Founder's Profile

Professor John Ratcliffe, BSc (Est. Man.) MA DTech FRICS FSCS FIAVI, is a chartered surveyor with over 40 years experience in the real estate and urban planning field, both as a consultant and as an academic. Currently, he is Director and Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at DIT and founder and chairman of The Futures Academy. Between 2005 and 2007 he served as Secretary General of the World Futures Studies Federation. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Salford and the University of Lincoln.

He has a deep-rooted dedication to furthering cross-and-multi disciplinary activity among and across the professions of the built environment and, more recently, he has become increasingly involved in adopting and adapting the concepts, methods and techniques of 'futures thinking' towards addressing the sustainable development imperative. 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, plan and act differently and creatively in future proofing present policies.

Some of John’s most recent work include "Twice the Size: Imagineering the Irish Gateways 2030", "Imagine Dublin 2020" and "Towards Tomorrows Sustainable Workplace". He is currently conducting a major global study on Built Environment Foresight on behalf of the RICS Foundation.