Design for Life - The RSA - RSA

Design for Life

Design for Life Our mission

Economic, social and environmental crises have placed our world in a fragile, unbalanced and degenerative state.

Our mission is to enable people, places and the planet to flourish in harmony.

Our vision is for a world where everyone can fulfil their potential and contribute to more resilient, rebalanced and regenerative futures.

How are we achieving this?

We believe everyone has the potential and creativity to effect change.

We work with people throughout their lives, and across society, to achieve regenerative impact; from children and young people to entrepreneurs, businesses and communities.

Our approach to change involves many different disciplines and perspectives.

Our work focuses on three areas. These are:

Capabilities for Life

Change starts with supporting people to learn and lead. At the heart of Design for Life is the commitment to build the skills, connections and confidence people need to fulfil their potential.

Prosperous Places

Every person deserves to live in a vibrant community, with opportunities to thrive in a flourishing natural environment.

Social Infrastructure

We are aiming for systemic, long-term change. Design for Life develops and influences the conditions needed to enable people, communities and organisations to regenerate our world.

Discover more about our Design for Life mission by reading this blog series

Why us?

We are unique. We don’t just generate ideas; we act on them. The RSA has been turning world-leading ideas into world-changing actions since 1754. Our research and innovation has changed the hearts and minds of generations of people. Central to all our work are our mission-aligned Fellows; a global network of innovators and changemakers.

Explore our Circle community to engage with our work.

Engage with our Design for Life mission

Are you a Fellow? Be part of our Circle community and help us shape a world where everyone can fulfil their potential and contribute to more resilient, rebalanced, and regenerative futures.

Smiling women in an office

RSA Fellowship

The RSA Fellowship is a global network of changemakers enabling people, places and the planet to flourish in harmony. RSA Fellows have been at the forefront of significant social impact since 1754. We invite you to be part of this change.

Take a deeper dive into our Design for Life work

  • RSA kickstarts Playful Green Planet: connecting children to nature and community

    Press release

    The RSA announced that it will kickstart a pilot of its radical Playful Green Planet intervention, supported by The National Lottery’s Community Fund.

  • A century of innovation

    Feature

    Joanna Choukeir

    From its ‘Industrial Designs’ competition in 1924 to the Student Design Awards of 2024, the RSA has long celebrated innovative solutions to social and environmental challenges. Now enter RSA Spark.

  • The play’s the thing

    Feature

    Catherine Pineo Eirini Zormpa

    Could the RSA’s Playful Green Planet intervention help create a world where every child has access to nature-based play spaces?

Past RSA projects

Explore our recent work that brought us to this point.