RSA Events

Iris Bohnet, professor of public policy at Harvard University, demonstrates the tools we need to ‘move the needle’ on gender, from classrooms to boardrooms, and offers new research-based solutions for improving businesses, governments and people’s lives.

Is growing inequality a price worth paying for London’s continued economic success? As London’s economy continues to outpace the rest of the UK, so does the inequality gap. Is such inequality an inevitable by-product of the city’s growth, rewarding those who risk their capital to create employment, for example? Or, will it eventually derail the city’s upward progression, and push out those whom Lo...

Who really drives transformation in society? And how do they do it? Skoll Foundation President and CEO Sally R. Osberg and strategy guru Roger L. Martin set forth a bold new framework for social entrepreneurship, demonstrating how and why meaningful change actually happens in the world, and providing concrete lessons and a practical model for businesses, policymakers, civil society organisations,...

Whilst we strive for stronger personal relationships, to conquer our bad habits or to get ahead in our careers, we often get caught in negative emotional and behavioural patterns that prevent us from moving forward. Meanwhile, the demands of our culture increasingly make us even less able to perform at our best. But by becoming more aware of our own emotional nature, learning how to face our feeli...

In 2015, Yanis Varoufakis became the world’s most prominent opponent of austerity when, as finance minister of Greece, he refused to accept the terms of the loan agreement dictated to his bankrupt country by the eurozone’s leaders. Since resigning his post he has become the figurehead of an international grassroots movement, joining together to put the ‘demos’ back into European democracy. At the...

Western Culture has long separated the mind from the body; and the mind, with its home as the brain, has been privileged as the source of intellect, with the rest of the body annexed as mere matter. But the new field of ‘embodied cognition’, which draws on the latest advances in neuroscience and psychology, offers a richer, more holistic view of intelligence that involves the whole body. At the RS...

Lack of affordable housing is one of the defining social justice issues of our times. Eviction can lead to a cascade of events that can trap families in a cycle of poverty for years. Matthew Desmond is a social scientist and ethnographer, co-director of the Justice and Poverty Project at Harvard University, and a 2015 MacArthur ‘Genius’ award winner. In this election year, Desmond’s landmark work...

In the evolution of human culture from pre-history to the present, changes in ethical values have been driven by the most basic force of all: energy. In a bold new theory, historian Ian Morris argues that humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need – foraging, farming and fossil fuels – and that in each of these epochs, the dominant energy source sets limits on the kinds of socie...

The world is changing fast and public education needs to change with it. But debates about innovation in education can reinforce existing divides – between ‘progressives’ and ‘traditionalists’, between the converted and the sceptical, between the confident and the constrained. How do we break through these divides and craft a unifying challenge to both teachers and systems to grasp how public educ...

What makes us who we are? Child psychologist and writer Oliver James shares his new findings on the nature-nurture debate. Genetics is often cited as the key factor in explaining what makes us who we are. Recently, however, there is increasing weight given to the importance of our childhood in the formation of our ‘persona’. It is our upbringing, and less so our genes, that is critical to achievin...

Can any of us be creative, and if so, how we do we nurture our creativity? How can we advance courageous new ideas, policies and practices without risking it all? New York Times bestselling author and one of Malcolm Gladwell’s favourite thinkers, Professor Adam Grant shows us how to improve the world by championing novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battling conformity, and bucking...

Author Dawn Foster, Fawcett Society CEO Sam Smethers and ‘Token Man’ founder Daniele Fiandaca debate the values that shape the way we live and work together.

Leading innovation expert and former adviser to the US Secretary of State, Alec Ross visits the RSA to give an insider's perspective on the industries of the future.

After huge successes at the helm of Obama’s Open Government Initiative, Professor Beth Simone Noveck visits the RSA to outline a profound new vision of democracy – one that is rooted in the knowledge and know-how of everyday people.

Founder and president of the Public Banking Institute, Ellen Brown, argues we can recapture the sovereign power to create money by reclaiming ownership of the banks.

How do we develop creative approaches to digital media to bring knowledge, skills, critical thinking – and a passion for reading - to all of our children?

Join our panel to discuss how we can ensure devolved governance strengthens democracy and civic engagement.

Paul Morrell OBE explores a range of challenges facing the built environment professions and the need for adaptability at a time of marked institutional, technological and social evolution.

In 2015, Ban Ki-Moon announced the new sustainable development goals as a ‘to-do list for people and planet’. What role should the UK play to help achieve these vital global goals?

Historian Frank Trentmann traces the evolution of our material culture, and reveals how what we consume has become the defining feature of our lives.

Distinguished educationalist Professor Andy Hargreaves asks what it would take to put teachers at the steering wheel of education reform worldwide?

The Mindfulness Insitute’s Jamie Bristow, and columnist Madeleine Bunting consider how widespread mindfulness training can engineer and support a flourishing society.

Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children visits the RSA to talk about creating a 21st century charity.

Economist and former McKinsey partner Caroline Webb shows how to use findings from behavioural economics, psychology, and neuroscience to transform our approach to everyday working life.

Public debate about the possibility and desirability of a basic income - a weekly payment for every citizen – is gathering pace. Is it feasible? Should we do it? Anthony Painter, Director of Policy and Strategy, presents the RSA’s latest thinking.