Rsa Events

In this episode, we’re delighted to share a conversation recently hosted by our Regenerative Futures programme team, which brought together a group of leading designers and entrepreneurs who are breaking new ground in the field of circular design.Since 2011, the RSA and EMF have been working together to accelerate change and support the transition to a more sustainable, regenerative future. Through initiatives such as the Rethink Fashion project, our work has focused on advancing the circular agenda and supporting the next generation of creative talents to design for a circular future.We are delighted to add another element to our collaborative endeavours: “partnership for change”. The partnership will see both organisations co-create tools, resources, events and projects to inspire, educate and engage communities around the topic of circular design, and increase understanding and practice.The partnership launch event introduces our work in progress, including projects across our systemic change initiatives,

Crisis can bring us together, if we let it remind us what really matters.In March 2020, as the pandemic took hold across the world, beloved children’s author Michael Rosen became seriously ill with coronavirus. During several months in hospital, he observed first-hand the many different kinds of love that bind us to one another, and recorded his path to recovery under the remarkable care of loved ones and strangers.In his new book, Many Different Kinds of Love, he shares the story of his journey to the brink and the people who brought him back. He reflects on the power of compassion and community, and the institution that embodies both: the NHS. He considers how illness and recovery change us, and how we can move forward from a period of shared grief and loss. How can a renewed awareness of our own vulnerability and deep interdependence help shape a society built on care?Michael Rosen speaks with the BBC’s Sophie Raworth about his experiences of a year that has changed everything, and shares the lessons we ca

The social contract shapes everything: our political institutions, legal systems and material conditions, but also the organisation of family and community, our well-being, relationships and life prospects. And yet everywhere, the social contract is failing. At a time of global crisis, when we have an opportunity to think afresh about the future we want, visionary economist Minouche Shafik puts forward a new and hopeful framework for social, economic, and political recovery – one with profound implications for gender equality, education, healthcare provision and the future of work.Encouraging us to ask what we owe to each other – how we might better balance individual with collective responsibility, pool risks and share resources - Baroness Shafik identifies the key principles that every society must adopt if it is to meet the challenges of the coming century - and improve our life together. The RSA has been at the forefront of societal change for over 250 years –  our proven approach to change, and global ne

Over recent months, we have seen individuals, communities and organisations embracing uncertainty as an opportunity for innovation, experimentation and renewal.Last year gave us all the signals we need to actively question whether the old normal is healthy and sustainable for the long term, as pandemic shock exposed deep fault-lines in our social and economic systems. The energy released in emergency response is creating the foundations for change at different levels of the system, from policymakers to funders, and from professionals to citizens. Across communities, within workplaces, and at the frontlines of public services, we witnessed the emergence of new relationships, new approaches and new mindsets characterised by a spirit of agile, adaptive and entrepreneurial problem-solving and innovation.   This is what the RSA describes as Living Change in action: an approach to change that recognises that living systems are dynamic, complex and interconnected; that identifying root causes and interdependencies i

As interest in green business models increases all over the world, how can we make sure we’re eliminating destructive practices and not merely greenwashing them?  What can we do to achieve growth that is regenerative rather than wasteful, and which instils equity rather than exacerbating inequalities? Per Espen Stoknes, Director of the Center for Sustainability and Energy at the Norwegian Business School in Oslo, guides us through the mindset and mechanisms that we need to move towards a sustainable model of growth that will benefit not only buyers and sellers but society and planet. We already have the tools at our disposal, he argues, but success will depend on scaling innovation, and transforming both government practices and individual behaviours.#RSAGrowthThis conversation was broadcast online on the 25th February 2021. Join us at: www.thersa.org

As we strengthen our connection with one another, we are healthier, more resilient, more productive, more vibrantly creative and more fulfilled. - Dr Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon GeneralAs humans we’re hardwired for connection; the need for community and family have deep roots in our health and wellbeing. The impact of strong relationships and social attachments on the quality of our lives is becoming better understood, but long periods of isolation and social distancing to protect physical health through the Covid-19 pandemic have driven widespread loneliness and loss of a sense of community.Advances in technology enable us to be connected in more ways than ever before, but can also drive us further apart. What about the culture and infrastructure of our societies mean we’re becoming lonelier, and how can we rebuild companionship? How can we invest in our relationships and communities, and remove the stigma of loneliness? Dr Vivek Murthy, 19th and soon to be 21st Surgeon General of the United States is leading t

How do we eat, where does it come from, and what’s gone wrong?Our food systems are fragmented and plagued by short-termism. Even as we have become wealthier and enjoyed greater choice in what we eat, we have failed to balance health and environmental issues with fair and secure access to good quality food.Brexit and the pandemic together have exposed the fragility of the systems upon which we rely, and who tends to suffer when those systems encounter problems. When it comes to food, it’s not just a question of supply chains and logistics; it’s one of justice. Ensuring everyone has choices around food of good quality and quantity is one of the most fundamental issues we face, and one that recent months have demonstrated we are yet to solve. Food policy expert Professor Tim Lang examines the vulnerabilities, strengths, and impacts of our food system, and explores how we can rework it to serve us all fairly, securely, and sustainably.#RSAFoodThis conversation was broadcast online on the 11th February 2021. Join

