RSA Events

The focus on sustainable design has led to a great deal of positive change in our shared built environment, but for two visionary systems change thinkers, it’s now time to embrace a radical, regenerative design approach for a truly flourishing future.   Michael Pawlyn, founder of the innovative biomimicry architecture firm Exploration , has joined forces with Sarah Ichioka, urbanist and leader of...

The modern workplace can be tough to navigate. But women of colour in particular are hired, promoted, paid, and retained at lower rates than other groups. Many underrepresented women feel like they need to work twice as hard to get half the recognition. What needs to change to level the playing field? What can underrepresented women do for themselves and each other to get to where they want to be?...

Much like 2020’s, the events of 2021 have largely been dwarfed by the ongoing Covid crisis. The second year of the global pandemic challenged the globe with more overwhelming loss, restriction and separation. Glimmers of normal life appeared after heroic mass vaccination campaigns, but with 5.2 million deaths and another variant on the loose, it seems our old ‘normal’ is retreating ever further in...

‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’ was Churchill’s infamous wartime quip, and the early days of the pandemic seemed the ideal opportunity to pivot to a fairer way of life in Britain. Cherished systems were re-invented wholesale, underpaid frontline workers propped up the nation and big state intervention saved millions of lives – prime conditions for a shake-up of priorities. But as the months...

Regenerative Futures: redesigning the human impact on earth Dr Daniel Christian Wahl is awarded the 2021 RSA Bicentenary Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to regenerative design. In his Medal address, Dr Wahl will offer reflections on 20 years of research and professional practice exploring the role of design as a catalyst for the transition towards a future of diverse regenerat...

From vaccine misinformation to racist and misogynistic abuse, the scale of harmful content online is a cause of increasingly widespread public concern. Meanwhile, recent whistle-blower accounts from within Big Tech have shed new light on the nature of the algorithm design and business models that are driving the amplification of toxic content and threatening both individual safety and wider societ...

'Fashion has to reflect who you are' Pharrell Williams. Despite its fun reputation, the fashion industry isn't a trifling part of the climate change equation. The UN Environment programme estimates that it is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions – more than international flights and maritime shipping combined. But it's not just a case of carbon - the industry is a systemic offender tha...

What would our cities look like if they were designed with mental wellbeing, equity, and restoration at their core? Many cities around the world are built on models that haven’t kept pace with growing urban populations and the imperative to halt damage to the climate – which means millions living high-cost, high-stress lives in polluted, overcrowded surroundings. How can cities be better geared to...

The pandemic exposed the risks and weaknesses of the market-driven global system like never before, revealing a critical lack of institutional preparation and failings of the basic apparatuses of state administration.   It also revealed that states could exercise experimental policy and control over the economy when necessary: governments around the world introduced new measures and spent whatever...

We know climate change is the big existential challenge of our time and must be matched by the scale of our global response. Some have expressed scepticism about the potential for COP26 to bring about meaningful change, but with public appetite for climate action reaching new heights, is now the time when people power and formal politics could converge?    It can’t all be left up to the people in...

Work allows us to pay the bills – but for lots of people, it’s become about more than that. Many of us derive a sense of purpose or identity from our work: is this a consequence of more people being able to choose work that’s meaningful to them, or simply of work consuming more of our lives than ever? And what if we don’t get meaning or purpose from what we do for a living? Transforming work for t...

Now is the time to rethink our future and how we get there. Can we harness digital technology to tackle poverty and increase social mobility? Could reforming work help reverse the mental health crisis? And what could happen if we empower communities to imagine and shape their futures? We are facing big questions about the kind of society and economy we need and want. Technological and demographic...

The role of imagination for thriving and prosperous communities.   As we emerge from the pandemic there is a collective opportunity to rethink and to create bold, community-led practices that can steer us towards a better future. This is the time for imagining radical initiatives that match the size and complexity of the challenges we face.  The government’s overarching aim to ‘level up’ speaks to...

As Chief Negotiator for the EU, Michel Barnier was at the very heart of the Brexit process over four turbulent years. He visits the RSA to reveal insights from one of the most complex sets of talks in modern political history, to share his perspective on the lessons learned on both sides of the negotiating table, and to look forward to a new chapter in EU-UK relations. At a time of interconnected...

r versus g? Or a Debt Jubilee? David Graeber’s bestselling book “ Debt: The First 5000 Years”  revolutionised our understanding of the origins of money and the role of debt in human societies. But intellectual revolutions take time, and David’s sudden and untimely death left this revolution unfinished. David’s widow Nika Dubrovsky has established ‘The Fight Club’ to keep David’s unique way of chal...

How can we make progress together when faced with increasingly complex challenges? The major challenges of our time demand creative and collaborative solutions. But they’re not always easy to come by: we face increasing complexity and, often, decreasing control. We need to work with people across more divides. How can we move forward in ever less straightforward situations? Adam Kahane presents tr...

How did the world become addicted to fossil fuels? How did we discover that electricity may be our saviour? Who first sounded the alarm bell for climate change, and how could we seemingly ignore all these papers from the 1960s or 1970s musing that “if” we didn’t do anything, climate change could worsen significantly after the year 2000? As we look forward to COP26, Alice Bell takes us back to expl...

What is fear costing you? Your career; connection with others; believing in yourself? Fear is part of all of our lives but left unchecked it can drive many negative emotions and hold us back from finding fulfilment. Fear of failure, inadequacy and rejection can make us jealous, self-critical or turn us into perfectionists. Cultures of fear in the workplace, in family relationships and in friendshi...

Where are the opportunities for young people navigating an era rife with challenges? Studies show that many of the social and economic consequences of the pandemic have hit younger people the hardest, in a time when many were already facing adversity. Declining living standards, heightened insecurity, and deepening social divisions are changing what work, home, education, and community look like f...

RSA Student Design Awards 2021 Keynote Address Join us for this special event celebrating the 2020/21 RSA Student Design Awards programme and the power of design to make a positive social impact. The 2021 SDA Keynote Address will be delivered by internationally renowned designer and social innovator, Jennie Winhall. System innovation is the challenge of an age in which society needs to make profou...

Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia within families and within communities drives thousands of young people into homelessness. In the US, studies show that LGBTQ+ youths make up 40% of the nation’s total homeless youth population, despite LGBTQ+ youth comprising merely 5% of the overall youth population. In the UK, it is estimated that one in four trans people have experienced homelessness. This...

Rethinking Education III | Beyond the School Gates: the role of schools in the wellbeing of communities   Throughout the pandemic, schools have played a central role in the wellbeing of local communities, especially in the most disadvantaged areas. School leaders have provided high quality and safe learning environments, reassurance for staff, parents and students and maintained critical relations...

Innovations are emerging worldwide to address the challenges of a rapidly changing future of work.   The pandemic is likely to accelerate the pace of technological change and automation globally. To secure a future where good work is available to all, we will need new approaches to skills, training and lifelong learning, to economic security and to worker voice and power. To launch the RSA Good Wo...

As nation-states grapple with generation-defining issues from the Covid-19 pandemic to the climate crisis, what role does civil society play in addressing the issues of our time? For the first time since President Biden took office and the UK left the EU, the G7 countries will come together at the 2021 summit in England to discuss the pandemic, prosperity, climate change, and shared values. But wi...

In ordinary times, our exam system ensures that a third of young people finish school without the qualifications they need to progress. Now, after two years of cancelled exams, public dismay at algorithmic blindness to the true nature of student achievement, and after millions of the most disadvantaged children have missed out on key learning milestones, there has never been a more critical time t...