The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) and the Facilities Management Association of Australia (FMA) have entered a five-year partnership, with the two organisations to develop a number of joint training and education initiatives.

The trans-continental alliance will connect FMA’s 2000-strong membership to IWFM’s community of 17,000 workplace and facilities professionals, already represented in 80 countries.

Under the five-year collaboration, partners will develop a number of joint initiatives to support the informal professional development of respective members, while working towards more formal arrangements for sharing access to member benefits and services.

Cross-collaboration will happen across a number of member services, including access to certain exclusive content such as research and insight reports, training, conferences and other CPD activity; plus, a range of discounted offers.

A broader aim is to collaborate on activities to advance the profession’s development, internationally, including knowledge, research, innovation and benchmarking, embedding the workplace and facilities management professional standards, ISO Standards, accreditation and assessment schemes and promotional activity.

Announcing the move at his final AGM before stepping down as IWFM chairman, Stephen Roots, said: “Our HQs may be half the world apart, but our networks are strong and our ambitions for global workplace and facilities management excellence are in exactly the same space. This arrangement will work to our members’ mutual benefit and through that, for the good of our profession as a whole.”

FMA chairman, Kristiana Greenwood, said: “This collaboration perfectly aligns the values and strategic goals of both associations and, with today’s technology, distance is irrelevant. I am very excited about the opportunities this will offer to our broader membership and look forward to demonstrating the tangible benefits to members through the development of the annual action plan.”

The arrangement will be underpinned and reviewed by an annual action plan. The first joint initiative under the scheme will be announced in due course.

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