IFMA’s Matt Tucker and Lara Paemen unpack global trends transforming facility management, from the circular economy to the evolving role of FM analysts, while exploring regional insights across EMEA and Latin America on sustainability, technology and education.
In this episode, IFMA’s Director of Research, Matt Tucker, and IFMA EMEA's Managing Director, Lara Paemen, dive into the latest global trends shaping facility management (FM). They explore IFMA’s key research initiatives — from the circular economy to the evolving role of FM analysts — and discuss how regional differences across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America influence sustainability goals, technological adoption and education in the FM profession.
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:27 Meet the Hosts
02:26 Global Trends in Facility Management
04:06 Circular Economy in Facility Management
07:26 The Rise of the FM Analyst
09:30 Upcoming Research Projects
12:31 Regional Highlights: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
19:16 Conclusion and Farewell
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Lara Paemen: [00:00:00] Asia, US North America, LATAM, Europe, Middle East, Africa. And you know what unites us all is obviously the incredible eagerness to grow our profession, the eagerness to learn, to expand in every sense, in every way. And it's everywhere that we go, it is a people business.
Host: Welcome to Connected fm, a podcast connecting you to the latest insights, tools, and resources to help you succeed in facility management. This podcast is brought to you by ifma, the leading professional association for facility managers. If you are ready to grow your network and advance in your career, go to IF month.org to get started.
In today's episode, IMAS director of Research, Dr. Matt Tucker, sits down with ifma Mia's managing Director Lara Palmen, to dive into the latest global trends shaping facility management. They explore if FMAs key research [00:01:00] initiatives from the circular economy to the evolving role of the FM analysts, as well as discuss how regional differences across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and North America influence sustainability goals.
Technological adoption and education in the FM profession. Now, let's get into it.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Hello everyone, and, thanks for joining us and the theme is looking at global trends in facility management. I'm gonna be brutally honest. I was gonna be doing this podcast on my own but I thought, why not bring this lovely lady into the, to the equation?
And, and we were doing it together. And something significant, which we just realized is Lara and I work very close together within ifma. And we have never done a formal panel discussion or podcast or anything together before, so this could be great or it could be a disaster.
Lara Paemen: Oh, very bad. Very bad.[00:02:00]
Dr. Matt Tucker: We'll see. So, my name's Matt Tucker. I am the, director of research for ifma. Over to you Lara.
Lara Paemen: Thank you. This will be interesting. I'm, Lara Paemen. I'm the managing director of ifma EMEA, so responsible for IFMA's activities in Europe, middle East, and Africa. And also responsible for if FMAs global research.
So really cool to be here unexpectedly.
Dr. Matt Tucker: So what, what we thought we would do is I obviously have a significant remit for, for IFMA's research activities. So Lara's gonna ask me a couple of questions about those activities and then the reason, yes, I thought it'd be great that we do it together, so you don't have to just listen to me, but I thought it'd be really interesting for you to hear.
From the managing director of the EMEA region's perspective on the kind of local differences between those and how some of the trends have, have, are slightly different in each of those regions. [00:03:00] So we'll get a, a more holistic perspective of, of these trends. Right. So that's how we'll do it.
Lara Paemen: Exactly. And so you've been working what, for two years now?
Almost with, with IFMA as global research director, because that was one of the, the items that we really to wanted to improve on as an association is really to bring global research to our communities and to our members. Mm-hmm. What type of topics have you tackled so far in your research? In, in, in the time that you have been with ifma?
Dr. Matt Tucker: It, it's actually scary to think two years because it's, I've clicked my fingers and, and we are here now. It's, it's gone considerably fast and part of the reason why it's gone so fast is it was so
Lara Paemen: much fun.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah. Yeah. That obviously. But I think being able to take a global perspective on if MA's research, that has been a real priority for me since I started back in January last year.
To make sure that the research that IFMA produces, it isn't heavily westernized. It has a true global [00:04:00] comparison within it. And I've, I feel proud that the research projects that we're producing are doing that. So in answer to your question, there's been a lot one of the main themes, and there's probably people in the audience that have heard me say the word circular economy in the last, uh, in the last sort of 15 months.
