Talk: ‘Cultural Heritage, Creativity & Community’ - The Big Picture Conference, Scotland’s Rewilding Event

In September 2026, I was invited to speak at The Big Picture Conference, Scotland, Scotland’s biannual rewilding gathering at Perth Concert Hall, as part of the conference theme Rewilding with People and Place. My talk, Cultural Heritage, Creativity and Community, brought an ethnological and human ecological perspective to conversations around nature recovery, exploring how cultural memory, traditional knowledge, placenames, music, song and creative practice shape relationships with the living world. Drawing on work with the Findhorn Watershed Initiative and my ongoing creative practice in Abriachan, I explored nature restoration as a cultural as well as ecological process – asking what becomes possible when communities have the agency to know, care for and continually remake the places where they live.

“I loved listening to you speak at the rewilding conference — such beautiful words and sentiments. I appreciated the reminder that we can’t grieve a loss we aren’t aware of, and so many don’t know what has been lost. But also thinking about how to honour the current losses as landscape changes now, and how to do that with the people directly affected. So much to think about. Beautifully, beautifully done.”

“Mairi’s wonderful talk focused on the human, social, cultural elements of nature restoration, reminding us that such efforts can enhance our connections to place, and perhaps even re-establish that connection.Akin to the new patterns created when darning, she reminded us that people, creativity, and connections to our shared past can help us shape a shared, thriving future.”

Read more here

The adapted script of my talk is here: https://www.mairimcfadyen.scot/blog/2026/9/18/talk-text-cultural-darning-amp-mending-in-a-rewilding-landscape