Pooran Desai

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 is ‘One Planet Communities’ published in 2009. He lives with his wife Sue Riddlestone at BedZED.