People

Dr Ela Krawczyk
Dr. Ela Krawczyk, MA (UJ, Krakow), PhD (DIT), the head of the Academy, has a background in socio-economic geography. She is interested in exploring various dimensions of urban futures, including the interaction of different factors and actors in city development and overall trends shaping cities. She has also a keen interest in sustainability issues, in particular energy futures.

In 2006, she completed her doctoral dissertation that examined the application of futures methods in the context of urban planning and investigated the ways in which current decisions shaping the future of cities are made. Ela has been involved in a number of projects carried out by the Academy including  “Dublin 2020 Vision”, the development of the preferred future vision for Dublin undertaken by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, “Twice the Size: Imagineering the Future of Irish Gateways” and most recently “Dublin at the Crossroads: Exploring the Future of Dublin City Region”.

Currently, Ela is involved in two energy related projects: Energy Policy Research in Domestic Buildings, where she is responsible for the development of alternative future scenarios for microgeneration In Ireland up to 2050 and FP7 COST action EFONET.

She is a member of the World Futures Society (WFS), World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) and Outsights Young Leaders Network. She is also the Editor of "Futures Bulletin" published by WFSF.

Dominika Paulina Brodowicz
Dominika Paulina Brodowicz, MA (Warsaw School of Economics), has a background in Real Estate and International Business Relations. She is a full-time doctoral student at The Futures Academy.

Her research field is ‘Built Environment Foresight’. The general aim of the project is to explore complexity, uncertainty and change in the built environment using futures methods to produce a global property prospective for sustainable development addressing, in particular, the question of corporate responsible behaviour in the real estate in industry.

Dr Sheila Flanagan
Sheila Flanagan, is currently Head of the School of Hospitality Management and Tourism at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) – Ireland’s largest and most prestigious hospitality and tourism management centre. Academic qualifications include, third level degree in economics, politics and geography and a doctorate in geography from University College Dublin. She pioneered the development of postgraduate education in tourism in Ireland through the development of the Masters in Business Studies (MBS) Programme in Travel and Tourism Management at the Graduate School of Business, UCD in 1993 and the M.Sc. in Tourism Management DIT in 1999.

She has a profile in the international academic community and hospitality industry, with an extensive network of contacts and professional alliances with educational establishments and businesses in Europe, USA and South Africa. She has a proven track record in attracting substantial research funding. As part of the Environmental RTDI Programme 2000-2006, she was awarded a research grant to investigate Sustainable Tourism Indicators (February 2005) The DIT ACHIEV Model of sustainable destination management emerged from this work and this model is now being tested in the context of national policy in three live locations. In addition she has worked in the area of urban tourism visitor research and rural tourism development planning in Ireland and the EU.

She is an incoming President of the Travel and Tourism Research Association, USA and has served on a pro bono basis on the boards of Dublin Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee, Dublin Zoo and Fota Wildlife Park and on the boards of various Local Authority Enterprises in South County Dublin and Fingal.

Dr Tadhg O’Mahony
Dr. Tadhg O’Mahony, PhD., BSc., Dip. is a member of the Futures Academy. Originally inspired by advancements in the field of scenario analysis in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Tadhg completed his doctoral research in the Academy in 2010. This study used a combination of scenario analysis and decomposition analysis to explore Ireland’s energy-related carbon emissions. Tadhg has a keen interest in futures methods and has been involved in a diverse variety of exercises within and outside of the Academy, from the future of Ireland to fostering innovation. He has presented his own work at the International Energy Agency and has tutored in Sustainable Development and European Union policy in UCD and DIT.

He has been involved in climate and sustainable development policy-making at both national and international levels through political, consultancy and NGO work. He has attended United Nations fora on climate change as a government and NGO delegate on a number of occasions. Having studied environmental management at undergraduate level, he spent two years in the private sector before returning to DIT.

Ruth Saurin
Ruth Saurin, BA, PGDip, MSc[Sustainable Development], is a full-time postgraduate researcher in the Futures Academy with almost five years experience in the fields of futures studies and workplace planning. Currently, she is undertaking doctoral research which focuses on using new research methods drawn from the futures field to anticipate and manage change in the workplace.

During the course of this research she has acquired a particular expertise in the futures field, with special reference to scenario development, visioning and workshop facilitation. She has recently been involved in: conducting three workplace scenario and visioning exercises on behalf of Global Workplace Innovation for Johnson Controls; collaborating in a major European project, the DARRA project, which was concerned with developing a future ICT vision for the Shannon Region; and co-facilitating a “Twice the Size” workshop, along with developing three sets of gateway scenarios in the “Twice the Size” project.

Most recently, Ruth has had two peer-reviewed papers accepted for publication in both the Journal of Corporate Real Estate and the Foresight Journal. She has a background in international business and languages, legal studies and sustainable development with a keen interest in urban and organisational environments.