A year of crisis and confusion has led many of us to think hard about what we really want and need from our working lives.Pandemic shock has up-ended conventional ways of working and prompted profound re-examination of our work-life priorities, practices and pathways.Professor Herminia Ibarra is a leading expert on career development and transition.In an unmissable talk for anyone contemplating a career change or thinking about how to re-define their existing role, Professor Ibarra offers a set of practical strategies to increase our chances of successful reinvention and find greater fulfilment in our working lives.Making significant career moves and life changes most often means living through long and messy periods of uncertainty and doubt. But this is an important and necessary stage in the journey of change – to be embraced, rather than endured, Professor Ibarra argues. Through trial-and-error testing and exploration of our many possible working selves, we can clarify our career goals and aspirations, and

Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life, right? Wrong.This neoliberal ideal of “doing what you love” is actually a recipe for exploitation that is wreaking havoc on our lives and communities. Whether it’s working for exposure and experience, or enduring long hours and poor treatment in the name of ‘being part of the family,’ many of us have fallen into the trap of making sacrifices for the ‘privilege’ of fulfilling work.Understanding the trap, and why we so readily buy into it, will empower us to work less and demand what our work is actually worth. And once freed from those binds, we can finally figure out what actually gives us joy and satisfaction. Drawing on a series of interviews with workers in the cultural, healthcare, sports sectors, among others, author, journalist and podcaster Sarah Jaffe invites us to reimagine a future built on care rather than exploitation. At a time when so many of us have been forced to look again at the way we work, this could not be more important.#RSAWorkT

How can 2021 become a turning point for progress on climate change?With COP26 on the horizon and the incoming Biden administration poised to rejoin the Paris Agreement, climate action will be high on the agenda in 2021. But to make urgently necessary progress towards decarbonisation, the world must go further, embedding transformative economic changes across the board and building on them in the decades to come.This will mean connecting the climate crisis to economic strife and addressing both together, understanding the intersections of social, economic, and environmental policy. It will mean directing investment towards communities that need it most, ending extractive and exploitative practices, and tackling the root causes of our problems instead of just addressing their symptoms.The authors of A Planet to Win join us to discuss the Green New Deal as the most promising and ambitious plan we have at our disposal for saving the planet whilst building a more just society. They explore the principles, practica

Societies showed remarkable resilience and adaptability in 2020: in the face of public health crisis, political polarisation, and economic insecurity, we witnessed extraordinary examples of community solidarity and social innovation.And yet deep uncertainties and challenges lie in wait in the year ahead. To meet these challenges, we need to strengthen the ties that bind us. To reimagine and renew our social contract. To build stronger, more resilient communities, from the ground up.As we look for sources of inspiration and optimism, what lessons can be learnt from the way individuals and communities have navigated past national and global crises? What are the everyday values and practices that we need to re-discover, honour, create and share so that everyone, in every place, can thrive?Authors Hilary Cottam and Marc Stears join Anthony Painter in conversation to explore where we are as a nation in 2021, our hopes and resolutions for the future, and the new ways of thinking, working and organising that we need

An unprecedented global pandemic. The worst global economic recession since the Great Depression. The tipping point for systemic racism. Growing polarisation and conflict. One of the biggest non-nuclear explosions of all time. An alarming increase in wildfires across five continents. 2020 has presented huge challenges for us to respond to.It is human nature to design for need, to design for better, to design for change. We design at our best in times of urgency and crisis, embracing uncertainty as space for creativity and imagination. The crises of 2020 have created the perfect conditions for timely, relevant, optimistic and proactive responses, amongst those of us who lean the most into that designer mindset – whether by nature or nurture, and whether we identify as designers or not. This event brings four 2020 crisis responders together to tell their stories of triumph and failure. From the thinkers creating Covid19 response models for health and care communities in the UK, to the designers innovating towar

Competition laws are failing us on a whole host of issues vital to the public interest. But campaigning lawyer Michelle Meagher has a bold new agenda for reform.We live in the age of big companies, where power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, monopolies are the gold standard, and workers’ rights, the environment and democracy are bulldozed at every level.  With markets further narrowing due to the recent collapse of smaller businesses, emergency cartelising of industry-giants, and the passing of secret government contracts to allied suppliers, it is becoming ever more obvious that our current approach to market regulation is failing us. But there is another way.Author and lawyer Michelle Meagher proposes an alternative framework to control capitalism from the inside - a fair and comprehensive competition law that limits unfair mergers, enforces accountability and redistributes power through stakeholder governance. This conversation was broadcast online on the 3rd December 2020. Join us at:

Changing what we do with our money could be one of the most powerful tools at our disposal for tackling the climate crisis – but putting our money where our values are can be complicated. How do we match our priorities with the opportunities available for investing ethically? Is divestment the only way? And how can we tell what is genuinely transformative, and what is just ‘greenwashing’?What matters, says finance expert Alice Ross, is not just avoiding harmful companies and practices, but directing what we have towards initiatives that actively make a difference. She explores the key questions at the heart of green investing, and shows how we can harness our own economic power, however large or small, to protect the environment, decarbonise the economy, and accelerate the move towards a greener future.#RSAclimateThis conversation was broadcast online on the 26th November 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org

RSA President’s Lecture 2020As we navigate a series of urgent global crises, how might cities and communities be empowered to respond in ways that are ecologically safe and socially just?Doughnut Economics proposes a set of core principles for creating economies that are regenerative and distributive by design. What happens when these principles are put into practice? In her 2020 RSA President’s Lecture, Kate Raworth, author of the book, and co-founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab, tells the story of what happens when the Doughnut meets the City, and what it takes to turn a radical idea into transformative action that is now starting to spread, spontaneously, around the world.The event will be introduced by HRH The Princess Royal, RSA President.The RSA’s programme of work on Regenerative Futures  explores how a regenerative approach can unlock better ways of organising our economy and our societies, to tackle the complex challenges society faces today.This podcast contains references to a presentation giv

Creativity matters now more than ever. But for too long we’ve been told that it’s a mysterious gift granted to a select few. Nonsense, says Seth Godin. Creativity is a choice.The turbulent events of 2020 have presented an opportunity for pause and self-reflection. A moment to look at our lives, and to ask what truly gives them meaning and purpose.In the face of crisis and constraint, many people have been moved to rediscover their innate creativity. To renew their commitment to doing good work that matters. To seek new sources of connection with others. And new ways to apply creative thinking to the challenges of our times.Seth Godin and Adam Grant are two of the world’s leading thinkers on good work and creativity. Their writings and teaching have helped millions put the desire to lead a more creative and generous life into daily practice.To celebrate the publication of Seth Godin’s new book The Practice, they come together for an exclusive, unmissable RSA conversation.Join these two masters of their craft t

There is growing concern that Covid-19 disruption is creating the conditions for a rise in school exclusions. Who do we need to listen to, what needs to change, and how can we work better together to support educators, parents and policymakers to address the problem of exclusions at its roots?The RSA’s Pinball Kids project explores the underlying factors that lead to school exclusions, and looks to learn from best practice to support those students most at risk.As exclusion rates in England remain stubbornly high, and pandemic upheaval only increases the complexity of the challenges involved, RSA Associate Director Mark Londesborough is joined by an expert panel to explore the impact exclusion has on lives and learning, and to ask: how can we support the young people who most need our help not only to stay in, but to thrive in school?Read the report here.This podcast contains references to a presentation given here.#PinballKidsThis conversation was broadcast online on the 12th November 2020. Join us at: www.t

Black women’s experience is now moving from the private to the public sphere, bringing with it new opportunities and challenges for those on the frontline of change.Following on from the acclaimed Slay in Your Lane, timely new anthology Loud Black Girls invites a new generation of writers, artists and activists to explore the richness and variety of what it means to exist as a black woman in a turbulent political age.At a time when black women find themselves increasingly courted, and yet continuously minoritised and stereotyped, essayists Paula Akpan, Jendella Benson and Kuba Shand-Baptiste join leadership coach and equality campaigner Michelle Moore to explore how to navigate an uncertain terrain while staying true to your values. How to wield influence with authenticity. How to own your history, your narrative, your work. How to empower your community and carry the torch forward for others. Join us for an unmissable conversation with ‘loud black girls’ determined to build a future where every voice is hear

Covid-19 brought with it a mass global experiment in working from home. And with the results now in, 2020 looks set to be the year that changed office life forever.Pandemic lockdown forced companies worldwide into a crash course in remote working. For many, it was a bumpy ride at first. But six months in, the data shows a remarkably swift and widespread adaptation to new working practices, cultures and technologies. In a recent survey, over three quarters of UK CEOs said home working is here to stay, with greater flexibility, digital transformation and lower density office space, all set to become permanent features of the future of work. With work now increasingly what we do, rather than a place we go, leaders face new challenges to ensure remote work is good work for all. How do we maximise the gains while attending to growing concerns around employee health and wellbeing, inclusion and equity? Who wins and who loses from WFH? Bruce Daisley is one of the world's most influential voices on fixing work. He jo

Humans are hard-wired for community, but our political and economic systems have encouraged and rewarded extreme individualism for far too long. How can we rethink how we do things to put collective purpose back at the centre? Modern economics has for many years been driven by a belief which is no longer tenable: that ‘greed is good’. This mode of thinking has contributed to environmental destruction and vast inequality, and caused us to lose sight of an important truth about ourselves and each other: that we are cooperative, communal beings. Economics professors Paul Collier and John Kay, joining us in conversation with Bloomberg’s Head of Economics Stephanie Flanders, tell us we have reached a point of ‘peak greed’, where our politics have become centred around the idea of the self. How can we maintain the conviction and self-belief we need to address our most urgent challenges, whilst healing divisions and acting as part of something bigger than ourselves? Putting mutuality and common purpose back at the h