RSA Events

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: www.thersa.org

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 given here.#RSAeconomyThis conversation was broadcast online on the 25th November 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 to learn how to find your voice, figure out the change you seek to make, and commit to impact.#RSAgoodworkThis conversation was broadcast online on the 19th November 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org

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.thersa.org

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 heard and celebrated.#loudblackgirlsThis conversation was broadcast online on the 28th October 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 joins RSA US Director Alexa Clay for an essential briefing on the great remote working experiment: what we learned, and how to prepare wisely for what comes next.#RSAgoodworkThis conversation was broadcast online on the 22nd October 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 heart of our societies, they tell us, will mean strengthening our ‘politics of place’, and returning power to communities.#RSAindividualismThis conversation was broadcast online on the 15th October 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org

As the world faces the critical issues of Covid-19, climate emergency and political disquiet, what are the novel democratic approaches we can deploy to tackle these acute and existential challenges? How can a more ‘active democracy’ break political deadlock, build civic trust and drive transformative collaboration between government, civil society and communities? One month on from Climate Assembly UK’s reported recommendations and with the US election looming, RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor is joined in conversation with OECD policy analyst Claudia Chwalisz, chief executive of Reboot Panthea Lee and professor of politics Graham Smith to explore practical strategies for long-term change. This event marks the London launch of the OECD report on innovative citizen participation and new democratic institutions: Catching the Deliberative Wave. Read the report here. This podcast contains references to a presentation given here.#RSAdemocracy This conversation was broadcast online on the 8th October 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org

How can the ones who have been winning at this broken game become the ones to change the rules for good?The excesses of capitalism left unchecked are catching up with us, in the form of huge inequality, environmental disaster, and institutional collapse. Can business, which has until now been part of the problem, become part of the solution?What we urgently need, argues economics professor Rebecca Henderson, are businesses with a purpose beyond profit, that can create sustainable shared value for people and the planet. Ethical and economic arguments, she tells us, align more often than we might think, so businesses acting as agents of the change we desperately need is not only plausible, but absolutely necessary. Henderson makes a compelling case for the power and duty of socially and environmentally responsible business to transform capitalism, and shares her vision for a system where good business means doing what is right.#RSAeconomyThis conversation was broadcast online on the 1st October 2020. Join us at: www.thersa.org