Dr Dorothy Stewart
Dorothy Stewart, PhD (DIT), MSc (DIT) BSc (OU), has been a member of the Academy since its inception. In 2008 she joined the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce as the Manager of the Green Home Programme. Dorothy has a background in political science, human geography, sociology and sustainable development. She has lectured on resource management planning and has spent many years working in the private sector. Dorothy’s PhD research examined the concept of Smart Growth as an alternative methodological and philosophical approach to urban development within the context of planning and development in Ireland. The research outcomes included an "Irish Smart Growth Toolkit" as a means to facilitate implementation of current planning policy and strategy alongside a candidate list of sustainability indicators to monitor and evaluate progress towards more sustainable urban development.

Dorothy’s interests include behavioural change and the future sustainability of the urban environment. In a country with increasing concerns regarding the themes of waste, energy, water and transport within the context of the climate change challenge, Dorothy believes an opportunity now exists in Ireland with initiatives such as Green Home to develop ways to grow now and in the future in a manner that is economically viable and socially and environmentally responsible.

Fellows

Brian Hughes
Brian Hughes, Dip. Env. Econs., FSCS, FRICS, qualified as a Chartered Planning & Development Surveyor in 1972 following his undergraduate studies in Bolton Street (1966-1970). He was Irish Life Assurance plc's Portfolio and Valuation Surveyor in their Property Investment Division, 1972-1995. Since then, Brian has been with DIT, as Manager of the Consultancy and Research Unit for the Built Environment and now lectures in the areas of Urban Economics, Property Development and Demography in the Schools of Real Estate and Construction Economics and the School of Spatial Planning.

In addition to his academic writings, Brian is editing his PhD on the subject of: 'The Greater Dublin Area - Ireland's Potential City State of the Early 21st Century'. He is a Director of the Bolton Trust, based in Docklands Innovation Park and is a member of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland and the Irish Branch of the Regional Studies Association. His research background also draws on current membership of the Government's Expert Group on Population Projections, Migration and Employment in the Central Statistics Office, Dublin. Brian is a Fellow of DIT's Futures Academy.

Phil Murray
Phil Murray, Head, School of Construction in DIT, first engaged in Foresight as Chair of the Steering Group which produced the “Faculty Foresight Report” of 1999 for the Faculty of the Built Environment. He also chaired the group which revisited that process in the Faculty in 2007 and produced the “The Future of the Faculty” report.

He co-supervised an MPhil study entitled “Dublin City Foresight” and facilitated a workshop for City Planners on the topic. He has also used Foresight in exploring industry views on the “The Future of Construction Crafts”. Recent papers on the  topic include “Foresight for Third Level Internationalisation Decisions” presented at the Asia Pacific Professional Leaders in Education Conference in Hong Kong 2007 and “New Challenges New Foresight” at the International Technology Education and Development Conference in Valencia 2007.

Gerard O’Neill
Gerard O'Neill is Chief Executive of Amárach Consulting.  He writes and speaks regularly on economic, social and technological trends and their impact on Irish consumers and businesses.

Gerard is graduate of the London School of Economics (MSc Econ) and worked previously with the Henley Centre for Forecasting and An Post.  He founded Amárach in 1989, and it has become one of Ireland's largest independent market research agencies.

Gerard has worked with the Futures Academy on a number of projects – including 'Dublin 2020' for the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.  Amárach's own reports on social trends and the future are available at www.amarach.com. Gerard's blog (www.turbulenceahead.com) regularly discusses futures and forecasting issues.

Dr Lorcan Sirr
Lorcan Sirr, BA, BSc (Hons), MA, PhD (Manc), MRICS, ASCS, MIAVI, is a fellow of The Futures Academy. He has a broad employment and academic background in areas as diverse as transport, property development, urban design, writing and editing, and postgraduate programme development.

He has been involved in a wide variety of research and consultancy projects including the disposal and re-use of ecclesiastical sites in Ireland; the future of Dublin; the introduction of road tolls on UK motorways; the interaction between crime and design in town planning; and a comparative study of architectural competitions in the UK and Ireland. Lorcan has lived abroad in Europe for several years, and enjoys analysing and comparing the development of Ireland with European countries. He is interested in architecture, literature and different cultures, all of which inform his thinking on a broad range of issues.

Dr Sirr is a Chartered Surveyor, and currently Head of Research in the Faculty of the Built Environment at DIT.

Conor Skehan
Conor Skehan, MLA, DIPL Arch, BArch SC, is the Head of Environment and Planning Department in the School of Spatial Planning at DIT. As managing Director of a number of environmental consultancies Conor has practiced, lectured and published on EIA within the planning system since 1989 advising the public and private sectors on the practicalities of assessment, decision-making and their integration with strategic and land-use planning. His experience of large-scale EIA and strategic planning brought him into increased contact with the emerging recognition of the need for SEA which involved participation in debates and analysis at EU level during the formative stages of the SEA Directive. In his position within DIT he is now involved in assisting in the implementation of SEA in Republic of Ireland through the provision of training and guidance for agencies and planning authorities as well as collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency in the establishment of good practice in SEA.