You Can Do It — with Professor Richard Ennos | UK Column Interviews

Mar 12, 2026

Professor Richard Ennos, Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh and chair of Common Knowledge Edinburgh, talks about local organising for health, education, food security and community resilience. He shares why face-to-face meetings matter. He discusses community projects like REKO rings, regenerative farming, a people-led Covid inquiry and how small local actions spark wider change.

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ANECDOTE

Retirement Sparked Local Activism

Richard Ennos retired in 2020 and immediately wrote to his department challenging lockdowns, then joined local protests and clandestine meetings before forming Common Knowledge.
His arrest at a 2020 protest and early activism led directly to founding the group to educate locally.

INSIGHT

Face to Face Meetings Rebuilt Community

Common Knowledge prioritized face-to-face meetings because in-person interaction inspires, allows idea exchange, and empowers new public speakers.
Richard and Matthew intentionally resisted the push to go online to rebuild community and local engagement.

ANECDOTE

Small Meetings Led To Practical Projects

Common Knowledge began with 20–40 attendees and covered health, education, and the trans agenda, gaining members who later started projects like schools and food networks.
The group lost some friends but gained supportive new relationships and diverse expertise.

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You Can Do It — with Professor Richard Ennos | UK Column Interviews

Richard Ennos, a retired Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh, had an inspirational conversation with Professor Diane Rasmussen about Richard’s pro-human and anti-globalist group, Common Knowledge Edinburgh, which works locally to raise awareness and fight against the globalist agenda.

Richard was rare among academics in March 2020 when he openly questioned the so-called ‘science’ behind the stated narrative for the Scottish Government’s actions at the time. He was arrested at a November 2020 lockdown protest in Edinburgh. These events contributed toward the formation of his group, Common Knowledge Edinburgh. The Executive Committee, which Richard chairs, is "driven by truth, freedom and the desire for a pro-human future". Richard believes in the power and importance of human community, and what can be accomplished when people work together.

The group holds monthly talks by individuals who will be known to the UK Column audience; recent guests have included Sonia Poulton, The Bowler Hat Farmer, and former midwife Victoria Rixon. In mid-December 2025, it hosted 'Brian Gerrish’s Christmas Message', which aired on Christmas Eve via UK Column.

In February 2025, it held the Scottish People’s Covid Inquiry event. Quoting Richard’s comment piece on UK Column about the event:

The most profound insight that emerged from the conference is that there was no deadly and highly contagious respiratory disease present in Scotland in March 2020. The actual incidence of the illness designated as Covid did not even remotely approach the conditions of a public health emergency. There was no pandemic.

Recordings of all the presentations given at the Scottish People’s Covid Inquiry can be found on the UK Column website, including Diane’s invited talk, ‘The Covid-19 Campaign — Propaganda, Lies, and Fear’.

Health is an important aspect of Common Knowledge Edinburgh's work. Local Abundance is a group that works in partnership with Common Knowledge Edinburgh. It is "a community of like-minded consumers who are concerned about food security and quality. We are seeking to build a direct, mutually supportive relationship with farmers and growers and cultivate a healthier, more viable future". Local Abundance facilitates a monthly REKO Ring to connect local food producers with local consumers.

In September 2025, Common Knowledge Edinburgh worked with Local Abundance to present the Health and Food Festival, which featured talks and vendor stalls by local food suppliers and alternative health practitioners. UK Column’s Charles Malet made the journey up to Edinburgh to attend the festival and give an informative invited talk about the larger governmental and globalist agenda at play that works against UK farmers.

Richard was then moved to organise Common Knowledge Edinburgh’s ‘You Can Do It’ conference, which took place in February 2026. The purpose of the conference was to “hear the experiences of local people who decided they would act on their concerns, took the initiative to provide a solution, inspired others to join them, and are now achieving the results of which they dreamed”. It featured talks from those who chose to take new directions in farming, medicine, education, and politics. Diane gave an invited talk entitled ‘Alternative Media for Journalism with Integrity’.

Join Richard and Diane for their inspirational, positive, and motivational conversation on what it means for each of us to do something, however small, if we don’t like the way the world is going, and how it can be done. You can do it!

The UK Column team is delighted to have developed this special collaboration with Common Knowledge Edinburgh, and they hope it will continue into the future.

Common Knowledge Edinburgh can be found on Substack, X, Rumble, and YouTube. The Local Abundance REKO Ring is on Facebook.