EuroFM Ambassadors Celebrate World FM Day 2021

Today is World FM Day! Through this initiative by GlobalFM we celebrate our wonderfully diverse and challenging profession, and proudly acknowledge the pivotal role that FM has played, and continues to play, in facilitating business and economic continuity of societies, communities and organizations. During this past year, and perhaps more than ever before, we have seen the strategic relevance of FM in responding to global challenges in a multidisciplinary manner to safeguard our health and well-being, and ultimately, improve our quality of life through the services it manages and delivers (ISO/FIDIS 41001:2018).

EuroFM proudly supports this initiative, and through collaboration with FM associations, FM professionals and EuroFM Ambassadors worldwide, we would like to pay tribute to the theme of this World FM Day: STANDING TALL BEYOND THE PANDEMIC! To help us in celebrating this, we have asked our EuroFM Ambassadors, as well as our professional network to share with us from their various cultural and geographic perspectives, their thoughts on what FM is and the role that FM has played in these challenging times. Contributions from Austria, Botswana, Bulgaria, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Peru, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, UAE and the US reflets the global nature of FM. We invite you to watch these reflections through THIS link, or view the recording of the online event HERE.

On behalf of the EuroFM Board, I wish you a very happy World FM Day 2021!

Pieter C. le Roux
Chair EuroFM

World FM day is on 12 May 2021 and is an initiative run through Global FM . The purpose of World FM Day is to recognize and celebrate the vital work that workplace and facilities managers do and how the wider industry contributes to the business worldwide. EuroFM wishes to celebrate World FM Day with students, educators and those interested in careers in FM who will form an important part of how FM will be “standing tall beyond the pandemic” which is this year’s World FM Day theme. 

As the future of how FM is shaped, we encourage students to engage with speakers invited to discuss career development in FM and FM trends that are arising in South Africa. In addition, we raise the question are universities doing enough for our students to prepare for the unpredictable world that the pandemic has shown and where FM has rose to the many challenges.

Programme:

15.00	Welcome • Global FM – Duncan Waddell • EuroFM – what it is and why it is good for students to be involved?
15.10	EuroFM Ambassador Videos
15.20	Developing a career in FM Christian Schlicht – Central Europe Chapter Core Net Global
15.40	Poll Questions
15.50	EuroFM Ambassador Videos
16.00	South African perspective on FM Trends Andrew Mason, CEO WorkplaceFundi
16.20	Poll Questions
16.30	Open discussion on the topic “Are universities preparing students enough for FM careers?” with guest speakers and Dave Collins (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Kaisa Airo (Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Finland)
16.50	Winners of Poll + Formal Close and finish with EuroFM Ambassador Videos

Additional information

Registration for this online event is free of charge and open to both EuroFM Members and Non-Members. Go the ‘Events’ page and click on the ‘Book Now’ button to register.
All timings are in CEST.

Dear EuroFM members & Ambassadors, Dear colleagues, Dear Friends,

It is with humble joy that we – the new EuroFM Board – today take over the reins from the former Board. But it is not a case of new brooms sweeping cleaner than the older ones. In recognition of their tremendous efforts, we want to thank the former Board for their dedication to the cause of EuroFM, and especially for keeping EuroFM going strong during the past year in which we all experienced the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subsequent to the GMM which was held on December 10^th last year, the new Board has met with both the former Board and Lejeune Association Management (our logistical and management support team) to set about defining the way forward. Our first order of business was to come up with a proposal for the distribution of the various roles and responsibilities amongst the Board members. This proposal was presented to all EuroFM members and Ambassadors on Monday, 25 January 2021 for approval. We are delighted and honoured with the vote of confidence you have expressed toward us! As Chair of EuroFM, and on behalf of all members of the Board, I want to assure you of our commitment to furthering and strengthening the goals and ambitions of EuroFM.

So how de we propose to move forward? Under the very competent guidance of Lejeune, we have expressed our individual goals and ambitions. To give you some insight in this, we gladly share this Word Cloud with you.

