John Ratcliffe is a chartered surveyor with over 35 years experience in the real estate field, both as a consultant and as an academic. Currently, he is Director of the Faculty of the Built Environment at Dublin Institute of Technology in the Republic of Ireland, the State's largest university level institution. He has a deep-rooted dedication to furthering cross-and-multi disciplinary activity among and across the professions of the built environment and a long-held commitment to forging the links between education and practice ever firmer.
John has enjoyed a wide and varied career with a strong international flavour. He has held senior academic positions in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and now Ireland. Similarly, his consultancy work has been conducted on a worldwide basis. Most recently he has been engaged in helping establish the Urban Land Institute in Europe: first, as inaugural Chairman of the Policy and Practice Committee; and then, as initial Chairman of the Education and Professional Development Forum. In the past, he was actively involved in the affairs of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in the UK and chaired various professional committees including the London Branch, International Qualifications and Graduate Entry Policy. Whilst in Hong Kong, he chaired the International Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors and was a founding member of the Centre for Real Estate Studies in China. Now, in Ireland, he serves on several committees of the Society of Chartered Surveyors and is also a Director of the Dublin Civic Trust.
Over recent years, John has become increasingly involved in adopting and adapting the concepts, methods and techniques of Futures Studies to the needs and aspirations of the built environment. His work on "Imagineering Cities" and "Property Prospectives" is fast becoming recognised as a new and exciting way of encouraging academics and practitioners alike to think, talk, plan and act differently and creatively in future proofing present policies for construction and real estate.
Through his connection with Salford he hopes to fulfil the following aims:
- Foster a more informed, structured and imaginative approach by practitioners and decision-makers working in the land, property, construction and development disciplines towards urban and rural futures.
- Contribute generally towards advancing the stewardship of the built environment and subscribe specifically to furthering the progress of sustainable urban development.
- Develop an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach towards policy formulation and problem solving in the built environment.
- Provide positive support to those professions concerned with the built environment in improving the flexibility and robustness of strategic planning and organisational management in the face of uncertainty and change.
As Visiting Professor to the School of Construction and Property Management, he has the specific remit to assist develop the real estate programmes and help foster property related research. He is also expecting to participate in the work of several centres such as the Centre for Facilities Management (CFM), the Sustainable Urban and Regional Futures (SURF) Centre and Construct IT.
