Pooran Desai
Pooran Desai studied at Oxford and Cambridge Universities prior to working in the sustainable forestry industry. His work there led to the development of the BioRegional Charcoal Company, one of the first sustainability companies. In 1997, he and his wife initiated the BedZED eco-village project, where they currently reside. Pooran studied at the University of Oxford, UK; Cambridge University, UK. He is an Honorary Fellow, Royal Institute of British Architects. Pooran coined the term One Planet Living and has led teams writing sustainability strategies for over $30 billion of green real estate in over 20 countries. He has also worked with cities to co-create One Planet Action Plans. Pooran is serial entrepreneur in green real estate, sustainable forestry and organic farming. He is the Author or Co-Author of three books and the recipient of awards including th Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
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- BioRegional Development Group
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- Model
- For-profit Social Enterprise
- Sectors
- Sustainable Development
- Headquarters
- United Kingdom
- Areas of Impact
- Europe, North America, Greater China, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, People's Republic of China
BioRegional Development Group
Along with their partners, BioRegional develops real life solutions, including sustainable low carbon communities, businesses that supply sustainable products and services, and initiatives like sustainability strategies for municipalities. These designs can be replicated around the world, demonstrated by BioRegional’s portfolio of enterprises that illustrate the potential of sustainable design and appropriate resource allocation. BioRegional’s most recognized project is the BedZED eco-village in London. This community of 100 homes (for 220 people) encompasses facilities powered by renewable energy, and six businesses that include green property development, recycling, clean tech for the paper industry and local charcoal supplies sold to national retailers.
BioRegional’s One Planet Living framework is based on 10 guiding principles used in all of its projects: Zero Carbon, Zero Waste, Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Materials, Local and Sustainable Food, Sustainable Water, Land Use and Wildlife, Culture and Heritage, Equity and Local Economy, and Health and Happiness. BioRegional’s One Planet Communities programme is creating a network of the earth’s greenest neighbourhoods, where it is easy, attractive and affordable to live a healthy, happy lifestyle while sharing a fair amount of the planet’s resources. Working with developers around the world, the programme currently has projects in the USA, United Kingdom and Portugal, with others planned in South Africa, China, Australia and Canada.
The programme has been applied to sustainability strategies in over$30 billion of planned development. In addition to collaborating with its partners to design and construct these communities, BioRegional is also providing advisory and training services in sustainable design and practice to various actors in other industry sectors, including manufacturing, retail, commerce and government.
awardees
Our awardees
Helmy Abouleish
Shona McDonald
