Keynotes 2025

Friday 4.30pm: Celia Hogan, Christchurch, Aotearoa NZ
Little Kiwi’s Nature Play

Personal Bio: Celia Hogan, CPO (chief play officer) and founder of Little Kiwis Nature Play, is a transformative force in nature-based education and mental well-being. As a Nature Education Specialist, Speaker, and Resilience Parenting Coach, she is a strong advocate for the essential role of nature and play in fostering resilient individuals. Celia believes that immersing children in nature inspires deep connections, nurturing the emotional and social well-being of both whānau and educators. She has over 25 years of international experience working for a variety of organisations, setting up, developing and running outdoor and wilderness programmes, leadership development programmes and establishing risk management and safety systems. Now, Celia runs a Bush Kindy, a nature play space, leads professional development training for teachers, and works as a parenting coach to support parents to navigate the challenges of parenting in the digital age. As co-chair of Education Outdoors New Zealand and an advisor for ECE Reform, her unwavering commitment is to all things child development and especially play.

Keynote Title: Reclaiming Childhood: The Power of Play
In an era dominated by screens, children face unprecedented challenges that threaten their development and well-being. As they spend increasing amounts of time tethered to devices, opportunities for face-to-face interaction and outdoor play diminish, leaving a profound impact on their mental health and resilience. In this thought-provoking keynote, Celia Hogan, Founder of Little Kiwis Nature Play, argues for the vital need to prioritise play in our children's lives and explores the crucial balance between digital engagement and authentic human connection. Celia advocates for the power of play as a vital antidote to our tech-centric lives. Through immersive, nature-based play, children can reconnect with themselves and their environments, fostering emotional intelligence, confidence, and mental fortitude. This is about reclaiming childhood, not only for individual well-being but for the health of our communities.
littlekiwisnatureplay.com

Saturday 9.00am: Robert McGowan / Pa Ropata, Tauranga, Aotearoa NZ
Tiwaiwaka

Personal Bio: Pa has recently retired from the Department of Conservation, the Amo Aratu for Nga Whenua Rahui (NWR). He was one of the initiators of Tane’s Tree trust and remains an active trustee www.tanestree.org.nz. He is Patron of EnviroHub Bay of Plenty and Aongatete Outdoor Education Charitable Trust. He was the founder and Pou Korero for Tiwaiwaka (www.tiwaiwaka.nz). He has been a longtime member of the Bay of Plenty Conservation Board and past Chairman. Pa is founding Chair of the Kaimai-Mamaku Catchments Forum and current Patron (www.mkm.org.nz). He is an authority on rongoā Māori (traditional Māori medicine) and is well respected nationally for his work with and for the restoration of rongoā Māori practice in New Zealand. He is an expert witness to the Wai 262 Claim, and involved in the implementation of the Tribunal's Report and continues to work as an advisor to numerous Government agencies, Māori tribal authorities and for a number of rongoā Māori related research and education initiatives. Pa is currently heavily involved in helping to build a bridge between Western Science and Matauranga Māori.

Keynote Title: Tiwaiwaka - healing the mauri of the whenua. A pathway to give hope for the future.
tiwaiwaka.nz

Saturday 1.30pm: Jason Williams, Napier, Aotearoa NZ

Personal Bio: Jase Williams (Ngāti Tamaterā) is a TEDx Speaker, Keynote Speaker who has spoken at events internationally and across New Zealand.
He is one of the leading voices in Trauma-Informed Practice in Education, sharing his expertise through an equity focused, compassionate, relational neuroscience, and an indigenous te ao Māori lens. Jase has worked with hundreds of early childhood education (ECE) centres, schools and support agencies, reaching thousands of educators.
Jase is a certified trainer in the Neurosequential Model in Education (NME) facilitated by Dr. Bruce Perry, regarded as one of the world's leading experts in childhood trauma.
He has 20+ years experience working as an educator, and is the former Principal of Henry Hill School, Napier - winners of the most recent Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards - Wellbeing category

Keynote Title: Humans learn through safety, connection and play but 'education' has got in the way of this organic process!
Things changed for the learning in our school when we started looking at learning through the lens of a 7 or 8 year old boy. We reimagined what learning should look like, but realised we were really just doing what our tupuna did. Through this process we learned that when it comes to learning and education, the adults are both the problem, and the solution. Learning happens through connection and safety, and without these there really is no learning. We'll delve into how 'formal' education and schooling was created and the influence and impact it has had on society over time, and we will explore how we transmit and carry the experiences of previous generations onto our children, and by default, our children's children.
jasewilliams.nz

Sunday 9.00am: Kathryn Berkett, Wellington, Aotearoa NZ

Personal Bio: Kathryn has dedicated over 20 years of her life learning and training about how the brain and body develop and interact – understanding how this influences what we do, say, think and how we behave. She trains audiences nationally and internationally around how environmental trauma can impact our development, and how we can work in the most biologically respectful way with those who have experienced this trauma.
Kathryn has her Masters of Educational Psychology, and has certified as a Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics practitioner. She has done a TEDx talk titled ‘Neuroscience of Device Zombies’. Kathryn also has a podcast series with the amazing Pio Terei, called “I’ve Got Questions”

Keynote: The state of our stress response system dictates the capacity for our brain to engage in cognition. This session will work through how important it is to cultivate an environment of safety, movement, sensory etc, before expecting academic learning to happen. We also need 'moments of tolerable stress' to build positive resilience. Being in nature, in a state of more freedom and adventure can facilitate these moments. Many of us know this, and are already practicing it. This session will give you the science behind it all, so we can continue to help our tamariki thrive.
engagetraining.co.nz