The circular economy represents a fundamental shift in how organizations design, operate and sustain the built environment. Moving beyond the traditional linear model of take-make-waste, circular approaches focus on extending asset life, eliminating waste, regenerating value and decoupling growth from resource consumption. For regions experiencing rapid development and large-scale construction, this shift is not only a sustainability imperative but a strategic opportunity.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle East. As the region continues to experience accelerated urbanization, infrastructure expansion and investment in landmark developments, facility management (FM) occupies a critical position at the intersection of assets, operations and long-term performance. Facility managers are the custodians of the built environment and are uniquely placed to influence material choices, operational practices, procurement decisions and life cycle outcomes across buildings and portfolios.
This context formed the foundation of IFMA’s Executive Roundtable: Middle East Edition, convened to explore the central question:
How can facility management in the Middle East harness the circular economy to shape future-ready buildings, organizations and cities amid the region’s rapid growth?
Building on IFMA’s 2024 research report, Circular FM: The Role of the Circular Economy in Facility Management, the Middle East roundtable moved the discussion from conceptual understanding to regional application. Participants examined how circular economy principles translate into practical opportunities, organizational collaboration, policy expectations and value creation within the distinct economic, cultural and regulatory context of the Middle East.
The roundtable brought together senior FM leaders, industry experts and stakeholders from across the region to share experience, challenge assumptions, and collectively explore how circular facility management can support innovation, resilience and long-term sustainability at scale.
METHODOLOGY
To generate rich, collaborative, and practice-oriented insights, the Executive Roundtable used a Knowledge Café format, based on the World Café methodology[1]. This approach is designed to facilitate structured dialogue while encouraging diversity of perspectives, cross-pollination of ideas, and cumulative learning.
- Opportunities | What opportunities and examples exist for applying circular FM in the Middle East?
- Challenges | What challenges does the Middle East’s rapid growth and large-scale development pose for implementing circular facility management practices?
- Organizational Collaboration | At an organizational level, how can FM collaborate with other business functions (for example, C-suite, Real Estate, Finance, Procurement, IT) to drive circular change?
- Government & Policy Influence | How are global sustainability expectations influencing circularity in the Middle East, and what role should governments and municipalities play in advancing circular facility management?
- Measurement & Communication | How can facility management teams in the Middle East best measure and communicate the value created through circular economy practices?
Each group recorded their discussions on flip charts, capturing both detailed insights and a set of ‘top- three’ priority points for each question. As participants rotated between tables, they built on the contributions of previous groups, allowing ideas to be refined, expanded on, and challenged from multiple perspectives.
This iterative and participatory approach ensured that the outputs reflected both strategic viewpoints and operational realities, grounded in regional experience. The resulting data provides a rich qualitative foundation for understanding how circular facility management is currently perceived, practiced, and enabled across the Middle East.
International Facility Management Association (IFMA) supports over 25,000 members in 140 countries. Since 1980, IFMA has worked to advance the FM profession through education, events, credentialing, research, networking and knowledge-sharing.