Outdoor experiences can transform our psychological health and well-being, and encourage us to live sustainably.

But not all experiences of nature are transformational. I show you how to design and facilitate them so that they are.

My approach reveals how outdoor experiences impact our psychology, changing the ways we think, feel and behave. It shows how they can be harnessed through design and facilitation to deliver incredible outcomes for people and the planet.

My clients include NGOs, local and national governments, businesses and learning institutions. I also work with individual practitioners including leadership coaches, educators, psychotherapists, outdoor leaders, academics, writers, conservationists and artists.

I work at the intersection of psychology, outdoor leadership and sustainability.

Since 1996 I have designed and delivered outdoor programmes for psychological well-being and sustainability to a wide diversity of organisations and individuals. I have also taught, supervised and researched extensively in the academic sector and am published in several languages.

I have a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Design and a Masters of Science (Dist.) in Human Ecology. I am a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology (UK) and am on the editorial boards of several international journals. I am a National Governing Body qualified outdoor instructor in both the United Kingdom and Aotearoa New Zealand.


I was greatly impressed by the depth of Dave’s expertise, insights and empathic connection to the landscape as he led our group of wild lawyers through the wilderness of the Knoydart Peninsula in Scotland.

Cormac Cullinan
Organisation:Cullinan & Associates

Dave is a very gifted facilitator who is able to connect people from all walks of life and to create a safe environment in which learning, practice and storytelling can happen for everyone. I came away from this course feeling enriched and with a new sense of direction for my own life and work path.

Karen Liebenguth
Organisation:Greenspace Life Coaching

Dave is an exceptional practitioner, teacher and thinker. We worked together for three years; if the right project came along, I’d have no hesitation in asking Dave to work with me.

Osbert Lancaster
Organisation:Natural Change Limited

Dave is an inspirational, calm and creative facilitator allowing all participants to feel comfortable and able to connect with the wonders of nature.

Jim Riach,
Organisation:Keep Scotland Beautiful

In learning that the wilderness can be such a powerful source of intense natural healing, I have a new and profound respect for the earth and our complex relationship with it. I now know that this is a new beginning.

Louise Macdonald OBE
Organisation:YoungScot

Dave has worked with me and my team for the past few years on team dynamics, programme design, and personal coaching. He is an extraordinary trainer, though that word is a dis-service here, his wealth of experience in the broad fields of outdoor education and facilitated wild experiences is un-paralleled. His attention to detail, subject knowledge, and impeccable research means all learning experiences with him are enlightening, thought provoking, and deeply practical.

Dan Ryan
Organisation:Eden Project

Approaching the beach from the cliff top I had a feeling something profound was going to take place. And when I met Dave it started happening. In just 36 hours I had the best reset I could have imagined and 36-months later I am still enjoying its effects. If you’re reading this and wondering if it’s right for you, just get in touch with Dave and see where life takes you. It helped me and I loved it.

Steve Malkin
Organisation:Planet First

I heartily recommend David’s work to anyone wishing to deepen their understanding and experience within the broad purview of ecotherapy. The bespoke nature and pacing of the work, together with David’s extensive experience, strong companionship and challenge gives a blend of embodied practice with imagination and study, making for a profound synthesis and optimal conditions for deep change.

For me it was a tremendous vessel in which to simmer and steep, one that promoted the risky business of leaping, that served encountering the nobly camouflaged layers of self and led me to “be able to stand in the wreckage of what used to be (my) certainty” and have that be a flourishing of wild and previously unseen truths.

I recommend David, the man and his work, to anyone with heart enough to commit and head enough to set the compass.

Keith Hackwood
Organisation:Synthesis Wales