RSA Events

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 without support, solidarity, and citizen engagement, these ambitions for a better world will come to nothing. Activism and political movement-building has always played a key role in democracies around the world – and in an age of crisis, we need people-powered change more than ever. How can grassroots mobilisation drive progress alongside more formal political processes?On the eve of the 2021 G7 summit, Anthony Painter and Leah Greenberg explore the role of progressive political movements as engines of change during the 2020s.This event is co-hosted by the RSA and Das Progressive Zentrum, as part of the 2021 Progressive Governance Digital Summit.#RSAcivilsocietyThis conversation was broadcast online on the 10th June 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

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 to question our approach to assessment.  The questions reach deeper than addressing the unfairness of the exam system, however. With Covid-19 sparking a youth unemployment crisis and social mobility grinding to a halt, do the events of 2020-21 force a fundamental rethink of the capabilities on which school curriculum and assessment should focus? Join us for a new series of Rethinking Education events, bringing together respected practitioners, policymakers and thinkers, to discuss whether the challenges that emerged during the Covid-19 crisis might, in fact, be opportunities to build consensus across political divides and different traditions in teaching and learning.  Each event in the series focuses on one of the key moments of crisis for education during the pandemic, through the lens of either Creativity, Capability or Community - the three pillars of the RSA’s new education programme examining how we can build a more equitable and inclusive education system.#RSAeducation This conversation was broadcast online on the 9th June 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

The more we spend time with people unlike ourselves, doing things together, the more understanding, tolerant, and even friendly we become.And yet, increasingly, most of us spend less and less time with people who are different - as defined by age, race, or class, earning power or education.The pandemic may have forced us apart, but it also reminded us of what we share and value. We witnessed the power of community, connection and common cause. And we saw clearly the urgent work that needs to be done to tackle the barriers that stand in the way of full, equal-status participation and flourishing for everyone in society.Emerging from the crisis, we now have an unprecedented opportunity to bridge our divides and forge a new 'Common Life' - a set of shared practices and institutions - that can strengthen the glue that bonds our societies, in all their diversity.For the health of our democracy, our society, and our economy, the time to act is now.#RSAfractured This conversation was broadcast online on the 3rd June 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

What if women’s untapped power to make change was harnessed to fight the climate crisis?Climate change affects us all globally – but it does not affect us all equally. Vast social and economic inequities mean we don’t all contribute to the climate crisis to the same degree; nor are its effects evenly distributed. Racialised women are the most likely to suffer the consequences of climate change, which they have done the least to cause. Meanwhile, women are marginalised in the spaces where climate solutions are shaped.Gender inequality has helped cause climate catastrophe – and we need gender equality to help us solve it, argues writer and sociologist Anne Karpf. We must see women not simply as the victims nor the sole saviours of our global situation, but as holders of power to make systemic change. She speaks with inspiring women from across the world building movements for gender-inclusive climate action.#RSAclimateThis conversation was broadcast online on the 27th May 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

We need a solid base camp from which to map new routes forward for humanity. One that’s built on a shared understanding of how core human needs and motivations interact with social forces to shape and drive the dynamics of change.Imagine a theory that united perspectives from human psychology to anthropology, from the sociology of groups and organisations to political science and policy design.Imagine if this theory was simple enough for anyone to understand, yet nuanced and practical enough to both diagnose the critical challenges currently facing us - in our communities, workplaces, and public institutions - and to develop new ways to tackle and solve them.Might such a theory not only enrich public debate but also enable us to overcome seemingly intractable divisions in the worldviews emerging from different social science disciplines and ideological starting points?In his final RSA Chief Executive’s event, Matthew Taylor is joined in conversation by author, entrepreneur and CEO Margaret Heffernan to explore the core elements and implications of ‘coordination theory’ – a set of ideas he has been developing and refining for over a decade.He argues that the current inability of either the academy or the political mainstream to offer a broadly accepted account of the dynamics of change means that the science of human progress will continue to fall further behind the science of technological change, with potentially catastrophic results.Read more about Coordination Theory in Matthew Taylor’s latest blog.This Podcast contains audio from the latest RSA Minimate: A framework for change - Matthew Taylor. #RSAchangeThis conversation was broadcast online as part of a webinar on the 19th May 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

