CONFERENCE DATES
23/24/25 October 2026

Our Wild Voices Conference will be co-hosted by Anglia Ruskin University and in partnership with their Chelmsford Science Festival. We will explore a diverse range of themes examining the relationship between people, nature and science through inspiring keynote talks, interactive discussion panels and conversations led by experts and professionals from a wide range of sectors and disciplines.

To mark 50 years of Wilderness Foundation UK, we’re bringing people together for a special conference celebrating the power of wilderness. Join leading voices, practitioners and changemakers from across the environmental conservation, wellbeing and education sectors as we explore our relationship with the natural world and how it can shape a healthier future for people and planet.

Through inspiring talks, shared learning and meaningful conversations, taking place at ARU’s Writtle Campus, Wild Voices will celebrate what wilderness means to us all and why protecting it has never mattered more. Discover new perspectives, reconnect with nature’s wisdom and learn why it is so important for us all to be part of a community shaping the next 50 years.

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3-DAY AGENDA

CONFERENCE THEMES

  • Mental Health and Nature Healing
  • Rewilding
  • Neuroscience – Nature and the Brain
  • Financing Nature – Unlocking Investment for Wilderness Protection
  • Growing Green Minds – Education for a Changing World
  • Women in Conservation
  • Youth Voices
  • Balancing Needs of Energy, Food and Wild Spaces

Co-Hosted with

Keynote Speakers

Tsinghua is one of the top two universities in China and Yue is leading on wilderness mapping and connectivity modelling and is a member of the Institute for National Parks in the School of Architecture. His mapping work has helped inform China’s plans for the world’s largest national park network at 1.1 million km2. He’s active in IUCN rewilding thematic group and Wilderness Specialist Group.

Viren Swami is Professor of Social Psychology and leads the Wellbeing in Nature Research Hub at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. He is also Adjunct Professor and Director of the Centre for Wellbeing in Nature-Malaysia (WiN-MAS) at Perdana University in Malaysia. He ranks among the top 2% of the most-cited scientists worldwide.

David is Professor of Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience and leads the Brain, Body and Mind Research Hub at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. He is a cognitive psychologist whose research examines the cognitive processes involved during memory, mental imagery and visuo-spatial thinking, with a particular focus on applications in the fields of clinical and environmental psychology.

Andrew is CEO of Wilderness Foundation Global and Wilderness Foundation Africa. He was honored as an International Rolex Awards Laureate in 2008, and South African Conservationist of the Year in 2007. He has a Master’s degree in Environment and Development from the University of Natal Pietermaritzburg and awarded Degree of Doctor Social Science honoris causa from the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg in 2014.

Adam is MD at WILD Foundation, which convenes the World Wilderness Congress. He is a conservation professional with over 20 years of experience advancing protected area governance and facilitating international collaboration across governments, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society, and academic institutions in diverse cultural and geographic contexts.

  • Naomi Andrews – Essex Wildlife Trust

Naomi is the Business Manager for Ecology Services and Green Finance at Essex Wildlife Trust.

More speakers to be announced.

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