RSA Events

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 change, economic and climate crisis are intensifying insecurity and inequality. The need to seed cohesion, change and regeneration has never been more urgent. So how do we move forward?By taking a frank and honest look at the nature and scale of the problems we’re currently facing, we can begin to explore the scope of the change needed, and imagine how we might reform state and society to create a fairer, more sustainable future.There are huge challenges ahead, but if we respond with radical thinking, concerted action and serious ambition, we can create a future that is better than the present. Policy thinker James Plunkett and social innovator Sophia Parker share their ideas for how to get started.#RSAEndStateThis conversation was broadcast online on the 7th October 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 the need for community and social infrastructure to underpin recovery. Communities across the UK share common desires for the future and an appetite and ambition for change in the long term. Imaginative thinking is vital to help communities realise these ambitions and to prosper and thrive, but in the current crisis it can be hard for communities to find the capacity and capability for strategic foresight, leaving the act of imagining our collective futures to those in positions of privilege and power.So what will it take to resource and nurture community capacity to imagine better futures? How can we build the social, political, economic and cultural conditions that ensure communities have agency in shaping their futures? What can local authorities and communities themselves do to translate these visions into action? And what might the potential be of opening up this space? With a panel of leading voices and an original poem performed by Inua Ellams, this event explores the possibilities of futures thinking and the role of imagination for thriving and prosperous communities. Produced in partnership with the Emerging Futures Fund. The Emerging Futures Fund is a The National Lottery Community Fund funding programme investing in our collective imaginations by equipping communities with the capacity, skills and resources required to anticipate and shape the future.#RSAFuturesThis conversation was part of a webinar that took place on the 28th September 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 crises, there is an urgent need to re-build trust between political leaders and institutions, and to re-commit to active partnership and collaboration on our shared challenges, from climate change to good work and economic security for all. Join us at RSA house as we explore how we can respond to these challenges.#RSABarnierThis conversation was broadcast online on the 29th September 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 challenging conventional wisdoms alive after him. Each ‘Fight’ will pit leading advocates of different visions of how society functions against each other.The inaugural fight, to mark the first anniversary of David’s death, is a debate between the renowned economists Thomas Piketty, author of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, and Michael Hudson, author of “And Forgive Them Their Debts”.Thomas Piketty wrote the preface to the tenth anniversary edition of “Debt: the First 5000 Years”. Michael Hudson’s anthropological research into the origins of money and debt in ancient Sumeria was the basis of much of David’s analysis in that book.Piketty and Hudson have advocated different ways to avoid capitalism collapsing under the weight of debt and inequality. For Piketty, it’s ensuring that the rate of return on private capital exceeding the economy’s growth rate (r>g) is counteracted by taxing the rich. For Hudson, it’s a Debt Jubilee: write down private debt and free us from debt peonage.Join us for an unmissable encounter between two celebrated and highly influential economic thinkers as they debate: what is money and what is debt? What are the most serious problems of today’s finance-capital economies? And what are the best remedies?#RSAdebtThis conversation was part of a webinar that took place on the 23rd September 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 transformative facilitation as a new way of creating change. By focusing on removing the obstacles to everyone connecting and contributing equitably, he says, we can enable real breakthrough. He offers a guide for how we can all become better mediators; bridging our differences, distributing power, and moving forward together.#RSAbreakthrough This conversation was broadcast online on the 23rd September 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 explore the earliest signs and causes of climate change in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, through the advancing realisation that global warming was a significant problem in the 1950s and right up to the growth of the environmental movement, climate scepticism and present-day political responses.The science and numbers are vital to understanding climate change but they’re only part of the story. If we really want to understand the evolution of the climate crisis, we’re going to have to look deeper at the story behind the science; who commissioned what, why, when, and how was it received? This is a new perspective on the climate crisis, exploring deep back-stories, fascinating characters and asking the crucial question: how can we harness the ingenuity and intelligence that has driven the history of climate change research to create a more sustainable and bearable future for humanity?Look out for more events on this theme coming up in our Regenerative Futures programme this autumn. #RSAclimate This conversation was broadcast online on the 16th September 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 friendships, can undermine intimacy, honesty and creativity. In a life ruled by fear we strive for success but are rarely happy. And the more we try to win, the more we risk losing ourselves.But what if we replace fear with something more hopeful? What if we could find courage in our true voice, and connect with the people around us on a deeper level?One of the world’s most influential and sought-after psychologists, Dr Pippa Grange encourages us to live with less fear, to find deeper fulfilment and live freer lives. Pippa has worked with some of the biggest names in sport and business and her strategies for fearing less have widely been credited with transforming the mind-set of the England football team at the 2018 World Cup.#RSAFearLess This conversation was broadcast online on the 8th July 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 for younger generations – but young people are resourceful and resilient, and should have a voice in deciding the future they will have to live with.Youth activist and social entrepreneur Jeremiah Emmanuel reflects on what it means to be a young person in the UK today, exploring themes of identity, justice, politics, and belonging. He examines the barriers facing young people that ultimately affect us all, and presents a hopeful account of how to move forward in a world that holds so many back.#RSAYouthThis conversation was broadcast online on the 1st July 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

RSA Student Design Awards 2021 Keynote AddressJoin 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 profound transitions to meet the challenges brought by climate change, ageing, growing inequality and the future of work.Jennie will talk about why we need radical creation to meet these challenges. Drawing on fifteen years of pioneering design for social good, she’ll show what designers can do to tackle complex social challenges and how design itself is changing to change systems.Jennie is the founder of ALT/Now, a group of international collaborators leading practical programmes for system innovation, leads systeminnovation.org at the Rockwool Foundation in Denmark and is a member of The Point People. As a co-founder of Participle, she designed the new public services featured in  Radical Help.Join us to hear insights from Jennie’s design career at the forefront of movements such as Transformation Design - a journey that started in 1999, when, as a student at the Glasgow School of Art, she won an RSA Student Design Award.#RSADesignThis conversation was broadcast online on the 29th June 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 is an international phenomenon, and one which has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic.While recent years have seen more awareness of the crisis, our collective response has fallen drastically short. There is an urgent need for further research and action to support LGBTQ+ homeless youth populations across the world and to respond to the problems the pandemic has heightened. So how can we do better at protecting young people driven from their homes because of their sexual orientations and gender identities?We can start by supporting the organizations that provide housing to LGBTQ+ youth. We need to be advocates, urging policy makers to fund housing initiatives, and prioritize homeless LGBTQ+ youths in their agendas. And we need to address the rejection and hostility that LGBTQ+ people face that can force them from their homes. We can and should do better to address this crisis.#RSAHomelessnessThis conversation was broadcast online on the 24th June 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org