RSA ARC showcase week - what happened?

Last week saw a week of events to celebrate the RSA’s work, launch our new Action and Research Centre, and introduce Fellows and the general public to our programme of activity.

On Monday, Richard Florida delivered the President’s lecture – the first to be introduced by H.R.H. Princess Anne – which he used to urge the importance of creativity. Then, on Wednesday, RSA Chief Executive Matthew Taylor used his annual lecture to propose a new framework for understanding our most serious political challenges. You can catch up with all the week’s events through our online podcasts.

We also published several major reports, including Generation Enterprise by Adam Lent, which argued that we are seeing the rise of a new generation of entrepreneurial young people. This accompanied a day of workshops to investigate the prospects of the millennial generation, involving many RSA Fellows in discussions about how to support young people in setting up their own businesses. This marks the start of a partnership between the RSA and the Royal Bank of Scotland aiming to map out the needs of young entrepreneurs across the country.

At the close of the week, the House opened for an evening of innovative projects and activities – including the launch of the new RSA Animate, ‘The Truth about Dishonesty’, and a stunning performance by techno-illusionst Marco Tempest. RSA Fellows – including those behind the Catalyst-winning Plan Zheroes project to reduce food waste – were on hand to talk about their work. Finally, Friday saw a special breakfast meeting of the Social Entrepreneurs’ network, bringing together thirty Fellows to discuss how social enterprise can support young people.

We hope the week gave people a better insight into the RSA and its work. If you’re interested in the work that we are doing, why not follow @theRSAorg on Twitter, or see what activity is taking place in the Fellowship near you.