Two shopping center industry managers have moved their careers into top gear after completing this year's 2005 European Retail Property School, held for the first year in Brussels.
Henriette Johansen, who works at Steen & Ström Copenhagen and Atte Köykkä, property manager at Wereldhave Finland Oy, who is responsible for letting retail units at Shopping Center Itakeskus, Helsinki won scholarships to this prestigious annual school of professional development after nomination by The Nordic Council of Shopping Centres.
Sixteen students from across Europe were selected as European Shopping Centre Trust Scholars for 2005 in their countries Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Poland and The United Kingdom.
As a trade association, The International Council of Shopping Centers considers the provision of further education as a top priority. With the enormous challenges facing management, marketing and leasing professionals in shopping centers throughout Europe, the key to continuous successful growth is through the development of next generation shopping center professionals led by today's industry leaders.
According to Ermine Amies, who has led the Scholarships project since its launch in 2002: "As European Retail Property School Scholars, Henrietta and Atte took advantage of this unique opportunity to deepen their expertise and at the same time develop potentially valuable and long lasting business relationships across Europe."
Over the 5-day school, classes covering topics such as leasing, retailing, design, construction, market research, marketing and communications, business and marketing plan development. Other subjects covered were managing mixed-use and urban centers, tourism, sponsorship and finance.
Lecturers were drawn from amongst Europe's most knowledgeable shopping center professionals who shared their expertise with students.
Examinations for management and marketing professionals certified successful candidates as Accredited Shopping Centre Managers (ASM) and Accredited Marketing Directors (AMD). An ASM must be able to manage and an AMD must be able to direct marketing and promotion of all types and sizes of centers in a wide range of geographical locations.
Source: ICSC