In the upcoming weeks the new Board will get together to define our strategy, which will include, but is not limited to:

• Setting priorities for the next 2 years;
• Identifying, consolidating and grouping relevant themes and focus areas;
• Defining deliverables and appointing ownership on the Board;
• Strengthening membership and association participation in EuroFM

The next GMM will be held on March 10^th 2021, during which we will present and discuss with you our strategy. We look forward to meeting you then!

EuroFM greetings!

Pieter le Roux – Chair EuroFM
Natalie Hofman – Chair Associations
Tuuli Jylhä – Chair Research
Carmel Lindkvist – Chair Education
Levent Alatli – Chair Business

EuroFM calls for research papers to be presented in the 20th EuroFM Research Symposium 2021 hosted online. The EuroFM network encourages both academic and professional researchers to submit their research papers to EuroFM International Conference and to join the online symposium.

GUIDELINES FOR FULL AND SHORT PAPERS
EuroFM strives for high-quality open access research. In 2021, the research symposium has two paper types: full papers (10-12 pages) and short papers (5-6 pages). The context of the papers is the same and all the papers go through the same double-blind peer review process. Accepted papers will be part of the conference proceedings and presented in the symposium.

KEY DATES
27 Jan 2021: Deadline for abstracts
31 March 2021: Deadline for paper submissions
21 April 2021: Decision on paper acceptance & reviews to authors
19 May 2021: Deadline for revised papers
16-17 June 2021: EuroFM Research Symposium

ABSTRACTS
Please use the following abstract format:

Title – Informative title containing the main message or main elements of your research.
Authors – List all authors and their affiliations.
Background and aim – Present your research motivation and research aim.
Methods / Methodology – Present briefly the used research methods and/or research methodology that is used to answer the aim.
Results – Present your main research findings.
Originality (if applicable) – Indicate the novelty of your research in science.
Practical or social implications – Identify the (potential) implications for practice.
Keywords – 4-7 key concepts or words.
Type of paper – Please indicate if your paper is a research paper, technical paper, viewpoint paper or an educational paper.

SUBMISSIONS
Please submit your abstract via email to t.e.jylha@tudelft.nl. After the abstract acceptance, you will receive the practical information for the next steps.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the organising committee via t.e.jylha@tudelft.nl. We are looking forward to your submissions and interest in EuroFM Research Symposium 2021!

THE ONLINE CONFERENCE
The online conference offers a full conference experience including keynote speakers and networking opportunities. Click here to register.


On behalf of the EuroFM,
Dr. Tuuli Jylhä
Chair of the EuroFM Research Symposium Organising Committee
Real Estate Management
Delft University of Technology

During the 87th EuroFM General Members Meeting, held online on 10 December 2020, a new Board was elected.
The new Board Members are:

• Levent Alatli – Turkish Facility Management Association
• Tuuli Jylhä – Delft University of Technology
• Natalie Hofman – FMN
• Carmel Lindkvist – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Pieter le Roux – Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences

This is a unique board transition where all of the current board members will be replaced by new board members. Therefore the EuroFM members were asked to extend their trust into the new team during the meeting (they did so unanimously) and they will discuss together during the following month their thoughts and ambitions personally and for EuroFM. Based on these discussions the new board will present a new board structure to the members before 1 February 2021, this is also the date the current board steps down. During an online voting the members will be asked for their approval on the new board positions.

Congratulations to this very skilled and divers team and good luck with your upcoming tasks!

The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA) at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” starts this fall a new Master’s Program “Facility Management” with a class of over 20 students. The Master’s Program is in Bulgarian language and FEBA is partnering with the Bulgarian Facility Management Association (www.bgfma.bg) as well as with EuroFM.

The official opening of the academic year will be held on October 26, 2020, with the participation of Mr Goran Milanov, President of EuroFM, and Mr Ivan Velkov, Chairman of BGFMA. Other representatives of FM companies will also attend the official start of the academic year.