That's been a very close thing to my, to my heart, and it's been really well received by the, the FM community, probably because it, it is a trend. It is a major trend and, and one of the things I like about that research being global is I give a comparison of the types of countries who are. Shift into a circular economy and they, your more developed countries, say in Northern Europe or or North America where their, their FM markets are quite mature, but especially Northern Europe is, is kind of pioneering circular economy and fm partly because there is no land left to, [00:05:00] to develop more.
And the operational, responsibility of our buildings and our facilities is just so crucial right now. So they have to use what they have. Whereas how do you
Lara Paemen: compare that with other, other regions? Yeah. So then, so
Dr. Matt Tucker: then, um, you know, we've, we've obviously interviewed a lot of people in Latin America, in the Middle East, in Africa.
And I would say there is a subtle difference say between Latin America and, Africa, for example. In Latin America, you see a lot of emerging economies. Say you know, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, maybe. And they're were our class as build countries because what they're doing right now, it's, they're building quite, quite exponentially.
So they, carbon footprint is high.
Lara Paemen: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: And the responsibility for circular economy is kind of, there's a trade off between being circular. But also trying to grow and, and have that development that many countries, you know, in say Northern Europe have already [00:06:00] had. So that's quite a fascinating thing. Yeah.
However, the culture of being circular in the African continent and the, than the Latin American continent, it's, it's much more, it's apparent. It's almost, it's almost in their DNA. Exactly. So, so there's a real trade off, almost a conflict to, to grow. But also keep, you know, the, the beliefs of of, of being inherently circular and Africa is, is fascinating.
It is. And you, you will talk about that in, in a minute, I'm sure. But researching the circular economy within Africa is what I would call a grow continent. So they are growing, but I don't quote me on this statistic, but something like 80% of infrastructure in Africa isn't built yet. So it is 80%. So the potential, you could look at that two ways.
Like, oh, that's really, you know, that's bad. It's not developed. Or you could look at it the other way as an opportunity. And we know from working in the, the chapters in Africa, the, the opportunity for FM in the African [00:07:00] region is so exciting. So exciting. And we have representatives from different African countries at World Workplace and, and I'd, I'd encourage anybody to have a conversation with them because the appetite for FM and I would class that as a global trend that, especially in latam and and Africa. And Middle East we're gonna see some really interesting growth and development in the FM Absolutely.
Uh, uh, market. So circular economy. Yes. Yes. And then the second big research project has been the rise of the FM analyst report. I love that one. So, I dunno if you've seen this report, but essentially it's trying to understand what the, the modern day facility manager's mindset looks like. So, you know, we're all familiar with AI and chat GPT , and you know, this whole evolution that we're going through or revolution even.
But how's that impacting your conventional facility manager? And I think the mindset is changing. It's becoming more analytical. It's the ability to, to [00:08:00] keep those kind of operational and technical skills that an FM needs.
Yeah, but how do we harness these wider analytical skills? So what that research produced was six key traits of a facility manager, the modern facility manager. And I'll just highlight two because I think they're apparent in any global region the ability to story tell. So conveying what FM data is saying to different stakeholders.
Yeah. And actually if you, you look at global comparison, say in Africa. The challenge there is to try and tell it to people who have the budget to make things happen and recognize FM as a strategic discipline. And actually that came up significantly in Asia and a the APAC region, actually the APAC region.
One of the trends I've found there when looking at this FM analyst concept is that in many Asia Pacific countries facility management is still looked at as an operational discipline. Yeah. So trying to upskill yourself in, say [00:09:00] data analytics, there'd be a preference to do more generic data analysts qualifications rather than FM because it's more recognized.
Yeah. However, in Asia you see vast amounts of technological growth. And, and development. So there, there's a trade off there, trade off, there's a conflict in terms of FM strategic capability versus the amount of development there. Yeah, so they're probably the two main projects, I'd say over the last couple of years, which is significant.
Lara Paemen: And, and what are you up to for the next research? What's coming up, in the next couple of months? So, yeah, so
Dr. Matt Tucker: I would say the two things to look out for, which the first project, which is really, really exci. Well, I, I'm a, I'm a research nerd, so I get excited as, you know, I get very excited by all of this stuff.
But it's gonna be called FM Beyond Walls. So it is looking at the social impact of facility management, not just looking at the impact it has internally between the four walls of a facility, but the wider space around it. I was fascinated coming to Minneapolis and seeing the Skyway system, for example, [00:10:00] how does the Skyway system kind of come into that, that facility management responsibility and also go back out?
