Building capabilities
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.
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:
Growing hubs
People effect change by coming together. Design for Life grows the connections that organisations, communities, industries and regions need in order to flourish.
Developing 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 Design for Life in this series of introductory blogs
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 for more than 260 years. 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.
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 for over 260 years. We invite you to be part of this change.
Watch a Design for Life event
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The future of youth social action
Fellowship Event / Online
Online
After the publication of our report 'Make it authentic', we want to bring Fellows together to explore the future of active citizenship in schools. What's already happening? What needs to be happening? How does youth social action feature in the RSA's Design for Life mission?
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Design for Life: Cities of Learning - seeding lifelong learning ecosystems
Fellowship Event / Coffee House / Online
The Coffee House (RSA House) and Online via Zoom
Tom Kenyon (Head of Enterprise Design) and Jahnvi Singh (Senior Learning Designer) will share learnings from Cities of Learning to date. Guest speaker Heather Walker FRSA (Tees Valley Combined Authority) will also share learnings from the last year of piloting Cities of Learning across the Tees Valley Region.
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Fellows Festival 2023
Fellowship Event
RSA House
What would our world look like if things went right? This is the core theme for this year's RSA Fellows Festival, highlighting innovative solutions for our current world. Book your tickets now.
Design for Life related content
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Northern England's Creative Industries: background paper
Report
There is a clear opportunity for the North of England to develop a cross-regional strategy to support the growth of the Creative Industries. This background paper sets out how policymakers and industry could work together to realise this potential, via 'creative corridors'.
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Good stewards
Comment
Andy Thornton
Andy Thornton discusses how we can see the forest for the trees when it comes to nurturing regenerative business.
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Easy as Fy
Comment
Dr Debbie Yaver
One company's quest is to create a system to feed the world in a way that is nourishing for human health and nurturing for the planet's health.