The program director is Assoc. Prof. Atanas Georgiev, who is also the current Dean at FEBA. His team has provided a specialization in Facility Management in other master’s programs in the past and now is ready to offer a standalone master’s program. FEBA has also organized short-term facility & property management courses, as well as a Facility Management Summer School (in 2019) for local experts and master’s students.

The Bulgarian FM master’s program builds on the bachelor’s degree in all specialties from all professional fields. It is structured in such a way as to offer high quality training at the master’s level. Its design ensures the coverage of a wide range of topics and approaches from the practice of facility management.

The program starts with two introductory courses in facility management and property management, which cover the basic knowledge and skills in the field. Some of the key courses are dedicated to accounting in facility management, project management for the work environment, as well as digital innovations in facility and property management. Elective courses related to asset management, sustainable development and energy consumption in buildings are also offered.

In addition to exams as a traditional approach to assessing student progress, the educational process also includes solving practical problems, incl. within structured assignments. The program ends with the development of a master’s thesis on a topic, jointly defined and implemented in cooperation with interested representatives from the sectors of facility management and property management. In this respect, the master’s thesis could also serve as a tool to facilitate the transition to the labor market.

Graduates of the program can find professional realization as specialists and managers in companies offering facility management and property management solutions and services, as well as in other enterprises and institutions, where they are responsible for internal real estate management processes and facility management processes. Graduates can also be realized as experts, managers and consultants in the public administration and the non-governmental sector, as lecturers and researcher, etc.

Assoc. Prof. Atanas Georgiev, PhD
Dean, Faculty of Economics & Business Administration, Sofia University
Head, Department Industrial Economics & Management
Director, Master’s Program “Energy Markets & Services”
email: ageorgiev@feb.uni-sofia.bg
mobile: + 359 888 466 450

Digitalization/Technology will change the future of Real Estate and Facility Management, as we are witnessing it during this pandemic. It is necessary to understand “how” digitization will influence our work, but first we must identify the “what”, to apply digital technologies in each case.

This link takes you to a survey on the technologies that will influence Real Estate and Facility Management the most in the coming years. In less than 4 minutes you will identify which ones to consider and to give your opinion as a user, service supplier or researcher of any level or sector.

This survey is part of an EU-funded project of four EuroFM member universities and institutes from Finland, Germany and Spain, called FMgoesDIGI. The project analyses the extension of digital technologies and their maturity on a global scale. The objective is to develop recommendations of what to include in Real Estate and Facility Management learning/academic programs in order to enable future professionals to cope with the challenges of the digital transformation in Real Estate and Facility Management and to strengthen European competitiveness in this field.

Together with other European Real Estate and Facilty Management associations, EuroFM is supporting the dissemination of the survey and we kindly ask you for your support by taking part in this survey.

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Partner Institutions
Spain: FM House
Finland: Metropolia University of Applies Sciences
Spain: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Associated Partners
EuroFM
GEFMA
RICS

Funded By:

Download the individual papers of the companion proceedings of the European Facility Management International Conference 2020 on this page.

The idea for this companion proceedings was kicked-off by the recognition of Prof. Mark Mobach and his team when they were awarded in November 2019 the ‘Delta Prize’, a leading practice-oriented research prize handed by Ingrid van Engelshoven, Minister of Education, Culture and Science, in their home country, The Netherlands.

This companion proceedings consists of 16 short papers divided into 4 themes:
– Insight to Campus Design
– Healthcare Facilities – A Patient View
– Aspects on Healthy Working and Living
– Facility Design in the Context of Society
All papers are structured in the format of extended abstracts.

New papers will be posted daily until 1 October. On this date all papers will be presented during the 4th EuroFM Stay Connected Session. More information can be found here.

