RICS announces newly-recruited board uniting European regions and priorities to develop built environment sector

Thu, Jul 13, 2023 5:59 AM

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), has reformatted its European World Regional Board (EWRB) to best represent its professionals in Europe as it seeks to positively impact the built environment.

The new board members will continue to work with RICS in Europe to develop its presence and influence, providing their expert market insight and intelligence, and also working with local members to ensure positive engagement.

Many challenges face the built environment sector across Europe and the world, such as climate change and the need to establish greater diversity and inclusion within the profession and RICS professionals are key in tackling these important issues.

The EWRB will focus on the key areas of Sustainability, Valuation, Residential Property, and the future of the profession. It will seek to promote the use of new technologies for surveyors and encourage the recruitment and training of the profession’s next generation. This combined board will provide crucial insights from every corner of mainland Europe on these topics, vital for a global profession with a global impact.

The nine-member EWRB, including its Chair, will oversee the organisation across its continental European regions – DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), France and Morocco combined, Italy, Iberia, the Benelux, the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Baltic States), Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and Greece and Cyprus as a combined unit. Each member of the board represents one of these eight regions.

The Chair of the Board is Susanne Eickermann-Riepe. Susanne is An RICS Fellow and member of its World Regional Board. She also leads the ICG Institute in Germany and has worked in the real estate industry for over 30 years, including 18 years as a partner at PwC WP GmbH leading its German Real Estate arm until June 2020, and was a member of its EMEA and Global Real Estate Leadership Board.

The new board commenced its term on the 1 July, and the newly selected members who will also chair the board in their respective countries and RICS are now seeking professionals to form an expert local board with members related to the key priority areas, to provide further critical localised insight. The recruitment for these positions of local board members in Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy and Spain will be open in July and August 2023.

Susanne Eickermann-Riepe FRICS, Chair of the RICS European World Regional Board, said: “I am delighted to welcome our new Board members, and look forward to working with them across our key areas of Sustainability, Valuation, Residential property, and ensuring the Future of the Profession by attracting a diverse next generation. We will start our work in a new governance structure supporting the transition of the five World Regional Boards giving them more autonomy to set and deliver local market priorities.

“The board’s input is always valuable, and I’d like to thank our outgoing board members for all their impactful contributions during their term as RICS has gone through a positive transformation.”

The full board membership consists of:

Previous members:

§ Chair: Susanne Eickermann-Riepe

§ Jens Böhnlein: DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

§ Silvio Estienne: France

§ Severyna Afanasyev: CEE

§ Marcel de Boer: Netherlands

New members:

§ Javier Ochoa: Iberia (Spain & Portugal)

§ Massimiliano Pulice: Italy

§ Joel Scherrenberg Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg)

§ Adamantia Phoca: Greece & Cyprus