Many of those spaces are available to the, the general public, but maybe the actual facility itself, like the Target headquarters, isn. So how, how does that work?
Lara Paemen: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: When I walk through the, the streets before on the Skyway, I could walk right the way through the target headquarter offices, but I can't go inside them.
But all the public are walking past right by the reception area. I think that's a fascinating way that. General public are kind of interacting with these private organizational spaces. Absolutely. So that's a really interesting one to look out for. And that, that will be available by the end of this year.
Yeah. I'm collecting the data at the moment
Lara Paemen: and it will be a global research project
Dr. Matt Tucker: and I'm interviewing people all over each global continent. Excellent. Um, and the second one, which you are, you are familiar with is. It, it has a sustainability connotation, but it's looking at the [00:11:00] normalization of uncharacteristic natural disasters.
So from a facility management perspective, we talk about disaster planning, emergency preparedness business continuity planning. And historically these things have been if we need to do it in the event of these things happening. But what we're seeing in the world is they're happening all the time now.
Yeah. And it's becoming more general and more normal. So how does that impact our ability to plan and manage? And is it just part of day-to-day life now or are they still the kind of exactly random events that it historically was? So they're, they're the things which I think could be very interesting moving forward.
Lara Paemen: Cool, cool. Looking forward to that.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Good.
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Dr. Matt Tucker: So I'm gonna hand over to you now your turn in the hot seat, Lara. Right?
Lara Paemen: I've got two minutes left. Probably
Dr. Matt Tucker: we can go a little bit more. No.
Lara Paemen: It's making my life easier, so,
Dr. Matt Tucker: so obviously your remit is the managing director for Europe, middle East and Africa. Over the last 12 months we've had some, some landmark events.
Yeah. In those areas. Let's take each one quickly. Yeah. So let's focus on Europe first. Yeah. What, what have we seen in Europe over the last 12 months or so? Yeah.
Lara Paemen: Well, it's, it's definitely a, a topic that's been going on for many, many years and, and, and in, in Europe already, but now the last two years, I would say is exponentially grown.
It's really the focus on [00:13:00] everything with regards to sustainability, E-S-G-S-D-G, et cetera. That's really a topic that is, that is on, on top of the priorities. That I would say together with everything with regards to wellbeing, wellbeing you know, as a facility manager, you are responsible for making sure that people.
Can live and work under the best circumstances, can be work efficiently, can work effectively, but under healthy circumstances. Mm-hmm. And that can go very far in, in the Nordics for example. But and in some areas in, in Europe, because Europe is very big and very different. If you go from north to south or from east to west, it's like in the US right?
Very different. But you do see that that general focus on both sustainability as well as wellbeing and that that is very present during our conferences as well. In that sense, that doesn't mean that there's no focus on AI or, or [00:14:00] digitalization or technology. Yeah. But that's definitely something that I would say is yeah, they've been a
Dr. Matt Tucker: little bit more dominant.
More dominant
Lara Paemen: in, in, in that sense. Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Okay. So if we look at, let's have a think about Middle East and Africa. Yeah. We've had. LA Last year we had two firsts. Do you want to just Yes. Highlight what those two, two first things were? And I'm so proud of that.
Lara Paemen: I think we've done a great job there. Tap on the back for ourselves.
But we had our first conference in Africa last year in Ghana, which is named, ifma Global Africa Conference. And as, as Matt was telling, very enthusiastically. The FM community and the fm world in, in Africa is obviously it's uncomparable to what we know in the US or what we know in Asia or in Europe.
The context is very different, obviously. We were sometimes in circumstances where, we are in a meeting and, and the electricity drops out six times in one hour. So it's a d very different context, you know. Uh, wifi for us [00:15:00] is, is just standard. It is not over there. So the topics that are relevant there are, are the same as ours, but in a, in a very different context, I would say.
Last year we were in Ghana this year, last August, we were in Nigeria. I think it's amazing because the, again, the African FM community is so passionate and so eager to learn and eager to, to grow, to, to really make a difference for their local communities.
There's a couple of things that they struggle with, as I said, like the, the power shutdowns, but also, for example the, the educational levels. There's, there's a lack of skilled professionals, and I know that's a topic that we all talk about on, you know, in every, uh, part of the world. So I would say that's, that's definitely a trend, unfortunately, in our industry.
