King Juan Carlos University (URJC) and FCC signed a collaboration agreement today to create the "Eco-Cities Trends" Observatory. Researchers and experts at URJC will use this platform to identify the main challenges facing cities in the future in the areas of infrastructure, waste management, energy consumption and efficiency, water consumption, and sustainability, among others.

The Eco-Cities Trends Observatory will draft a report every two years with a view to the 2020 deadline, focusing on three main areas: water, environmental services, and habitability and infrastructure. The report's conclusions will support decision-making and the adoption of strategies based on proven data, enabling services to be designed and objectives to be established in order to adapt to the needs of future cities.

The creation of the "Eco-Cities Trends" Observatory by FCC is aligned with the Intelligent Services pillar of its 3rd Corporate Social Responsibility Master Plan 2012-2014, the main goal of which is to participate actively in designing cities of the future, through connections with society and innovation.

FCC, the Citizen Services Group, aims to anticipate the trends that will shape communities in 2020 and to involve both citizens and its own employees to create better solutions to the challenges posed by sustainability, such as population growth and climate change.

The University has created a multidisciplinary working group comprising researchers and experts in areas such as infrastructure management, sustainable tourism, services marketing, materials science and ICT. London Metropolitan University will also participate in this project through two of its specialised centres: the Cities Institute and the Global Policy Institute.

The agreement was signed by the Rector of King Juan Carlos University, Professor Fernando Suárez Bilbao, and FCC's General Manager of Communications and Corporate Responsibility, Juan Manuel Velasco. The University's research team comprises professors from the Business Economics Department: Carmelo Mercado, Beatriz Rodríguez, Sandra Flores, Arta Antonovica, Sandra Escamilla, María Luisa Delgado, José A. Rivero and Javier de Esteban Curiel, the latter two being the principal researchers.