Downloads:
Theme 1 – Insight to Campus Design:
Henk Brink – The Influence of Indoor Environmental Quality on Perceived Quality of Learnings in Classrooms for Higher Education

Sascha Jansz – How to Measure Campus Interactions

Johan Offringa – Living in a Pod: The Impact of Tiny Spaces on a Dutch University Campus

Theme 2 – Healthcare Facilities – A Patient View
Ria Martens – Facilities for Palliative Care: Patterns and Contracts

Saskia Mars – Clinic Redesign with the Patient in Context

Stefan Lechner – Work Processes and Building Reconstruction at Elderly Care

Berit Ann Roos – Improving the Quality of Life with Challenging Behaviour through Architecture: A Case Study at a Dutch Very-Intensive-Care Facility

Arnout Siegelaar – Controlling the Stimulation of Senses in Design for Dementia

Emma Zijlstra – The Patient Journey in a Hospital Environment

Theme 3 – Aspects on Healthy Working and Living
Willem Fust – Tool Development and Application for Vital Workspace: A Dutch Example of Facility Management Valorisation

Sjoukje van Dellen – Breastfeading Facilities: FM Can Make a Change!

Hans Netten – The Dangers of Urban Decline and the Role of Facility Management in Reducing Associated Safety and Health Risks

Jeannette Nijkamp – Enabling Older People to Live Independently: A Shared Responsibility of Citizens and Municipality

Theme 4 – Facility Design in the Context of Society

Annette van den Beemt – Tjeersdma – Professionalization of Municipal Real Estate Management: An Analysis of Dutch Literature

Rachel Kuijlenburg – Influencing Automatic Behaviours to Reduce Waste at Facility Operations

Martijn Vos – Cleaning with Services and Spaces: Effects of Seating Materials and Architectural Clutter on Perceived Cleanliness

Download the full proceedings here.

How our needs shape the future of the built environment

The Portuguese Facility Management Association will host its 14th Annual Conference in 2020.

We look at presentations as a way to spark innovation, foster dialogue and drive collaboration as we meet some of our greatest challenges.

This year, we have shifted to a totally online experience which will allow us for a more diverse and populated program, as room space is no longer an issue.

As we have been doing every year, we are proud to connect Portuguese speakers and specialists with a rich presence of colleagues from around the world, especially from other European countries and Brazil, which means that we allow for three languages on stage: Portuguese, Spanish and English.

Read more…

On 25 June, the European Facility Management Network hosted the third and final session of its ‘Stay Connected’ series. After the Research Symposium and the Student Festival, this time it was the turn of the business community represented in the organization to hold their Online FM Summit. The series was introduced after the association had to postpone its renowned annual EFMIC Conference, scheduled for the beginning of June in Barcelona till the end of October. Altogether, the three online sessions (spread over four 2-hour Zoom meetings throughout the month of June) attracted 115 researchers, students, young professionals, practitioners, and ambassadors of EuroFM. 

During the concluding EuroFM Online FM Business Summit, the organization celebrated its 30^th anniversary and for this reason, current President Goran Milanov (Vidako, Bulgaria) and founding President Keith Alexander (UK) reflected on the rich history, challenges and opportunities for the FM profession and the role that its European umbrella has to play in connecting the three areas of expertise: Research, Education and Practice of FM.

“Organisations don’t want facilities, they want a productive workforce”

The online Business Summit also addressed current trends and developments in areas like technology, sustainability, and innovation. Opening keynote Yvette Watson, co-founder of PHI Factory, presented 5 innovations defining the future of FM. Andrew Mason, Chair of SAFMA and EuroFM Ambassador for South Africa, leaped into the future to present an ‘FM Futurespective’ of the workplace. “Organisations don’t want facilities, they want a productive workforce” as he explained the new mantra of FM.

In between keynotes, the network provided the platform to the three finalists of the Student Competition featuring in the previous week’s Student Festival. Whereas an independent jury of professors and teachers had selected the three finalists, now it was the turn of the participants to cast their vote after the finalists had introduced their video. Winners became Kristin Euchner, Randi Kleist, Diana Vidal, and Sakithya Shanmugaratnam from DHBW Stuttgart. All videos including those of the three finalists can be viewed on EuroFM’s YouTube Channel.

