Shaping the Future: your profession, your direction

In 2024, our Shaping the Future roadshow brought together more than 600 RICS members with the RICS Presidential Team, Governing Council members, RICS Chair and Board, SRB Chair, CEO and the Executive. In 12 cities across the UK. These in-person events uncovered the views of members, welcoming their perspectives on our shared challenges, and their ambitions for the future of the profession.

Individual voices gave rise to recurring themes among our membership. We’re now using this voice of the profession to shape our actions and set our priorities. The following themes highlight the most important issues that were raised by our members:

Next generation: addressing the skills gap

There is deep concern within the profession about the need to bring more people into surveying and address the skills gap.

Promoting the profession to young people is critical, giving more urgency to our activities in this area. We will continue our Inspire programme with schools and universities, and the development of our education strategy – ensuring there is a clear pathway to a career in surveying through secondary and tertiary education. RICS President Justin Sullivan FRICS will focus his efforts on this issue during his presidency. He will be connecting with graduates, undergraduates, schools, universities and apprenticeship providers, providing further fuel for our efforts to ensure growing numbers of well-prepared young people progress into the profession. We also know that SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) particularly feel the effects of the skills shortage and we aim to provide practical, actionable support to the many thousands of members working in smaller businesses.

Meanwhile, RICS Matrics, the community of newly qualified members, is expanding globally with new chapters in the UAE, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, helping to retain the talent we already have.

Value: bringing RICS to you

Overwhelmingly we heard that members feel the value of their membership most when we meet them where they are, with the right information and resources. As such, we’re channelling more funds and powers into our Regional Boards and staff to support their work. We’re taking the same approach with our professional group panels, meaning that you’ll increasingly benefit from sector-specific, as well as locally targeted support. We will also change how we produce our content, such as thought leadership, to ensure that each part of our membership has the right insight to tackle the challenges they are facing and able to capitalise on the opportunities. Aligned to this we are overhauling how we communicate to end the days of mass emails in favour of targeted communications that help you find content and events that are relevant to you.

Our calendar of events continues to grow and to spread further across the world. Last year, we welcomed over 30,000 attendees to RICS events, including major conferences, regional roadshows, CPD sessions, and awards ceremonies. Plans for 2025 are bigger and better, and we hope to welcome more members to more events in more locations.

In the UK, we’ve invested in our London HQ member space to ensure it becomes a home from home for local and visiting members. We’ve also brought back a print magazine, which members told us they missed. Modus by RICS brings together the best of Modus and Journals and is available in print in the UK, providing opportunity for professional contemplation, development and inspiration away from the distractions and demands of a screen.

Maintaining high standards and public confidence

Membership of RICS is a signifier of your status as a regulated and trusted expert, and it’s critical to the profession that our high standards are upheld and communicated to the public. Building public understanding of our role and the expertise of RICS members is a priority, with resource set aside to raise the profile of the expert work our members carry out. You will hear more on this in the coming months. Meanwhile, through the CPD framework review and the Entry and Assessment Review we’re future proofing our high standards and retaining a robust and effective regulatory function.

We are also connecting with key stakeholders across UK and devolved governments, to ensure that the voice of the profession is heard and influences any decisions that will affect it.

Member engagement events in 2025: a global conversation

The Shaping the Future roadshow was a significant step in strengthening our connection with members and aligning our actions with their needs. Building on this success, we are expanding the programme globally in 2025.

Planning is already underway for this year, with the first events to kick off in late spring.  Representatives from the RICS senior leadership team will attend each event, providing updates, listening to feedback and answering questions from members.

Keep an eye out for more information in the coming weeks as we finalise the details and share how you can participate in this global conversation. In the meantime, we invite you to visit RICS contribute to share your insights and play an active role in the profession’s growth and development.