But they are so eager to learn and to grow that, that profession in, in their countries. Overall on the African continents, as we say. So, so that's really [00:16:00] amazing. As, as you've, you so rightly mentioned, circular economy and everything with regards to sustainability is in their DNA Yeah, it is by, by definition in their DNA.
So it's, it's a topic that's really, really important and yes, I would say the purely technical operational maintenance facility management activities are, are, let's say. The, the most important type of, of FM that they know, you know, they don't have the, the huge skyscrapers with the LA latest technology and smart buildings, but they're getting there.
Yeah. They are taking really great steps. And, and for example, we were in, Nigeria and Lagos, they had a building of Sterling Bank, one of the biggest banks. And their facade was completely made out of solar panels. Yeah. The complete building. So they are really starting to understand how to benefit from, from what they have and to use that in their facilities.
And I think that's, that's great. So, definitely anything with regards to [00:17:00] sustainability is, is a topic in, in Africa. We also did for the first time a conference in the Middle East in Dubai. We're about to open our chapter there in the UAE and we have more chapters coming up in that area. So we're expanding in that region.
And obviously it's a, it's a region that has known an expansion in terms of real estate, like never seen before. For Dubai, you might know that the last 20 years. You know, every, every two months there's new buildings rising. It's the pace of construction is incredible. The technology that they're using in their buildings is, is incredible.
The investments that are being made there are unseen same things are, are seen now in Saudi Arabia. You've got giga projects, mega projects being developed there. I've never seen anything like that. So, so it's, it's great. It's actually. And I will not say too loud here, but it's really the new land of [00:18:00] opportunities, I would say there.
Yeah. So anything with regards to technology that data infrastructure, they're really investing in, in, in that, that part. On the other hand a thing that they're lacking as well, and which I said already is a common trend, they are lacking skilled professionals.
Host: Yeah.
Lara Paemen: So education is really important in those countries as well, and.
The IFMA trainings, for example, are really, successful, in these countries because they need them. They're building at a pace you just cannot grasp. And they, they obviously need people to operate and manage and maintain those buildings. But they need to right people to do so.
Dr. Matt Tucker: So, and one of the historic challenges in the Middle East has been the localization of the contracts, the procurement contracts.
So they may have, buildings going up every month, which are multinational in terms of development. But then the FM procurement is quite rigid and local. Local, which is their law. So their law. So it's,
Lara Paemen: it's their culture as [00:19:00] well. So you do need to, it's finding the talent Exactly. To then deliver
Dr. Matt Tucker: The advanced technologies, in these buildings is therefore a struggle.
Lara Paemen: Absolutely, absolutely. So we are doing our, second conference in the Middle East now in, in November. So can't wait to see, what's going on there now. And yeah, I think the last couple of years can make comparisons between the different regions in the world, Asia, , US North America, Letham, , Europe, middle East, Africa.
And you know, what unites us all is obviously the incredible eagerness to, to grow our profession, the eagerness to, learn to expand in every sense in every way, and it's everywhere that we go. It is a people business, and I think that's what unites us globally as well. That it is, we are working for, for the people who are using our facilities.
And I think that is just a, a general let's say common and mm-hmm. Common thing.
Dr. Matt Tucker: And, and just to wrap up, I'd like to also acknowledge that we had our [00:20:00] first ever conference in Latin America. Which will happen again next year. And, and that is also a growth area. Yeah. And next year as well, we will have, world Workplace, Asia Pacific, which will be in Hong Kong.
Yeah. But they're gonna be really interested in terms of us being able to gain more insights. And one thing that I'm really passionate about and ifma is really passionate is how we can increasingly coordinate the research with our conference events.
Yeah. With, with feedback from members and trying to, trying to make this a more a, a, a more synergized process. Yeah. So the research that we then produce is, is real and, and beneficial to our members. Absolutely. Which is the ultimate goal. So a lot of things
Lara Paemen: to look forward to, both in terms of research, both in terms of of events that we're hosting.
And you're all invited to participate, Sarah. So more than welcome.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Absolutely.
Lara Paemen: So thanks everybody. Thank you very much.
Host: Thanks for tuning into the Connected FM podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, [00:21:00] please take a moment to rate and review the show because it really helps us reach more listeners just like you.
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