Latest thinking

The Importance of Invention

Video

07 Oct 2009

Luke Johnson is the chairman of the RSA.

Faith in the Marketplace

Video

30 Sep 2009

With Tariq Ramadan, Ken Costa, Steve Chalke, Reverend Giles Fraser and John Reynolds

Virgin donations

Blog

24 Sep 2009

Matthew Taylor

In Liverpool this morning to speak at the autumn conference of ACEVO (the organisation for third sector CEOs). Preceding me was Jo Barnett, Executive Director of Virgin Money Giving (VMG).  This is a new not for profit business set up by Richard Branson with the explicit aim of challenging the dominance of JustGiving. It is a big venture, with VMG having agreed a multi million pound lead sponsorship of the London Marathon for the next five years.

RDInsights: Terence Woodgate

Video

16 Sep 2009

xf

The Economic Consequences of Mr Brown

Video

14 Sep 2009

Stein Ringen is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Oxford. Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist and broadcaster.

David Cameron in conversation with Nassim Taleb

Video

18 Aug 2009

David Cameron is the leader of the Conservative Party. Nassim Taleb is an economist and author.

How can the design of social spaces contribute to community building?

Blog

05 Aug 2009

I'm Sadia Uddin, the Communities Intern at the RSA. At this event as part of RSA Thursday series renowned architect Eric Parry provided us with an insight into his work in redeveloping the St. Martin in-the-fields site in Trafalgar Square. Aside from the information about the rich history of the place, Eric Parry referred to the link between social spaces and connecting people within a community which I found particularly interesting and was eager to know more about.

Is he or isn't he (the world's first industrial designer)?

Blog

10 Jul 2009

Yesterday afternoon, at the awards ceremony for Shine at the V&A Sackler Centre, David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council, began a little 3-question quiz by asking "Who was the world's first industrial designer?" While my brain auto-prompted "Christopher Dresser", discursive noise-interference stopped my mouth. It depends what you mean by an industrial designer, obviously. Didn't Alice Rawsthorn in Gary Hurstwit's new film Objectified date the birth of industrial design to the rationalisation of armaments by mediaeval Chinese knights? Christopher Dresser, however, was the "right" answer.

User-centred Design vs. Persuasive Technology?

Blog

17 Jun 2009

Just a quickie to say that it's fantastic to see some higher-profile and thoughtful conversation developing on the web about the influence that designers have in enabling and encouraging people to change behaviour. In an introduction to the concept, Robert Fabricant (VP of Creative at Frog Design) writes: