Richard Whiston

Catch Richard Whiston on Do Radio: Where To Next with Mike Warwick 6th - 12th April 2026.

Richard Whiston is a community gardener, facilitator, and long-time explorer of what it means to live in relationship with the world rather than in control of it. Based at the Salisbury Centre in Edinburgh, a place with a long history of spiritual and communal experimentation, Richard’s work weaves together ecology, spirituality, and lived practice into a philosophy of “regenerative culture.”

At the heart of his work is a shift in perspective from what he calls an “extractive” way of living, where we act upon the world, to a regenerative one, where we allow the world to act upon us. Through years of facilitating community gardens and working with thousands of visitors, Richard has come to see this process as deeply reciprocal: while tending the land, we are ourselves being reshaped, expanded, and brought back into relationship with something larger.

Richard’s thinking draws on a rich blend of influences, including over thirty years of Aikido practice, the spiritual framework of A Course in Miracles, and a lifelong engagement with creativity beyond conventional definitions of art.

Through his Regenerative Being workshops, Richard now shares this embodied knowledge with individuals and organisations seeking new ways of working and living. His work invites a simple but profound reorientation: that by embracing patience, kindness, and a willingness to be changed, we might begin to participate more fully in the living systems we are already part of.