Written by: Reineke van Tol, WUR

Welcome!

We warmly invite researchers, educators and fellow wanderers to join us for the first Wild Pedagogies Gathering in the Netherlands.

Over several days, we will create space to wander with the more-than-human world, gather around the fire, exchange ideas, share practices, spark new collaborations, and imagine wilder futures together.

The gathering coincides with a special milestone: on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, Reineke van Tol (Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands) will defend what is believed to be the first PhD dissertation dedicated entirely to Wild Pedagogies. We hope many of you will join us in celebrating this moment, but above all we hope it offers a meaningful opportunity for our growing international community to connect, learn from one another, and continue shaping the future of Wild Pedagogies together.

The gathering will take place at The Paradise, a beautiful campsite nestled in nature, offering the perfect setting for shared inquiry, outdoor learning, campfire conversations, and encounters with the more-than-human world.

The conference is co-organized by Into the Wild, ᴇNᴀBʟS, and Wageningen University & Research | WUR

Theme

In line with the dissertation to be defended, the theme of the gathering is: Wilding Pedagogies. Exploring More-than-Human Ecologies of Learning for Deep Environmental Care.

This gathering invites participants to collectively explore this theme through research, educational practice, artistic inquiry, and lived experience.

Possible questions we may explore together include:

How can more-than-human ecologies of learning emerge within – or transform – existing educational structures and institutions?

How is agency distributed within more-than-human ecologies of learning?

Can deep environmental care – understood as unconditional care for the world that arises from realizing we are part of it – be cultivated through education?

What new collaborations, practices, and futures might emerge when we gather around these questions?