Celebrating 30 years of Bioregional
I still can't quite believe that Bioregional has turned 30! To mark the occasion, we brought together thought leaders to discuss the progress made over the last three decades on our journey to sustainability - and explore how our long-term partners have embraced our One Planet Living approach and framework to create truly sustainable products, homes and communities.
We hosted our event at our sustainable co-working offices at Sustainable Ventures last Thursday. This space is home to innovative climate tech start-ups, and the evening focussed on celebrating innovation in the built environment and the circular economy. We had inspiring talks and lively panel discussions with industry experts showing how they’re paving the way for a future that works with the natural world, helping us live within the boundaries of our planet while leaving space for nature to thrive.
If we cast our eyes back 30 years, when Bioregional began, the world was a very different place.
October 1994 saw Nelson Mandela elected as South Africa’s first black president, and the UN Framework Convention on climate change came into force. At the time climate change was just one issue, certainly not the momentous, agenda-topping subject that it is today.

Back then, our motivation at Bioregional was to find ways to provide the products, services and homes we need while reducing our ecological footprint. Then as now, our consumption patterns were unsustainable. Right now, humans are using approximately 70% more ecological resources than the Earth can regenerate each year. And we are now reaping the devastating results of these global actions.
We are seeing more frequent and intense droughts, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and warming oceans.
"Right now, humans are using approximately 70% more ecological resources than the Earth can regenerate each year."
The issue of climate change was brought into even sharper focus this month with President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement at a time when California battled devastating fires, and the UK was hit with ferocious storms and flooding.
Yet the opportunities to live more sustainably are plentiful - and increasingly being adopted by developers and retailers across the world.
One Planet Living
This is why, last week, we launched our free guide, ‘Goals and guidance for new-build communities in the UK’ which offers UK developers a clear pathway to create thriving, people-centred communities that regenerate local ecosystems, tackle the climate emergency, and enhance social well-being.
Launched on the night by our One Planet Living Lead, Philippa Hoy, the is a guide to make it easy for developers to use our One Planet Living framework, which is guided by 10 principles that help people live more sustainably without compromising on their quality of life. It includes guidance on energy, waste, biodiversity, sustainable food and travel and transport, all tailored to the UK built environment and working alongside the many certifications and requirements that investors, local authorities and other stakeholder might require.

We first put these principles into action as we developed BedZED (Beddington Zero Energy Development), the UK's first large-scale, mixed-use sustainable community, comprising 100 homes, office space, a college and community facilities.
With the average UK person now living as if we had two and a half planets (a slight improvement on the 'three planet living', which was the case when Bioregional first coined the phrase in 2003), it highlights the urgent need to adopt a far more holistic approach to how we live and the homes, products and services that can support one planet living.

As our keynote speaker Dr Tony Juniper CBE, chair of Natural England said:
"It shouldn’t be houses vs nature. We can create space for all of us to live well on one planet as well as nature.”
Carbon-negative homes
A key highlight of the event was the focus on sustainable housing. Our first discussion, chaired by Lewis Knight, Bioregional’s Director of Sustainable Places, explored how homes built using One Planet Living principles can be cost-competitive and environmentally responsible. Jon Di-Stefano, CEO of Greencore Homes, shared how using natural materials like hemp, timber, and wood fibre enables the developer to build homes that not only minimise embodied carbon emissions, but actively lock-up CO2.
Unlike traditional homes - which emit up to 100 tonnes of carbon during construction - Greencore Homes aims to be carbon-negative by embracing One Planet Living principles.

Ian Taylor, Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, who applied One Planet Living at the One Brighton development (One of our One Planet Living Leaders) highlighted how the framework helps people understand the relationship between different development stages and facilitates problem-solving. By embedding its principles at the first design stage, we are creating much-needed new homes while also improving the surrounding environment. The benefits have been proven, including increased productivity, improved health and wellbeing, and better conservation of nature.
The message was clear from our panellists; building sustainable homes which enable sustainable lifestyles is not just possible - it’s essential for us to meet the global demand for housing while reducing our environmental impact.
Rethinking products

In the second panel, chaired by Debbie Luffman, Bioregional’s Director of Sustainable Business, the focus was on the shift towards circular business models in retail, which is just as important as creating sustainable places. Companies including Kingfisher plc (B&Q, Screwfix, Tradepoint) are leading the way by redesigning their products and supply chains to reduce waste and support long-lasting, sustainable products. Victoria Moorhouse, Group Climate and Nature Lead at Kingfisher discussed how One Planet Living principles are guiding retailers to extend product lifecycles, from offering repair services to embracing modular designs that can be easily refurbished.
By selling over 100,000 refurbished products last year Kingfisher generated £1.7 billion in revenue from products with extended life cycles. The demand is clearly there, so retailers can make it easy for customers to shop sustainably by not compromising on price or quality.
As the deputy chair of the UK Government’s new circular economy task force, Professor Paul Ekins OBE noted, the path to sustainability will require innovation, collaboration, and clear policy support. The government’s role in driving circular economy initiatives, such as Extended Producer Responsibility legislation, is crucial for ensuring that businesses are held accountable for the environmental impact of their products, rather than the consumer.
At the same time, businesses must invest in sustainability commitments, knowing that it’s not just good for the planet, it’s good for the bottom line. Paul invited us all to contribute to the work of the Circular Economy Task Force - they want to hear about the challenges and opportunities to make the right recommendations to Government.
Charting the path to 2030

One Planet Living is helping developers and retailers to create a society that can thrive within the planet’s safe operating space. This isn’t just an ideal - our long-term partners have shown that it is a practical framework that’s already helping businesses, developers, and consumers move towards a more sustainable and circular economy.
Research by the UN Development Programme found that 80% of global citizens in 77 countries want stronger action from our leaders. Our work demonstrates how we can meet the urgent challenges of climate change, restore biodiversity, and build communities where both people and nature can flourish in tandem.
Our sustainable future is already here, in little pockets - we have collectively developed the solutions – now we just need the business and political will to enact them, at scale and pace. We only have one Earth, and as its custodians, our generation is the one that can - and must - lead the way to that better world we all want to see. And as I am fond of saying, when we get there, it will just be the new normal, and we will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about!
Discover more about our solutions for business or the built environment, and download the new Goals and Guidance below.
Download the new Goals and Guidance
Practical strategies for UK housing developers to design and deliver sustainable communities using Bioregional's One Planet Living framework
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A vision for delivering sustainability goals 🌟
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Technical guidance and leadership standards 📚
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Steps to achieve One Planet Living Leadership recognition 🏆

Thank you
Please get in touch if you have any questions about using One Planet Living in your project.