Tim Smit

Sir Tim Smit KBE is Executive Vice-Chair, and Co-founder of the award-winning Eden Project near St Austell in Cornwall. Eden began as a dream in 1995 and opened its doors to the public in 2000, since when more than 19 million people have come to see what was once a sterile pit turned into a cradle of life containing world-class horticulture and startling architecture symbolic of human endeavour. Eden has contributed over £1.9 billion into the Cornish economy. Eden is proud of its success in changing people’s perception of the potential for and the application of science, by communicating and interpreting scientific concepts through the use of art, drama and storytelling as well as living up to its mission to take a pivotal role in local regeneration. It demonstrates once and for all that sustainability is not about sandals and nut cutlets, it is about good business practice and the citizenship values of the future.

Smit is a Trustee, Patron and Board Member of a number of statutory and voluntary bodies both locally and nationally. He has received a variety of national awards including The Royal Society of Arts Albert Medal (2003). In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary CBE in the New Years Honours List and in June 2012 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Her Majesty the Queen. He has received Honorary Doctorates and Fellowships from a number of Universities. Smit has taken part in many television and radio programmes and has been the subject of ‘This is Your Life’ and a guest on ‘Desert Island Discs’. He is a regular speaker at conferences, dinners, Awards Ceremonies and other events. Smit is the author of books about "The Lost Gardens of Heligan" (voted 'Book of the Year' in 1997 by the Sunday Times) and the Eden Project and he has contributed to publications on a wide variety of subjects. He lives in Cornwall and in his free time he enjoys reading, film, music and art.

Smit is also Executive Chairman for Eden Project International which aims to have an Eden Project on every habited continent by 2025.