“Fun, inspiration, knowledge and networking”
The team was congratulated by one of their competing finalists Robin Ganninger from the University of Applied Sciences in Münster, who added: “We were more than happy to be a part of this year`s European Facility Management Network student competition! I had the pleasure of participating in this competition for the second time and I really appreciate that EuroFM has once again organized a fun and inspirational event. It is always a great opportunity to share knowledge and get in contact with people all over the world.”

“A promising mix”

In between these plenary sessions, EuroFM ambassadors, including overall session moderator Levent Alatli (founder and former president of TRFMA and EuroFM ambassador for Turkey) hosted three concurrent breakout sessions each focusing on a different aspect of the FM future. Topics that were debated were ‘Sustainability and FM’, ‘Staying connected in the digital area’, and ‘Going back to the office after Covid19’.

EuroFM Business Chair Renske van der Heide (TOPdesk, Netherlands) looks back with satisfaction: “It was great fun being part of the organizing committee. Although the business community is sometimes underrepresented in the EuroFM community, this series has shown that there is great benefit in combining business expertise with scientific knowledge and the fresh ideas of students and young professionals. It’s a really inspiring and promising mix.”

Staying connected online Reviewing the whole series, EuroFM President Goran Milanov concludes: “The ‘Stay Connected’ series was a big success. When we first started discussions about the concept of these sessions during the early days of the lockdowns, we thought of replicating parts of the programme on the actual days of the conference. In hindsight I am glad that we split the programme into different sessions, enabling us to be more concise but still dig deeper into the areas of interest of our three core audiences, researchers, students, and business people. Also, the fact that we were able to learn about the different functionalities that online meeting technology has to offer like for instance the breakout sessions, voting, and fun elements such as a ‘pub quiz’, has provided us with a wealth of knowledge and experience for the future.” “As a non-profit organization with limited resources, the virtual association has a lot to offer in terms of learning and knowledge sharing and we intend to explore this avenue further after the summer holidays. I thank the members of the Board and especially Tuuli Jylhä, Olga van Diermen and Renske van der Heide who coordinated the programme of the three sessions, as well as our new association management partners at Lejeune who helped us a great deal in making this possible.”

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After the Research Symposium (3&4 June) and the Student Festival (18 June), the 3rd section of EuroFM’s community – The Online FM Business Summit – had the honor to stage two eminent keynote speakers

During the session, the association celebrated its 30th anniversary with a discussion between current President Goran Milanov and one of the founding fathers, Keith Alexander. ‘Going Back to the Future’ is not only the theme of their debate but can also apply to the three finalists of the Student Competition who presented their videos.

The online Business Summit addressed current trends and developments in areas like technology, sustainability, and innovation. Yvette Watson is a co-founder of PHI Factory and helps organizations accelerate towards a circular economy and will present 5 innovations defining the future of FM.

Increasingly, companies are being asked to be more transparent and accountable when it comes to the environment, society, and the wellbeing of their employees. Most of the time the facility manager is asked to take a leading role in the transition towards a sustainable future. After all, it is their daily job to make buildings and the working environment more sustainable, use them more effectively, and reduce waste. In FM, we are actively looking for ways to consistently collect meaningful and reliable non-financial data to meet this challenge. Technical innovation and digital solutions will help us to accelerate.

The other keynote speaker of this session was Andrew Mason, who leaped into the future to present an ‘FM Futurespective’ of the workplace. Andrew is the Chairman of the South African Facilities Management Association (SAFMA) and a member of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management. He is also the current South African Ambassador for Euro FM. “We know change is coming, but how will FM take advantage of this? The COVID-19 pandemic is a disrupter that promises to bring with it a tectonic shift in our paradigms regarding Property, Workplace, FM, and much more. We are on the cusp of what will be a dramatic change which will require traditional strategies and values to change in the way we support our people, our companies, and our clients. Change means risk but it also presents opportunities and we do not want to look back on this time in the future to see that we missed another chance to raise the profile of FM. Mr. Mason’s presentation will take a look back at our past where FM has not always done well adapting to change and where we have missed opportunities. We will also step into the future to take a retrospective view to visualise how we can take FM forward.”