Dr Richard Simmons is a Chartered Town Planner, urban designer, and regeneration specialist. He has 45 years’ experience as an urbanist, working in leadership roles in local government, regeneration agencies, and central government. He worked mainly on renewal in East London and the Thames Gateway, after a stint in the government’s Inner Cities Unit in the mid-1980s. He was Chief Executive of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment from 2004 until 2011. He then became a Visiting Professor in the Construction School at the University of Greenwich, moving on to the same role with the Bartlett School of Planning at UCL, where he teaches city planning with a strong focus on the impact of the climate and biodiversity emergencies. He has published articles on how government makes policy, housing quality, and what a green planning system should look like. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Geographical Society, and an Academician of the Academy of Urbanism.

As Director of Consultancy, Ronan oversees Bioregional’s purpose-led advisory work with clients, supporting businesses on net-zero strategy, carbon footprinting, and sustainable consumer products, and in the built environment working with housebuilders, real estate investors, housing associations, and local authorities to create sustainable and net-zero-ready homes and communities.

Ronan has supported local planning authorities such as Greater Cambridge and Central Lincolnshire with developing zero-carbon evidence bases and net-zero local plans. He is currently leading the development of an innovative net-zero carbon spatial planning tool, funded by Innovate UK, which enables local authorities to identify the carbon impact of new development.

Emma works for the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service as Principal Sustainability Officer, which involves helping to deliver environmentally sustainable development through the promotion and application of sustainable construction practice in new private and public developments within the city. In recent years, Emma has developed an interest in integrating climate change adaptation measures into new development, and is also a member of the Local Adaptation Advisory Panel Steering Group, which provides advice to Government on the role of local authorities in delivering climate change adaptation. Originally from Swansea, Emma has an undergraduate degree in Geography and Archaeology from the University of Leicester, a Masters in Environmental Biology from Swansea University and an Urban and Regional Planning Masters from the University of Westminster.

Joanna took up the role of Chief Planner at DLUHC in September 2020. She advises Ministers on major casework, design and placemaking, and capacity and capability, as well as being head of profession for town planning across Whitehall. She is a town planner with 30 years’ experience working across government, major projects and with local authorities. She has been involved in all aspects of planning research, policy, practice and project delivery. Prior to this role, she was at HS2 where she led on how the railway interfaces with its context with plan-making and consenting processes. Until taking up the role of Chief Planner, she was a London Mayor’s Design Advocate and Chair of the London Borough of Wandsworth’s Design Review Panel. Joanna has worked on major regeneration and master planning projects from Manchester City Centre to the London Olympics. Joanna has held a number of senior roles as Senior Manager for Growth and Development for Crossrail 2 at TfL, Deputy CEO and Director of Design and Planning Advice of CABE, CEO of Centre for Cities, CEO of LandAid and Director of Design for the Olympic Delivery Authority. Joanna has also held a number of non-executive roles including Trustee of MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology).

Sue is an award-winning social entrepreneur who has championed zero-carbon affordable homes and communities for 25 years. She co-founded the social enterprise Bioregional in 1994, and initiated the iconic BedZED eco-village in London in 1997, using this experience to develop Bioregional's One Planet Living® sustainability framework, which has been used in real estate development, and businesses and communities across the world to help them achieve their vision of a more sustainable future.

Sue was a London Sustainable Development Commissioner from 2002-14, during which time she supported the government’s emerging eco-town policy and co-wrote the sustainability strategy for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Her work as a social entrepreneur was most recently recognised by the Academy of Urbanism, which presented her with its 2021 Urban Reinventor award. Sue received an OBE in 2013 for services to sustainable business and for her contribution to the London 2012 Olympics. Sue was appointed as a Director of the Future Homes Hub in March 2023.

Lloyd is an architect turned property developer with an interest in future-focused and resilient places that exist in harmony with the planet - bringing together a blend of experience over 10 years spanning a variety of sectors, including commercial, residential, mixed-use, and culture-led regeneration.

Lloyd leads on regeneration and place at LandsecU+I. He is a Board Member of YADA (The Young Architects and Developers Alliance), a visiting critic at Manchester School of Architecture, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

An agent of change led by the belief that successful places and buildings need to be designed as part of an interdependent ecosystem considering both micro and macro scale – the strategy and the detail. His focus on restorative and regenerative design and city-making, where humans and nature can flourish together is central to his work.

Key to the LandsecU+I net-zero carbon and circular strategy, future cities campaign, and the company’s approach to community-led design and co-creation, his recent work includes leading the conception of a new sustainability policy framework for Mayfield Manchester (featured in Bioregional's 2022/23 Impact Review), working in collaboration with the Mayfield Partnership, a public-private joint venture between LCR, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and regeneration specialist LandsecU+I.

As Development Director at Socius, Doug leads two major Cambridge projects, both of which are being funded by Railpen, targeting BREEAM Outstanding, adopting an all-electric energy strategy and committing to the NABERS certification process.

Botanic Place is a £500m scheme in a prime, central area of Cambridge, which will deliver 500,000 sq ft of the most sustainable and intelligent offices in the city, achieving an energy demand that is estimated to be 70% less than standard office buildings of this scale.

Devonshire Gardens, which used One Planet Living to shape its needs analysis, is a £180m mixed-use scheme in central Cambridge, which will deliver a variety of workspaces across three interlinked buildings, as well as 70 new homes for rent, a children’s nursery and a new public park with a pavilion, all just a few minutes’ walk from Cambridge station.

Doug also leads on sustainability across the business at Socius, driving an ambitious approach to reducing its impact on the environment and ensuring that all direct carbon emissions are measured, validated and reported with a commitment to reduce them year-on-year.

Kathryn is a sustainability professional with extensive experience in corporate sustainability and carbon management, across both the private and public sectors. In Kathryn's current role, she leads the implementation of CALA's Sustainability Strategy and delivery, including its commitment to have net-zero operational emissions and net-zero enabled homes by 2030. This means embedding sustainability principles throughout CALA's homes and developments, the business, and its people and communities.