Pooran Desai OBE

About Pooran

One Planet Technical Director
and Co-Founder of BioRegional
MA (Oxon) OBE HonFRIBA

Pooran studied at Oxford and Cambridge Universities before co-founding BioRegional Development Group in 1995. Initially he worked in sustainable forestry, helping develop the concept of ‘bioregional network production’ (linking local suppliers to national retailers) and founding BioRegional Charcoal Company Ltd of which he remains managing director.  In 1997 he initiated the BedZED project, contributing through design, construction and monitoring – which in turn led to the Z-squared and One Planet concepts.

He is a shareholder and Sustainability Director of sustainable property development company BioRegional Quintain Ltd and heads up BioRegional’s One Planet Communities programme. Pooran also led BioRegional’s work to revive the historic lavender industry in south London.  He has co-authored 2 books and his third book ‘One Planet Communities’ will be published by John Wiley in 2009.  He lives with his wife Sue Riddlestone at BedZED and enjoys a zero carbon sportscar which runs on waste cooking oil.

Read an article about Pooran on 'How to make a difference' March 09