Achu R. Sekhar is a Program Manager - Urban Planning and Disaster Resilience with the Sustainable Cities & Transport Team at WRI India. In his current capacity, he is engaged in the Cities4Forests initiative in Kochi city, and is supporting the community resilience and disaster preparedness work among other associated projects.

Achu is a Civil and Environmental Engineer with over seven years of experience in supporting different levels of government both domestic and international in the field of sustainable urban development. He has worked extensively in waste management and resource efficient construction technologies as well. He has been part of a wide array of projects handling multiple job roles including research and development, development of strategic policy frameworks and hands-on experience in grounding of projects. Before joining WRI India, Achu worked with ICLEI-South Asia, Development Alternatives Group and InfraEn India Pvt Ltd.

He holds a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. In addition, he has a double diploma in Geo-informatics and Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management. Achu is a certified lead auditor in ISO 14001 (Environment Management Systems) and is also certified as an internationally approved Safety Engineer by NEBOSH.

In his free time, he loves travelling around the country exploring new cuisines and cultures. He also loves spending late evenings and weekends in his urban garden growing organic vegetables or experimenting a new recipe.