Niki Buchan is senior educational consultant with Natural Learning Early Childhood Consultancy and Real World Learning Consultancy. She has lived and worked in South Africa and Scotland and has been calling Australia home since 2011. Niki has a great love for the outdoors and has been working with both adults and young children in very consultative, naturalistic and sensorial environments both indoors and outdoors for more than 35 years.

She works internationally as a conference keynote speaker, nature pedagogue, mentor and author and has been invited to work in the UK, USA, Canada, Iceland, Sweden, South Korea, Norway, Denmark and South Africa. Niki has developed a reputation as a strong advocate for children’s right to a high-quality childhood with a deep concern about children’s mental health and trauma. She trusts children as being capable and competent, including their ability to assess and take their own risks. Niki believes children have a right to regular access to nature and to have their voices heard in matters that affect them. She is considered a leading voice in promoting nature-based practice and is the author of Children in Wild Nature: A Practical Approach to Nature-based Practice and Adventurous Play: Developing Children’s Life Skills through Rich Play Experiences, and has a STEM book in the pipeline.

Niki is the mother of four adult children, an adventurer, keen photographer, seldom seen without a camera in her hand and is usually surrounded by children.

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Nature-based practice