RSA Events

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 of reportage Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City offers a searing portrait of the contemporary US, where fewer and fewer people can afford a roof over their head. At the RSA, Matthew Desmond is joined by Shelter’s CEO Campbell Robb; journalist Owen Jones and Sky News editor Afua Hirsch, to explore the impact of eviction on the lives of the urban poor and its role in perpetuating racial and economic inequality.

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 societies that can succeed, and each society in turn rewards specific values. Small forager bands valued equality but were ready to settle problems violently. In larger farming societies those who valued hierarchy but avoided conflict did best. In huge fossil-fuel societies, the pendulum has swung back toward equality but further away from violence. But if our fossil-fuel world currently favours open, democratic societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture may well soon signal a new values shift. If so, what might come next?

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 education must change to enable learners and institutions to thrive in the new conditions which confront them? And then how would we go about creating a movement, supported by new systems, platforms and relationships, that would promote radical innovation at all levels, with teachers front and centre but also engaging with a broader range of partners within and beyond schools?

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 achieving wellbeing and fulfilment across our lifespan. The implications of this are profound. As adults we retain the ability to change, but what we learn as children is crucial and, therefore, education is key to shaping who we are individually - and our society as a whole.

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 outdated traditions. But how do we know if we’re harbouring a great idea? How do we counteract fear and self-doubt? Grant debunks the myth that successful nonconformists are born leaders who embrace risk, and encourages us all to spot opportunities for change and innovation.

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?