Latest thinking

Co-Creating a Digital Makers Network

Blog

12 Nov 2013

Hilary Chittenden

Following Nat Hunters blog, ‘Finding out what Makers really want’, we have spent the last few weeks picking apart all the drawings, diagrams and questions from the our first co-design session down at Makerversity and have begun to flesh out what a digital maker network might look like with a basic prototype.

My first Makespace

Blog

22 Oct 2013

Hilary Chittenden

Despite having been working on the RSA’s new project around Making for the last 6 months, running events to connect Makers from all levels such as the FutureMaker day back in June and our recent Maker Networking workshops, until last week I had never actually visited a real life ‘Makerspace’.

Finding out what Makers really want

Blog

21 Oct 2013

Nat Hunter

There's been widespread interest in new digital fabrication opportunities for quite a while now - and I'm not just talking about 3D printing a gun or 3D printing your face in chocolate. There are Hackspace, Makespaces, Techshops and Fablabs popping up all over the world, and books about the implications of what is being termed the next Industrial revolution.

Taking Spirituality Seriously: "Too tweetable to tweet"

Blog

17 Oct 2013

Jonathan Rowson

I will update this post soon with some thoughts and reactions, but for those who missed it, I wanted to share the unedited replay of last night's packed event about rethinking spirituality, with myself, Madeleine Bunting, Elizabeth Oldfield, Robert Rowland Smith and very informed audience, which can be found here.

The RSA Whole Person Recovery, Co-Design Learning Journeys, June / July 2013 – Some reflections…

Blog

09 Sep 2013

As Lead Recovery Community Organiser within the WPR programme, one of my responsibilities is to ensure there is a quick and responsive capacity on the part of my team, to meet the emergent requirements of the community of c.600 service users within the west Kent region that we work in.  Earlier this summer in June, I had a seemingly random conversation with one of my colleagues from our principle partner organisation CRI - www.cri.org.uk about the prospect of somehow transforming the rather standard and corporate ‘social care facility’ non-aesthetic (that is a space designed and decorated, without any real design-sensibility informing the look, feel and function of the space) at the Tonbridge hub.

The Big Idea: changing mindsets for the environment

Blog

29 Jul 2013

Richard Pickford

I come from an outdoor education background, playing in rivers, scaling rock faces and tramping over hills and through woods and it has always been instilled into me to leave nothing behind.  I spent a few years working in Canada where the ‘no trace camping’ ethic is very strong.  When I came to the RSA almost a year ago I was really interested by the work that was beginning on recycling and circular design.  Having been inspired by Yvon Chouinard’s book Let My People Go Surf and his company Patagonia’s work on recycled clothing it was great to see such an esteemed organisation stepping up.  There is a growing awareness that we need to reconsider our attitudes to waste, and recycling.  The RSA has been busy exploring circular design ideas through the Great Recovery project to reduce waste and promote cradle to cradle design and the RSA has also embarked on an exciting piece of work exploring makers and designers which was launched in June at Somerset House which hopes to raise awareness of new design and making principles to shift the conversation and create a new breed of designers and creators.

RSA Student Design Award Winners: the next generation of socially responsible designers

Blog

27 Jun 2013

Rebecca Ford

A self-repair washing machine, a bee-friendly neighbourhood scheme and an app that provides more active and scenic routes for commuters are among the 16 cracking projects that won in the RSA Student Design Awards this year. 150 people came together at the RSA last week to celebrate the 2013 winners, take part in a spot of speed networking, and hear keynote speaker Kevin Owens talk about his experiences as Design Principal of the London 2012 Olympics.

Design and Public Services

Blog

13 Mar 2013

Nat Hunter

This morning I went to the launch of a new report by the Design Commission, 'Restarting Britain 2'. I was lucky enough to have been part of the process of creating the report - as a member of the Public Services Inquiry Steering Group, we met every few weeks or so in the House of Lords and interviewed everyone from Government employees through local councils to leaders in the service design field.

Improving Water Environments in Valentines Park

Blog

22 Feb 2013

Hilary Chittenden

One of this year’s RSA Student Design Awards briefs, ‘Improve Water Environments’ calls for a design (or re-design) of a system, service, product or environment that tackles issues of water pollution. Improving our water environments has huge benefits for people, communities, wildlife and the economy, but it is a complex problem that is notoriously difficult to solve.