Nisha Mary Poulose is an award-winning architect and regional planner, whose career at the confluence of human habitat, planning, and the environment now spans 14 years and 3 countries. Her regenerative focus has been the guiding force behind her work, as is the deep bond she shares with nature and her own indigeneity. She was the Executive Director of Regenerative Rising from July 2022 to December 2023 and remains a strong ally of the organization.
She is focused on bioregional transformation that weaves livelihood, stewardship and ecological restoration. Woven Design Collaborative- A multi-disciplinary spatial planning organization she founded in India in 2019, works to solve grass root issues with a whole-systems approach to bridging silos. She is also a co-convener for the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), whom she supports with strategic visions and action plans for integrated regional development to preserve human and natural heritage, with regenerative livelihoods and vernacular wisdom at the center. She is part of the South Asia Bioregionalism Working Group through which she co-led the initiative to map bioregional boundaries in the Indian Subcontinent and co-authored a monograph.
In 2015 she won an award from the Prime Minister of India for her ideas on how Smart Cities in India can solve critical problems. She previously worked with the Government of Karnataka to integrate sustainable mobility into cities. She holds many other volunteer positions in the climate action and community development space and strongly believes that collective action is the need of the hour. Nisha did her architecture in India before being selected for the Erasmus Mundus Program in Europe where she gained two advanced degrees: MSc. International Cooperation in Urban Development and MSc. Urbanism, Habitat and International Cooperation.
She grew up in Kottayam, a small town in Kerala- the South-Western coastal State in India known for its natural and cultural heritage and is abundant in tropical bio-diversity. Her relationship with nature is one that she cultivated in her childhood and continues to inform her thoughts and actions. She relaxes by hiking, swimming in open waters, or sneaking away with her cat Cleo to finish a book.