworz, and the illustrations were created by Paulina Derecka. The fourth book is a summary and crowning achievement of the series, which has already sold over 3,000 copies in Polish and has also been published in German, English and Ukrainian.
"ERBUD stands on four strong pillars: volume, renewable energy sources, modular timber construction and, of course, services for the industry, which is the subject of our fourth book. Although this is an area dominated by men, in line with our overarching motto that ‘competence has no gender’, we have also found a suitable heroine here and invite women to pursue careers in professions such as welder, fitter or service technician. The world is changing. Let me remind you that 35 years ago, when ERBUD was founded, women on construction sites were also a surprise to some, whereas today it is a common sight, and we have almost entirely mixed teams," says Dariusz Grzeszczak, President of ERBUD.
The fourth part of ‘Klara’ is under the patronage of the Polish Association of Construction Industry Employers, a leading industry organisation bringing together the largest companies in the construction sector. According to its data, there is already a shortage of approximately 100,000 workers in the industry, and by 2030 there will be a shortage of up to a quarter of a million specialists, which, in light of the upcoming accumulation of infrastructure investments, may cause investment paralysis. Half of the members of the Polish Chamber of Civil Engineers are already over 55 years old, and over the last five years, interest in construction courses at universities has fallen by as much as 34%. According to the Central Statistical Office, 12 of the most deficient professions in 2024 will be in the construction sector, which means that we have already overtaken the IT industry in terms of staff shortages.
A sensible migration policy based on lists of shortage occupations, prefabrication, a thorough change in the image of the industry in Poland and, above all, encouraging women to pursue careers in the construction sector, which is, after all, a fascinating place to work for them too, are four ways to patch up the staffing gaps that are growing deeper every year. Initiatives such as books for the youngest children, who have the chance to grow up without stereotypes and rigid divisions between ‘boys' and girls' things’ and professions, are intended to reverse this negative trend and protect us from investment paralysis in the future, notes Dr Damian Kaźmierczak from the Polish Association of Construction Industry Employers, which supports ERBUD's initiative and has also written a short statement in the book ‘Klara buduje miły zakątek’ (Klara builds a nice corner) motivating women to pursue careers in technical professions.
ERBUD's efforts to promote women in construction have been recognised by the ESG Innovators Council at the Polish ESG Association, the largest organisation bringing together leaders of sustainable transformation in Poland. It awarded ERBUD a special ‘ESG Visionary’ award for its outstanding contribution to the promotion of women in the construction industry. In addition to running internal programmes such as ERWOMAN, the company organises construction workshops for girls called ‘Młode Majsterki’ (Young Master Builders) at the Copernicus Science Centre. The project was supported by TV personalities such as Katarzyna Sokołowska, Roma Gąsiorowska, Damian Michałowski and Damian Janikowski. ERBUD received two prestigious Golden Paperclips, the most important awards promoting innovative communication, for this campaign.
All books in the ‘Klara buduje’ series, including the latest ‘Klara buduje miły zakątek’ (Klara builds a nice corner), are available on the ERBUD Foundation website: https://fundacjaerbud.pl/klara-buduje for PLN 39 (including shipping). All proceeds from the sale of the books will go towards supporting the statutory activities of the ERBUD Wspólne Wyzwania Foundation, which has been helping children from children's homes enter adulthood for 10 years.