RSA Spark’s impact for 2024/25
RSA Spark drew submissions from a diverse range of students across a broad spectrum of subject disciplines, countries of study and ethnicity.
Where People Meet showcase
RSA Spark 2024/25
Business and entrepreneurship
Design
Education and learning
RSA Spark
How might we reimagine and create community spaces of the future where people are connected, places are healthy, and everyone is leading a good life?
The Commons
Zara Azam
Loughborough University, UK
The Commons is a council-funded social initiative designed to support emotional well-being through connections to place, others, and the self. Set within urban Manchester, where students and long-term residents often live side by side in traditional terrace housing, The Commons reimagines the alleyways between back gardens as shared, functional walkways.
Curated with modular elements, these spaces feature activity zones inspired by the city’s industrial heritage, characterised by thread-like infrastructures that reflect community needs and identity. By offering a safe, low-pressure environment, The Commons creates opportunities for everyday interactions, fostering social cohesion and reducing disconnection and isolation.
Rural Futures: Live, Work, Play
Mathilda Blunt
Oxford Brookes University, UK
This project reimagines rural futures for the hybrid-working Generation Rent by designing a mixed-use development that utilises the adaptive reuse of an old grain store, supporting hybrid working and social connection in Bungay, Suffolk. Using participatory design with 18-35 year olds, the space features a library, cafe, and co-working areas with comfortable seating, including sofas and armchairs. Floors were separated with meeting rooms and noise-proof spaces for solitary work and video calls. The site includes spaces for play, leisure and socialising. Additionally, a gym, rooftop pool, garden, and sauna are also incorporated.
Rural Futures: Live, Work, Play is also a winner of the Chacegrove Family Foundation Entrepreneurs Award.
Meet Mathilda Blunt
Odd Spot
Elizabeth Cummins
Loughborough University, UK
Odd Spot is a modular public pavilion designed with and for teenagers to tackle the growing crisis of youth in-person social disconnection. Installed in parks and green spaces, each Odd Spot is co-designed with local 11-15-year-olds using a scaled model kit, allowing them to shape the layout and features of their space, from social seating to art walls and DJ decks.
The result is a sustainable, biophilic space that promotes creativity, connection, and community. Odd Spot reclaims public space for young people, offering a flexible, scalable model for inclusive placemaking that centres youth voice and wellbeing.
Meet Elizabeth Cummins
Threads of Hope
Madeleine Draper
University of Lincoln, UK
Threads of Hope focuses on bringing the community together to combat mental health issues and feelings of loneliness by teaching a new creative skill and transforming materials that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill into something new.
The scheme is a collection of travelling station kits that move between volunteered public spaces, such as libraries and village halls, and then remain in a location for six weeks unless requested for a more extended period. This scheme is supported by an app that teaches people basic skills such as sewing garments, and stations have regular meetings organised by members of their communities.
Meet Madeleine Draper
Rooted
Samantha Helm
Loughborough University, UK
Rooted is a sustainable urban farming initiative that transforms derelict spaces in towns and cities, like an old cinema, into community hubs. Rooted addresses food insecurity by selling fresh produce (grown using on-site hydroponics), a ‘take what you need’ shop to help reduce waste, communal kitchens, and cooking classes to share skills across the local community.
Targeting young people living independently for the first time, Rooted promotes self-sufficiency, nutrition education, and community support. Its ‘Learn, Grow, Thrive’ model empowers users to gain life skills, connect with others, and access healthy food affordably.
Meet Samantha Helm
Work Hard Play Hard
Amelie O’Sullivan
Arts University Bournemouth, UK
Work Hard Play Hard transforms Bournemouth’s decaying East Side Cliff hotels into a modular, community-led co-working hub that combines flexible workspaces with social and wellbeing zones. It supports local entrepreneurs and combats isolation by blending productivity with connection.
Inspired by ‘strange bedfellows’, the hub offers quiet desks for focus, shared lounges for networking and event spaces to pitch ideas. Merging work and play creates unlikely connections and opportunities, providing entrepreneurs with everything they need to thrive professionally and socially in one space.
Work Hard Play Hard is also a winner of the Chacegrove Family Foundation Entrepreneurs Award.
Meet Amelie O’Sullivan
Sangam Repair and Rest Hubs
Harshavardhan Pandian
National Institute of Design, India
Sangam Repair and Rest Hubs transform underused temple and mosque courtyards near construction sites into safe, inter-faith spaces where migrant workers rest, repair, and reconnect.
Local youth and elders run weekly repair circles for bicycles, mobile phones, and clothing, while migrants learn and earn through micro-repair jobs.
These hubs offer digital literacy, documentation help, and shared meals, fostering dignity and trust between migrants and local communities.
Sangam reimagines religious spaces as inclusive, vibrant centres for health, livelihoods, and community well-being while honouring cultural rhythms and supporting circular economy practices in India’s dense urban areas.
Rise
Lucy Yates
University of Hertfordshire, UK
A service that repurposes underutilised multi-story car parks into safe and inclusive pop-up event spaces during off-peak hours. Partnering with parking companies, shopping centres, and local councils, RISE deploys modular event containers that quickly transform these urban spaces into platforms for regional engagement.
From cultural food markets and fitness sessions to open-air cinemas and local performances, RISE caters to diverse interests while addressing urban issues such as antisocial behaviour, isolation, and a lack of affordable social activities. The service is designed with accessibility, sustainability, and community building at its core.
RISE is also a winner of the Chacegrove Family Foundation Entrepreneurs Award.
Meet Lucy Yates
Signages & Sips: Brewing Conversations
Deeptam Das, Pallavi Saratkar, Sunayana Das and Devyani Krishna
National Institute of Design, India
Signages & Sips: Brewing Conversations adds signage around a tea stall to spark conversations among customers and passersby. With witty prompts, questions, and local anecdotes, these signs will invite people to pause, engage, and interact, turning tea stalls into a vibrant hub of dialogue.
Meet Pallavi Saratkar
Website / Portfolio / LinkedIn / Medium
Meet Deeptam Das
Website / Portfolio / LinkedIn / Instagram
Meet Sunayana Das
Website / Portfolio / LinkedIn / Instagram
Meet Devyani Krishna
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Students changing tomorrow
RSA Spark
RSA Spark welcomes students from around the globe to develop and apply their agency, skills, and creativity to real-world briefs that do more good for people, places, and the planet.
