Guest editorial

Journal of European Real Estate Research

ISSN: 1753-9269

Article publication date: 3 May 2013

56

Citation

Monetti, E. (2013), "Guest editorial", Journal of European Real Estate Research, Vol. 6 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jerer.2013.35906aaa.001

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Journal of European Real Estate Research, Volume 6, Issue 1

As President of the International Real Estate Society (IRES) for 2012 it is my pleasure to provide a reflection on IRES in this guest editorial. IRES is an umbrella association that embraces many different regional real estate societies with the aim to develop real estate education and research at an international level. In total seven sister societies cover different regions on the globe: ERES (for Europe), ARES (the American Society), AsRES (Asian Society), MENARES (Middle East and North Africa), AFRES (African), LARES (Latin American), PRRES (Pacific-Rim region). The IRES strategic plan includes many different goals but two merit specific consideration in this editorial and have been important influences in my term as president first to promote research and enhance communication on international real estate topics and second to foster the development of sisters societies around the world.

A key element in delivering these goals is the annual conferences of the respective societies, each of which has its own distinctive flavour. During 2012 as president of IRES I had the opportunity to attend three annual conferences those organized by ARES, ERES and LARES at which specifically convened IRES panels debated themes of international relevance in real estate research and education. Particularly, at the ARES and ERES conferences, the subject matter of the IRES panel focussed on opportunities for researching and teaching real estate worldwide. Many different global perspectives were offered from panellists, including IRES former presidents, with presentations reflecting their international experience of real estate drawn from both their own programs and wider insights of other real estate courses around the globe. The attendees were given a broad perspective of the importance of sharing their experiences in different countries and learning from the idiosyncrasies of others. This shared learning experience highlighted that the organization and support for teaching and researching while having elements of commonality differ for each country, reflecting varying cultural and institutional backgrounds, and enabling conference delegates to share in rich debate and bring ideas back to their own university programs. The importance of working with professional and industry sponsors in developing real estate programs and driving commercially relevant research were amongst the strong messages coming forward from the respective debates.

In the case of the LARES Conference, the IRES panel developed a different tone. As LARES is one of the youngest of the sister societies, the panel provided the audience with specific insights into IRES goals and strategies and was complemented by a presentation of real estate education in the USA. LARES, as a society was only formally established in 1999 on the initiative of a small group of real estate professors and practitioners. This combination of academy and industry remains strong and is one of the main characteristics of LARES. LARES, as an association started in São Paulo, Brazil, where real estate research and teaching is best developed in South America and where most of the important players in the real estate sector are based. However, to highlight the maturing of LARES, the conference in September 2012 was attended by some 250 delegates with discussions on real estate bubbles, special urban interventions with Fundo de Investimento Imobiliário (FII), the Brazilian version for REITS, among other relevant real estate research themes. As LARES is developing researchers and practitioners from Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica are becoming more active at LARES conferences enabling the society to expand beyond its founding base in Brazil. The growth and maturing of LARES reflects both the development of the real estate industry in South America and the emergence of markets and economic growth in Brazil and other countries in the region.

Eliane MonettiPresident of International Real Estate Society, 2012

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