Adam Bienenstock
Champion of Nature Play and Outdoor Learning
Adam Bienenstock is a distinguished speaker, author, designer, and educator, renowned for his steadfast advocacy of nature play and outdoor learning. He believes that every child deserves the chance to build a genuine connection with nature.
His work is at the nexus of environment, health, education, and economy, specifically focusing on how we design and build regenerative landscapes for optimal child development, biodiversity, and physical and mental health through thriving soil and gut microbiome.
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Adam has collaborated with the US National Parks Service, Parks Canada, US Fish and Wildlife, Canadian Wildlife Federation, Green Schools National Network, Green Schoolyards America, and Nature Play Australia, among others. He has spoken at The House of Commons (Canada), The Global Summit on Health and Nature, ASLA, CSLA, NRPA, NAEYC, C&NN conventions and various municipal governments underlining his commitment to influencing policy and community practices.
Relentless Advocate
Internationally Acclaimed Speaker
Presenter to Thousands Worldwide
Through his work, Adam helps audiences uncover the transformative power of nature play and outdoor learning, inspiring them to become involved in the revolution to create enriching natural environments where children can explore, learn, and thrive.
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Upcoming & Recent Engagements
Adam’s expansive repertoire includes workshops, talks and community events on topics spanning human health, environmental sustainability and regeneration, child development, and playground design. See below for some upcoming and recent engagements.
Upcoming Conferences
Speaker: Adam Bienenstock - Scaling Nature, ASTC Conference
September 16 to 19, 2026 | Phoenix, Arizona
Keynote Speaker: Adam Bienenstock - Getting Past the Grownups, Maine AEYC 2026 Statewide Early Childhood Conference
October 23, 2026 | Bangor, Maine - Cross Insurance Center
Recent
2026 Take Me Outside Outdoor Learning Conference
May 7–9, 2026 | Banff, Alberta
2026 Take Me Outside Outdoor Learning Conference
Speaker: Adam Bienenstock – “Scaling Nature: Harnessing Humor, Hope and Data to Re-Nature our Schools, Regenerate Soil Health, Restore Immune Systems and Replenish Joy”
CASC Conference 2026
April 28–30, 2026 | Sudbury, Ontario - Science North
Pannelist: Adam Bienenstock – Living Classrooms: Reimagining Science, Education, and Community Through Nature
College Board Forum
April 15-16th, 2026 | Vancouver, BC
Speaker: Adam Bienenstock
Global Soil Biodiversity Conference
April 12-15th, 2026 | Victoria, BC
Speaker: Adam Bienenstock – “Soil Biodiversity and Play: Integrating Ecological Restoration and Climate Resilience Through Human–Nature Interactions”
Metis Nation of Ontario - ELCC Conference
March 7-8, 2026 | White Oaks Resort and Spa in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario
Title: “Getting Past the Grown-ups”
Speaker: Adam Bienenstock
Outdoor Discovery Center
March 4th, 2026 | Michigan
Speaker: Adam Bienenstock and Scott Sampson
NAIS Thrive
February 25-27th, 2026 | Seattle, WA
Title: From Anxious to Anchored: Rewilding Schools Through Leadership, Sensory Learning & Community Culture
Presenters: Adam Bienenstock (Re-Nature Foundation) & Morgan Scoville (The Fay School / NAIS)
Colorado Open Space Alliance 2025
October 6, 2025 | Colorado
Playing in the Margins: Where Open Space, Urban Space, and Community Meet
Speaker
co-presenter: David Skuodas, Mile High Flood District
GSA | Community of Practice Calls
March 20, 2025 | (Virtual)
Play England Webinar
Jan 15, 2025 | (Virtual)
This webinar will highlight and discuss some of these important topics and methodologies.
Picture your favourite place to play as a child. Perhaps it was a hidden nook in the woods, the rambling creek behind your house, or the hundred-year-old elm tree in the schoolyard.
Call to mind the vivid smells, sounds and stories evoked by that magical space.
Did it make you feel safe? Powerful? Creative?
Those feelings—that natural space—carried you through childhood and, if you’re lucky, inform the person you are today. Bienenstock tirelessly seek out projects that allow them to provide these natural play spaces for a new generation of children around the world.
Texas Children in Nature Network Summit
December 10-13, 2024 | Waco, TX
Adam shares compelling research and anecdotal evidence that demonstrates how greening school environments and community spaces can enhance children’s development, improve immune system health, and promote environmental regeneration. He integrates conversations about natural playground equity, early childhood development, natural playground design, living landscapes to regenerate biodiversity, mitigating the heat island effect, the fascinating link between the soil & gut microbiomes, and the endless benefits of connecting children to nature year-round.
Children and Nature Network Conference
May 28-31, 2024 | Madison, WI
This signature breakout session will focus on the importance of unstructured nature play, or risky play, for children’s healthy development and offer real-world strategies for developing nature play spaces and playgrounds, including design considerations, certification, risk management and more. The session will feature a moderated panel of international experts.
Adam Bienenstock is founder of Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds, an advocate for children’s rights and nature play, and an author and designer. Adam has traveled globally to advocate for the rights of children and their place in nature, and to design spectacular natural parks, playgrounds and outdoor classrooms. Adam strikes a perfect balance with every workshop, keynote and interview he shares. He combines real-world experience, practicality and research in a way that clearly illustrates why the way forward for children, youth and society can be found in nature.
College Board Canada Forum
May 23-24, 2024 | Edmonton, AB
Connecting Students to their Future by Connecting them to Nature: Mainstreaming National Environmental Literacy.
The Natural Way Forward (TNWF) Conference
April 22-24, 2024 | Hasselt, Belgium
Keynote: “Optimal Environments for Our Children: What’s New is Old, How Nature Solves Most Challenges, and The Obvious Irony of a Keynote From a North American Perspective”
Workshop: “Designing Natural Play Spaces”
Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference (RMECC)
March 8-9, 2024 | Denver, CO, USA
Workshop: “Nature Play: Practical Solutions to Support Children’s Health & Development of Children”
Green Schools Conference
March 5-7, 2024 | Santa Fe, NM, USA
Talk: “Empathy, Immunity and Nature: The Symbiotic Relationship”
Signature Keynote Topics
Unlock the gateway to inspiration and insight with Adam’s compelling array of keynote topics, designed to ignite curiosity and drive change.
Keynote #1: Living Soil and the Biodiversity Hypothesis
Dive into the fascinating world beneath our feet as Adam explores the interconnectedness of soil health, biodiversity, and human well-being.
Keynote #2: Designing Playgrounds with a Net Positive Environmental Impact
Discover how innovative playground design can help to restore natural biodiversity, regenerate the environment, mitigate the heat island effect, and promote drought resistance.
Keynote #3: Ensuring Natural Playground Accessibility and Equity
Join Adam in exploring strategies to ensure that all children have equal access to the enriching experiences of natural play environments, irrespective of factors like age, ability, interests, or socioeconomic status.
Keynote #4: Connecting Gut Health, Human Health, and the Soil Microbiome
Learn how nurturing our connection to nature can promote better health outcomes, and explore the fascinating research that links the soil microbiome and human gut health.
Now is the time for a return to nature.
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