Roota, the FCC Group's intrapreneurship programme, has announced its finalists. After an exhaustive selection process, six innovative ideas have made it through to the final stage. This year's programme has been very well received, with a total of 121 proposals submitted from countries including Spain, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Romania, the UK, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia, covering all of the company's business areas and corporate services.

Throughout Phase 2, a total of 17 teams worked intensively on developing their concepts, refining their value proposition and defining the resources needed to validate the identified problem with users.

These proposals were validated in a presentation to an evaluation committee made up of senior management from the FCC Group and its various business areas. After analysing the quality, viability and progress of each team, the committee selected the six projects that will move on to Phase 3:

• Aqualiber-N (Aqualia)
• Rare Earth Rescue – A Second Life for Waste (FCCenviro)
• Laboratorio móvil acreditado para análisis de agua (Aqualia)
• GreenScore Plug-In / Sustainability-Integrated Investment Decision Framework (FCCenviro)
• AqualiaRe (Aqualia)
• Con_FIA: Modelo Operativo Inteligente (Corporate Services)

The final phase of roota will conclude with Demo Day, when the winning proposal for this edition will be chosen.

In recognition of their talent, the winning team will receive advanced training in innovation methodologies and enjoy a trip to visit an innovative FCC Group project in a location to be determined by the evaluation committee.

About the Roota Programme

Roota was created as an international intrapreneurship programme open to all employees of the entities that make up the FCC Group. It aims to harness internal talent to promote the generation of ideas and the creation of solutions in their work and professional environment.

This programme is designed to solve strategic challenges through the collaboration of multidisciplinary teams. Through a process based on innovation methodologies and with the support of experts, professionals develop tangible solutions that bring direct value to FCC. The initiative allows, on the one hand, to promote proposals aligned with the company's operational challenges and, on the other, to ensure the sustainability and viability of each project so that it can be successfully implemented in today's demanding business environment.

The FCC Group commemorates International Women's Day once again, with the aim of highlighting its commitment to equality, the promotion of female leadership and diversity, values that are essential to the company. This date has become an opportunity to assess the progress made in terms of gender equality and to reflect on the challenges that still remain to be overcome in our society.

The event, held at the corporate headquarters in Las Tablas, Madrid, was opened by Esther Alcocer Koplowitz, chairwoman of the FCC Group. During her speech, she emphasised that ‘the evolution of equality is not just a declaration of intent, it is a tangible reality, day after day, in our workplaces’. In this vein, she also stressed the importance of continuing to promote initiatives that encourage the presence of women in all professional fields. She also commented that ‘in recent years, the increase in women in technical roles has followed an unstoppable upward trend at FCC.’

The event took the form of a round table discussion entitled ‘Talking about equality’, with the participation of Celia Parrilla Salcedo, Technical Architect for General Services at FCC; Izaskun Vázquez Larrea, Head of Production at FCC Medio Ambiente's Guipúzcoa-Navarra Branch; Ana Colón Guerrero, Head of the Customer Control and Logistics Department at Aqualia; María Jesús Mora Huelves, Administrative Management Control Technician and Chair of the Madrid Central Services Works Council at FCC Construcción; Alicia Morante Muñoz, Human Resources Manager at FCC Concesiones; Raquel Álvarez Santos, Environmental Technician at the El Alto Factory of Cementos Portland Valderrivas; and María Belén Valero Gómez, Director of the Centro II Delegation of Realia.

During the conversation, topics such as the transformation of the company's Equality Plans and the importance of combating unconscious biases and breaking stereotypes in traditionally male-dominated technical positions were addressed, emphasising that talent must be promoted ‘without labels’. Likewise, emphasis was placed on real co-responsibility, understood as a shared commitment between men and women. Finally, the dialogue highlighted the strategic role of continuous training and the creation of safe environments as fundamental pillars for making equality a daily reality and an opportunity for growth for the entire organisation.

Our commitment to equality, female leadership and diversity

FCC is committed to the fundamental principles of equality, non-discrimination in the workplace, support for diversity in the company and respect for the heterogeneity of people. This work, which the company has been engaged in for years, has already yielded significant results and values, thanks to which a fair and increasingly diverse working environment is being consolidated.

Esther Alcocer Koplowitz, chairwoman of the FCC Group, during her speech at the conference.