A view of the landscape in the chiltern hills

Our Story

The Nature Circle came to life through our shared love of the Chilterns and the belief that restoring nature across our landscapes is essential for a resilient future.

The Nature Circle is for leaders and teams who are ready to move beyond business as usual. Over time, we aim to grow a community of humans who understand and care for their local landscapes and are more confident bringing living systems into how they think, lead, and create impact.

Combining experience across the corporate, sustainability and impact worlds, we bring expertise in regenerative practice, nature strategy, leadership and coaching, helping leaders translate living systems learning into meaningful action for their communities and businesses.

We invite you to join us in hands-on experiences of restoration and regeneration, learning from nature and living systems to rethink how we lead and live.

Our experiences immerse you in the unique beauty of the Chilterns... exploring their ancient woodlands, rolling hills, orchards, wildflower meadows, and chalk streams, while experiencing firsthand how nature restoration and regenerative farming helps build resilient landscapes and communities.

We focus on connection: to yourself, to others, and to the natural world. Ideas like resilience, adaptability, and regeneration shift from concepts to living practices. As you walk the land, learn from local leaders, and put your hands in the soil, new perspectives will emerge.

You’ll leave refreshed, inspired, and equipped to lead differently, supported by a community of curious, like-minded peers.

We provide space to explore...

How can learning about living systems help us expand into more resilient ways of leading, living and developing teams?

How does regenerative practice and nature recovery bring resilience to our landscapes, our communities, our businesses and our economy?

What are the success stories of restoring nature in the Chilterns and how are these impacting wildlife, habitats and our local landscapes?

Learn more

Why Nature? Why Now?

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Many of us live and work in urban settings, disconnected from nature and the benefits it brings. This disconnection is at the heart of our nature crisis, holding us back from moving towards sustainable ways of living.

Nature recovery requires systems change and this begins with a mindset shift in how we understand our relationship with nature. Our experiences help leaders to see themselves as part of nature, to understand the value our living landscapes bring to our communities, businesses and our health and wellbeing.

We believe our local landscapes and communities are a powerful place to start this journey, offering a haven for connection and learning about regenerative practices and nature recovery. A pathway to evolve the way we think and lead for a healthier more resilient future.

Learn more

Your Guides

Emma Schofield

2025-11-28 - The Nature Circle -48-2-2.jpg

Emma is a nature strategy advisor working with nature restoration leaders to build connection and partnerships with communities and business. Emma grew up in the Chilterns and enjoys sharing the stories of local nature restoration to inspire deeper understanding of living systems and the value they bring to landscape resilience and strategies for nature. Like Ruth, Emma is a former PwC partner with extensive experience advising boards and leadership teams.

Ruth Dobson

2025-11-28 - The Nature Circle -27_edited_edited-2.jpg

Ruth is an executive coach, facilitator and strategic consultant with nature-connectedness at the heart of her work. Ruth finds joy working with leaders and teams to explore how natural living systems might inform the way we think, work and lead. Her approaches create space for reflection, insight and new perspectives.

Like Emma, Ruth loves volunteering with local conservation groups and supporting nature restoration projects across the Chilterns.

Richard Woodfine

Richard has spent his career working at the intersection of business, science and nature. He leads the land work at Newbarn Farm, including an organic regenerative farm, vineyard, orchard and a wildflower meadow Biodiversity Net Gain site, all prioritising soil health and healthy habitats for wildlife. The work reflects his living systems vision and the important relationship between soil and gut health. He also runs a nature restoration charity and advisory business, helping businesses fund nature restoration.

John Shaw

John is the founder of Chiltern Rangers, a leading team of nature restoration experts working with landowners across the Chilterns to support them on their journey to restore healthy habitats for wildlife and a more resilient landscape. With 20 years experience building relationships with local businesses and communities, his work is grounded in community engagement and education, providing a range of opportunities for local people to engage with nature recovery and learn about the value this brings.

Our Community

The Nature Circle is a community of partners and collaborators working to restore nature and build a resilient landscape across the Chilterns. Regenerating the land, leading conservation and restoration, innovating in health and nutrition, producing food in partnership with nature, engaging and educating our communities. Experts in nature friendly farming and regenerative agriculture, ecology and conservation, geology, history, health and nutrition, communications and finance. Strategists, coaches, farmers, scientists, educators, community builders, business leaders.