Facilities management (FM) needs to reinvent itself to accommodate the ongoing global digital and green transformation and develop innovative solutions to spatial and service transformation to sustain the relevance of the industry. This special issue presents forward-looking research on the topic. Authors of papers from the 23rd EuroFM Research Symposium, which took place on the 10th and 11th June 2024 in London, were invited to develop papers further for the special issue. All papers from the Research Symposium are published in the Proceedings of the 23rd EuroFM Research Symposium, edited by Kyrö and Jylhä (2024). Other authors were also invited to respond to the call for papers with new, innovative research within FM. The papers in the special issue provide new research-based knowledge that contributes to the further development of FM in a world under transformation.
In total, 19 papers were received. This first edition includes the first eight accepted papers. A second edition is planned with other accepted papers. Geographically, the papers in this edition mostly represent Europe with one paper from Thailand (Riratanaphong and Arponpong, 2025). Two papers are by authors from Finland (Kyrö et al., 2025; Poutanen, 2025), and two are by authors from the UK (Adhikari et al., 2025; Pascale and Jones, 2025). The remaining three papers are by authors from Italy (Signorini and Pomè, 2025), Norway (Bellini et al., 2025) and The Netherlands (Vogl and Micek, 2025).
Thematically, the papers can be grouped in workspace transition, green transition and digital transition, although with several overlaps. Four papers concern alternative and academic spaces (Kyrö et al., 2025; Poutanen, 2025; Riratanaphong and Arponpong, 2025; Vogl and Micek, 2025). One paper focuses on climate change resilience (Pascale and Jones, 2025), while another one is about circular economy and the connection to digital twins (Bellini et al., 2025). The final two papers are more strictly about the digital transition (Adhikari et al.; Signorini and Pomè). The papers are briefly presented below.
Alternative workplaces are central to the green and digital transition, and frequent themes within FM research. The papers by Kyrö et al. (2025) and Vogl and Micek (2025) address co-working spaces (CWS) from different perspectives. Kyrö et al. explore how hybrid and virtual solutions are portrayed in co-working literature and whether they are shaping CWS in practice. The paper includes a literature review and a qualitative case study with 20 CWS from five countries across the globe. This study categorizes the virtual solutions enabling virtual and hybrid work into virtual environments, virtual events, hardware and spatial solutions, software and applications and basic services. The study finds that basic, task-oriented solutions are well-established, while prosocial virtual solutions aiming at virtual community building are rare.
Vogl and Micek (2025) investigated location determinants of CWS in peripheral areas of Germany with emphasis on the significance of living conditions, real market characteristics and tourism development. The study statistically tests the potential demographic, economic, infrastructural, tourism-related and real estate market factors influencing the presence of CWS. The study shows that areas with CWS demonstrate higher housing prices, a higher influx of tourists and lower living area per inhabitant. The authors argue that CWS are attracted by a vibrant tourism sector and housing market and vice versa and the location factors for rural CWS partly differ from urban CWS.
A vibrant branch of workplace research focuses on academic workplaces and learning spaces. The papers by Poutanen (2025) and by Riratanaphong and Arponpong (2025) both address academic spaces, from different perspectives. Poutanen (2025) studies the transformation of a university campus by categorising and comparing space supply with student preferences. Space supply is investigated by plan analysis, space allocation lists and site visits, while the student preferences are investigated by statistical analyses based on a questionnaire. The study shows that campus transformation has been constant rather than accelerated, but the nature of transformation has transitioned towards adapting existing premises. The more recent transformations are highlighted in the students’ preferences, indicating the developments are effective with change in design guidelines.
Riratanaphong and Arponpong (2025) investigated lighting conditions in academic libraries and compares libraries involving professional lighting designers versus non-specialised approaches. Field studies evaluate natural and artificial lighting arrangements and assess how environmental features influence users’ perceptions of brightness, visual comfort and task performance. Surprisingly, libraries without specialised lighting designs show higher satisfaction levels due to uniform brightness, effective integration of natural light and adaptable layouts optimised for flexibility. Distinct lighting needs emerges across different space types: learning spaces, creative spaces, collaborative spaces and event spaces.
The green transition entails not only climate change mitigation but also adaptation. Pascale and Jones (2025) assessed the journey towards a sustainable and climate-resilient hospital estate to identify the barriers and the opportunities hospital estates and facility management (EFM) professionals encounter when dealing with an existing hospital estate. The study is based on two half-day workshops involving a multidisciplinary team of 14 participants. The paper identifies barriers and opportunities that hospital EFM professionals encounter organised into three main themes: estate management, financial aspects and organisational development.
Linking the green and digital transitions, Bellini et al. (2025) explored how FM can support the implementation of circular economy (CE) during the use phase of a building, with a focus on applying digital twin (DT) technologies. The study is based on a Norwegian case study, using semi-structured interviews with various project participants. In the case, circular FM is linked to building design strategies that improve adaptability, extend service life and promote collaboration among stakeholders. The implementation of a DT is seen as crucial for efficient data management, which supports both FM services and CE principles, ultimately enhancing asset value.
Continuing the digital transition theme, Adhikari et al. (2025) presented a literature review on the interrelationship between machine learning (ML) techniques and predictive maintenance of building services with the aim to identify key research trends and future directions. The review includes 118 journal articles. The results show a strong relationship between ML and predictive maintenance, with increasing research interest post-2021. Research themes have developed from conventional ML models to advanced techniques such as DTs and lifelong learning with deep generative replay modelling.
Finally, Signorini and Pomè (2025) focussed specifically on DT and investigate the readiness of facility management to digitalize the construction sector by adopting DT. The study applies participatory action research methodology with researchers and participants working together to identify a problem, collect and analyse data and take action to create meaningful change. Two case studies and a questionnaire survey are included in the research. The results show a growing interest in DT but a gap in its implementation. DT has the potential to transform FM by enhancing efficiency, predictive maintenance, energy optimization and lifecycle management. However, adoption is hindered by high costs, integration challenges and the need for specialized training.
Concluding remarks
Maintenance and operation of existing buildings are often overlooked in sustainability research, public debate and even policy documents. For instance, circular economy usually takes a product perspective with strong focus on design, production and end-of-life phases to reduce, reuse and recycle materials, while the use phase is falsely seen as irrelevant for circularity. However, the European Energy Agency has in a recent report shown that increasing the lifetime and intensity of use have the highest sustainability potential by reducing the need for new buildings (EEA, 2023). Managing actions for this is an essential responsibility of facilities managers. The papers included in this special issue do address this FM responsibility from many perspectives, including shared spaces (coworking and academic), climate change mitigation and using digital twins for optimization. However, future research is still much needed on the role of and opportunities for FM in a world under transformation.
Acknowledgements
The guest editors wish to thank all reviewers for their hard work in providing invaluable feedback. The authors want to warmly thank all authors for responding to the call with such enthusiasm. The authors extend our thanks to the European Facility Management Network (EuroFM), FMCE Africa and London Metropolitan University for their support in organizing the EuroFM Research Symposium 2024, as well as all presenters and authors for inspiring this special issue.
