RSA Rawthmells: Design for Social Innovation in agriculture

How might we ensure sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices in the UK? Join RSA Rawthmells and Design for Social Innovation to use your skills for good at this one-off interactive evening event, using the DSI game to tackle challenges facing the future of food and farming.

The Game:

Design for Social Innovation (DSI) is a social impact platform enabling anyone, anywhere to use their skills for good. The DSI game is an opportunity for participants to learn innovation tools, dive into new industries, and prototype concepts to address a social challenge in the span of a few hours. The game condenses portions of the design process, encourages collaboration across diverse fields, and facilitates the blending of disparate ideas with game cards. Each participant brings unique perspectives and knowledge. As they are unleashed, new ways of creating social impact will also be revealed. Through this process, participants will experience for themselves the creative results of collaborative cross-pollination.

The Challenge: 

In recent decades, agricultural practices have caused soil degradation, water pollution and a loss of nature in our countrysides. Good agricultural practice involves projecting years or even generations ahead, but it is difficult to do so in the face of unpredictable political, economic and environmental conditions. While over 70% of land in the UK is used for agriculture, the number of farms in the UK has decreased by two thirds in the past two decades, and many of the remaining farmers depend on subsidies to survive. Currently, domestic farming is able to meet 76% of the UK’s food needs, but weather and disease can affect this supply; the drought this past summer caused food prices to rise, and this may only be the beginning of rising prices to come post-Brexit. How might we increase food production while reducing our environmental footprint, and keeping our food supply healthy and affordable? As we explore the concurrent challenges facing agriculture in the UK, we will look at the consequences, implications, and potential opportunities they bring through the lens of design, technology, business, and policy.

The Format

6:00pm         Arrive for registration & refreshments

6:30pm         Futuring: agriculture in the UK

7:30pm         The game 

8:30pm         Wrap up

This event is being led by a Fellow of the RSA and has been kindly sponsored by Daemon Solutions.

To find out about other Fellowship events coming up in London, please click here. 

Please click here for Rawthmells accessibility statement. Please note that wheelchair access to The Steps is currently restricted whilst we await the delivery of a custom-made platform. Please get in touch to discuss access via rawthmells@rsa.org.uk or call Rawthmells Events and Programme manager on +44 (0)20 7451 6937 for more information.