The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) and the European Research Academy (ECRA) announced a formal partnership agreement to foster innovation in the cement and concrete sectors across their value chain partners.

The GCCA and ECRA have granted each other mutual membership for effective collaboration and ECRA's managing director will join the GCCA's Partnership Council while GCCA's cement director will join ECRA's Technical Advisory Council.

"ECRA’s mission to advance innovation in the cement industry within the context of sustainable development, as well as communicating key knowledge and research findings in technology, fits perfectly with the GCCA's aim of driving advances in sustainable construction,"said Benjamin Sporton, GCCA's CEO. "We fully expect the agreement to form the basis of a strong and long-lasting co-operation."

Martin Schneider, managing director of ECRA, said: "We are delighted to partner with the GCCA to advance the mission of innovation within the cement industry. We look forward to working together to find solutions to the key challenges facing the cement industry today."