Government policies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have reignited the universal basic income (UBI) debate, showing us the vital lifeline that income support can provide. In the US, Congress has distributed nearly $850 billion through three rounds of stimulus checks. In the UK, the furlough scheme and self-employed income support schemes have helped millions to keep their heads above water. But these measures are temporary and specific, so what can they really tell us about the viability of UBI?The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), a 2-year guaranteed income pilot which began pre-pandemic and concluded in March this year has published results showing that the recipients of an unrestricted, reliable $500 monthly income are happier, healthier and better able to find full time work. Could this be the way out of the crisis that we need? Is there scope for UBI to pick up where the crisis-response income-support schemes end? And critically, can UBI really address persistent imbalances in poverty, income, and wealth?Former Stockton Mayor, Founder & Chair of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and driving force behind SEED, Michael Tubbs, and co-chair of the Economic Security Project Natalie Foster join us to explore SEED's findings and what a year of state-funded income support means for the UBI debate.#RSAUBIThis conversation was broadcast online on the 20th May 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

If the way we give to those in need reflects on our values and virtue as a society, what do we see today?Charitable giving has grown in response to the huge areas of need that the Covid crisis has exposed and intensified, in the form of mutual aid groups, donations, and volunteering. How has this changed our communities, our public values, and the ways we help one another?Writer and development expert Paul Vallely is joined by philanthropic activist Sir Bob Geldof and charity director Fran Perrin to explore the big questions for philanthropy today: what does charity mean in an age of increasing inequality? How should charities and the state interact? How can philanthropic giving connect us to one another, and redistribute not just money, but power?The expert panel reflects on the changing state of philanthropy through the ages, from Aristotle to Live Aid to Bill Gates, and asks the role that charity can play in a society built on justice and altruism.#RSAphilanthropyThis conversation was broadcast online on the 13th May 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

The speed with which Covid-19 vaccines have been developed represents a significant achievement for humanity and is providing hope for a way out of the pandemic, but the rollout so far has been unequal: high and middle-income countries are able to secure more vaccines than they need and vaccinate populations at speed, whilst low-income countries reliant on external supplies and funding are being left behind. Vaccine deployment is exposing deep health, political, racial and economic inequalities around the world.Inequitable distribution is not just a moral issue. It's also economically and epidemiologically self-defeating. As long as the virus continues to circulate, new variants will continue to emerge, economies will continue to be disrupted and people will continue to die.In order to achieve safe, effective and equitable access, vaccines need to be produced at scale, priced affordably, allocated globally, and widely deployed in local communities. We need a coordinated, cooperative international response. So what are the challenges, and how can we rise to them? And how can we use this opportunity to create more resilient healthcare systems and strengthen our approaches to pandemic response?This event is produced in collaboration with On Think Tanks and Southern Voice.#RSAVaccineThis conversation was broadcast online on the 6th May 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

Employees in low-skill, low-paid and insecure occupations constitute 45% of Britain’s labour market, and it is these workers that are turning their backs on the left in droves.In the 2019 election, Labour lost many seats in former strongholds in the post-industrial north and Midlands, and by contrast stacked up votes in London and other major cities. The collapse of the red wall signals a serious fracture in the left’s relationship with the working class. Can a transformation of work itself help the left to re-establish a connection with the communities that founded it?Starting from the assumption that all work should be fulfilling, respected and well-rewarded, Jon Cruddas and Molly Kinder will explore ways to repair our civic life by paying closer attention to the interests and concerns of the working class. Practical interventions such as national colleges for skilled work and worker councils could help restore value to work and rebalance employer-employee relationships. By giving workers more respect and control, we can renew the dignity, solidarity, and community of work.#RSAWorkThis conversation was broadcast online on the 29th April 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org

How should we understand the ‘value’ of nature?The natural world provides all the building blocks of our lives and societies; we are embedded within it, and nothing without it. But our economies currently operate as though separate from nature, with consumption outstripping its supply of resources, and environmental degradation and instability worsening faster than ever.What we need, argues Sir Partha Dasgupta, is to redefine the relationship between ecology and economy. His recently published Review on The Economics of Biodiversity proposes applying an economic lens to the value of the natural world to understand and measure the rich array of resources our planet provides, and how to use them responsibly. How can this approach help us to transform our extractive and exploitative relationship with nature into a sustainable and respectful one? Can quantifying the value of nature in economic terms be consistent with valuing our planet for its own sake?An expert panel gathers to reflect on the findings and recommendations in the Dasgupta Review, and discuss how to rebuild our economic system with sustainable prosperity at its heart.#RSAEarthDayThis conversation was broadcast online on the 22nd April 2021 . Join us at: www.thersa.org