Available to book
Michael Pawlyn
Michael Pawlyn helps organisations unlock commercially viable innovation through biomimicry, regenerative design, and circular economy thinking. He advises multinationals and governments, has over two million TED talk views, and has delivered keynotes for Google, Forbes, and The Economist.
Michael Pawlyn is an architect, writer, and strategist recognised as a leading voice in regenerative design and biomimicry. He helps organisations move beyond sustainability towards genuinely restorative ways of operating.
Michael founded Exploration Architecture in 2007 after ten years at Grimshaw, where he was central to the team behind the Eden Project. His TED talk has been viewed over two million times, and his book Biomimicry in Architecture has become the publisher's best-selling title of the last fifteen years.
Michael draws on billions of years of natural adaptation to solve practical design problems, showing organisations how principles from ecosystems can inform higher-performing buildings, circular economy strategies, and zero waste systems. He has advised start-ups, multinationals, and governments, including delivering keynotes for Google, Anglo American, and the Financial Times, translating complex environmental science into commercially relevant action.
Audiences leave his talks with a clear framework for distinguishing regenerative practice from conventional sustainability, concrete examples of nature-inspired innovation they can apply to their own industry, and practical steps for building a circular economy strategy. His work on projects like the Sahara Forest Project demonstrates these ideas at scale.
Book Michael to give audiences a rigorous, example-rich case for regenerative leadership grounded in real built projects.
Photo © Cecilie Bannow
Topics, sessions and talks
Many organisations now recognise that conventional sustainability, based on trying to be less bad, has not delivered the scale of change environmental challenges demand. Yet there is often little clarity about what a genuinely regenerative approach means in practice. Drawing on Flourish, the book he co-authored with Sarah Ichioka, Michael Pawlyn sets out the philosophical shift and the practical steps involved in moving from sustainable to regenerative operations, and why the change strengthens leadership, performance, and talent retention.
Nature has spent 3.8 billion years refining minimum energy processes, high efficiency materials, and zero waste systems. Michael Pawlyn shows how this discipline, known as biomimicry, offers some of the most fertile ground for innovation available to businesses today. Through a wide range of examples from the natural world, he demonstrates how these adaptations can be translated into solutions that deliver higher performance at lower long-term cost, alongside related nature-based approaches such as biophilia.
Regulation and expectation are pushing companies to move from linear, wasteful operations towards circular, zero waste stewardship of resources. Michael Pawlyn argues that one of the biggest untapped opportunities lies in bringing cycles of energy, water, food, and materials together in synergistic ways. Drawing on lessons from ecosystems and proven examples from cities, buildings, and industries, he shows how organisations can lead in the circular economy while unlocking secondary benefits, from enhanced biodiversity to entirely new waste entrepreneurship sectors.
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frequently asked questions
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To book Michael Pawlyn, email michael.pawlyn@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Michael's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
Michael Pawlyn structures his talks around cross-industry examples drawn from natural systems, using documented built projects and ecosystem principles to illustrate how biological adaptations translate into commercial and design applications.
Michael Pawlyn speaks on regenerative design, biomimicry and nature-inspired innovation, and circular economy leadership. He was central to the team behind the Eden Project at Grimshaw, his TED talk has exceeded two million views, and his book Biomimicry in Architecture is the publisher's best-selling title of the past fifteen years.
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Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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