About us
The RSA has been turning possibility into progress since 1754. We are not a think tank. We are not a club. We are a home for human connection, curiosity, inspiration and the ideas that spring forth.
Who we are
What do Stephen Hawking, David Attenborough, Tim Berners-Lee, Marie Curie and Caroline Haslett have in common? They were all Fellows of the RSA, forming part of the RSA’s tradition of turning insight into action.
Founded in 1754 in a Covent Garden coffee house, the Society began as an Enlightenment wager – that human ambition, properly directed, could serve the common good. We believe that people who disagree on almost everything can still agree to improve the world around them. Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Karl Marx; the architects of capitalism, conservatism and communism were all fellows of our institution.
Leaders in industry
The first royal society to admit women as Fellows, the RSA has convened industrialists and environmentalists – from organising The Great Exhibition of 1851 to establishing the blue plaque scheme to creating the Royal Designers for Industry (Britain’s highest design honour, held by leading figures such as Vivienne Westwood, James Dyson and Jony Ive).
Helping to build a better world
The RSA believes that when ideas are rewarded and ingenuity honoured, the world moves in the right direction. We were the first to champion education for all and in the early 1800s created Britain’s first independent examination system for trade exams and the blueprint for exam administration.
We offered medals for reforesting Britain and 60 million trees were planted. We funded inventions to end child chimney-sweeping. We spotted a 10-year-old artist named Edwin Landseer, gave him a silver medal, and saw him grow into one of Britain’s great painters.
The RSA today
The original home of Practical Idealism, an ideology adopted by Mahatma Gandhi, RSA House has hosted the great minds of Benjamin Franklin and Nelson Mandela. Today, tens of thousands of Fellows in 80 countries continue the same grand experiment: practical idealism in action. They are proving that social mobility depends as much on collaboration as on individual talent. We are tackling school exclusion, exploring the future of work, celebrating human ingenuity through our Albert Medal. The method remains the same: identify what’s broken, design a fix, hand it to the institutions that can sustain it and move on.
Our values
We envisage a world that is resilient, rebalanced and regenerative, where everyone can fulfil their potential. We are open, optimistic, courageous, rigorous and enabling.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We believe in a world that is resilient, rebalanced and regenerative, where everyone can fulfil their potential. Read our diversity, equity and inclusion statement.
Become an RSA Fellow
The RSA Fellowship is a unique global network of changemakers enabling people, places and the planet to flourish.
Governance
Access our Annual Impact report, meet our trustees and find out more about how we are governed.
The Albert Medal
The RSA Albert Medal is awarded annually to recognise the creativity and innovation of individuals and organisations uniting people and ideas in collective action to create opportunities to regenerate our world.
Contact us
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