Herbert Girardet (born 25 May 1943) is a German-British writer, filmmaker, lecturer and international consultant.

Life and work

Herbert Girardet was born in 1943 in Essen, Germany,^[1] the son of a publishing executive. After reading history at Tübingen and Berlin universities, he moved to London in 1964 and embraced the nascent counterculture then taking hold there: the literary editor Diana Athill, who knew him during this time, described him in her memoir Make Believe as "the drop-out son of a rich German family... deep in the process of discovering his own loathing of capitalism, violence, and racism."^[2] Girardet befriended the Black Power activist Hakim Jamal and followed him to Guyana, where their attempt to establish a utopian commune devoted to black self-realisation quickly foundered amid the chaos caused by Jamal's mental illness.^[3][4] Arriving back in London soon afterwards, Girardet returned to academia and received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and economics from the London School of Economics in 1975.

Since then, Girardet has worked as a cultural and urban ecologist – as a writer, filmmaker, lecturer and international consultant – specialising in ‘regenerative development’. He is the author and co-author of 14 books and reports, and 50 TV documentaries primarily concerned with the interaction between a global civilisation and the world’s environment. He is a recipient of a UN Global 500 award for outstanding environmental services. He has written in publications such as Resurgence, The Ecologist, Green Futures, Urban Futures, Habitat Debate, The Guardian, The Independent and The Observer.^{[citation needed]}

He is co-founder and honorary member of the World Future Council, and a full member of the Club of Rome. He has been a consultant to UN Habitat and UNEP, and to cities such as London, Vienna, Riyadh and Bristol. As inaugural "thinker in residence’, he developed a green development strategy for Adelaide which has been fully implemented. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a visiting professor at the University of the West of England.

He is married with two grown-up sons, and lives with his wife Barbara in Tintern, Monmouthshire.

Books

• Creating Regenerative Cities: How we can develop a regenerative relationship between our cities and planet earth; Routledge, 2015.
• A Renewable World: Alternative energy systems and how they can help us create a viable and equitable future; Green Books, 2009.
• Cities, People, Planet: Learning from urban history to enhance the relationship between urban people and our home planet; Wiley, 2004 and 2008.
• Surviving The Century: 12 authors write about how we might evade the collision course between ourselves and our own future; Routledge, 2008.
• Creating The World Future Council: The booklet which launched a new international NGO – the World Future Council; Green Books, 2005.
• Creating A Sustainable Adelaide: Report on practical policies for creating a green new deal for Adelaide and South Australia, 2003.
• The Peoples’ Planet: Based on a six-part television series produced by NHK, Tokyo, and CNN; published only in Japanese by NHK, 2000.
• 'Creating Sustainable Cities: Cities are wasteful superorganisms that need a better understanding of how to develop a circular metabolism; Green Books, 1999.
• Making Cities Work: Organisational challenges and practicalities of creating a sustainable world of cities; Earthscan 1996.
• The Gaia Atlas Of Cities: New directions for sustainable urban living, in theory and practice; Gaia Books, 1992 and 1996.
• Earthrise: How we are affecting the biosphere, and how we can try to get out of the mess we have been making; Paladin, 1992.
• Blueprint For A Green Planet: Practical day-today action to fight pollution and to live sustainably; Dorling Kindersley, 1987.
• Far From Paradise: A history of human impacts on the environment, based on a seven-part television series: BBC Publications, 1986.
• Land For The People: At a time of economic uncertainty, we need a new balance between urban and rural living; Crescent Books, 1976.

Nine of these books have been published in various foreign-language editions.

Television documentaries

Herbert Girardet has produced 50 television documentaries on sustainable development, including:

• The Peoples’ Planet: Six-part series filmed in 20 countries, on addressing human impacts on the biosphere, and alternatives to pollution and destruction; CNN, NHK, Tokyo, Discovery Channel and Canal Plus, Paris, 2000.
• Deadline 2000: 28 three-minute films featuring leading voices in the sustainability movement; Channel 4, London, 1999.
• Metropolis: 50-minute documentary about London’s metabolism, examining London’s resource use, economy and waste disposal; Channel 4, London, 1998.
• Ancient Knowledge, Modern World: 20-minute interview-based documentary with Dr. Oku Ampofo, founder of Ghana’s Centre for Research into Plant Medicine, 1997.
• Urban Best Practices: 40-min film about urban regeneration projects in various countries, made for the UN City Summit in Istanbul, 1996.
• Letter To The Kayapo: Anita Roddick confirming the commitment of the Bodyshop to help protect the Amazon and its people, 1990.
• Halting The Fires: 50-minute documentary about the fires set in the Amazon to establish cattle ranches and mines; and about alternatives to deforestation; filmed in Brazil for Channel 4, and ARD, Hamburg, 1989.
• The Altamira Gathering: 15-minute news documentary about the first ever gathering of Amazonian tribes to try and protect their rainforest home; filmed in Brazil for Channel 4, London, 1989.
• Jungle Pharmacy: 50-minute documentary on the plant remedies used by Amazonian Indians, and their relevance for modern medicine; filmed in Brazil, Peru, the UK and US; Channel 4. Winner of five awards at environmental film festivals, 1988.
• Towards A Green Planet: Series of six 20-minute films on personal action to reduce human impacts on the environment; Channel 4, London, 1987.
• Far From Paradise, the story of human impact on the environment: Pioneering seven-hour series filmed in 12 countries, initiated/ researched by me and presented by John Seymour; BBC 2, ZDF, Germany, ORF, Austria, and RAI, Italy, 1986.