RSA Fellowship Four Ways to Turn Ideas Into Action

7/27/2019 RSA Fellowship Four Ways to Turn Ideas Into Action

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Four waysto turn

ideas into

actionCase studies in social changefrom the RSA FellowshipOctober 2013 by Sam Thomas

www.thersa.org


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Politics used to be the way people would get

engaged in social issues. Fifty years ago, me,

I would have just joined a political party to

change my country and my city. Its not that

Im not interested in politics, I just dont see

that as my way to change things.

Rob Greenland, RSA Fellow and co-ounder o Leeds Empties


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Contents

Introduction 2

1. Meet with others 4

2. Connect online 10

3. Share your skills 14

4. Grow your idea 18

Conclusion 25

Key learnings by project 26

Acknowledgements 27

Join the RSA Fellowship 28


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Four ways to turn ideas into action

Introduction

The RSA was founded in , and during its long and busy

life has achieved many things. Common to all of them is one

consistent principle: that ordinary people are capable of changing

the world around them for the better, by developing and acting

on their ideas. Our mission today is to seek out enlightenedthinking and put it to work in practical ways.

One of the most important ways we do this is through

our ,-strong Fellowship: a diverse group of people from

a wide range of backgrounds, united by a desire to build a better

society. One of the things weve learned working every day with

this extraordinary group of people is that when addressing

complex social issues, having a good idea alone isnt enough.

People come up with new ways to solve problems all the time,

but most of them never come to fruition and those that do

usually follow a long, dicult path before they can have a real

impact on the world.

At the RSA, we work hard to support our Fellows in

developing and growing their ideas, and weve learned a lot

about what helps turn them into practical action. In what follows,

youll learn about ten very dierent ideas that RSA Fellows have

developed, and some of the ways in which we and others have

supported them. Weve grouped these into four sections, to

correspond with the four ways that we encourage our Fellows

to help contribute to our charitable mission:


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Introduction

1. Meet with others

Good ideas about anything let alone the question of how society

can be improved rarely emerge as perfect, fully-formed blueprints.

It takes discussion, debate and argument to improve an initial thought

to the point where it can serve as a spur to action. The RSAs Fellowshave been doing this since its inception, and they now organise lively

events and meetings all over the UK, and beyond. Well look at three

examples of how bringing people together can develop ideas and

connect communities.

2. Connect online

The web and social media make it possible for people whove never

met to work together. These tools can help spread ideas and help people

participate in them more easily but technology itself isnt enough: it hasto be used eectively. Well explore two projects from the Fellowship that

have used social media in dierent ways to engage people in debate and

action on social issues.

3. Share your skills

Once you have an idea for how things could change, it takes a range of

skills and talents to make sure it happens. Luckily, more and more people

are looking to share their professional experience with each other and

with worthwhile projects, and RSA Fellows are no dierent. Well look

at two case studies of how this kind of sharing can work in practice.

4. Grow your idea

If something works, it only makes sense to try to help it grow. If youve

found a new approach to a social challenge, it can be a struggle to prove

that it works. For over three years, the RSA has been helping RSA Fellows

do this through our Catalyst fund and the support we provide alongside

it. In this section we look at three inspiring examples of projects that havegrown from a good idea to do amazing things in their communities.

Not everything these projects tried was successful, and theres a great

deal to be learned from both the things that went well and those that

didnt. In all of the examples that follow, though, youll find three things:

a commitment to work collaboratively with others, the confidence to try

things out, and a shared aim to change society for the better.


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1. Meet with others

The RSAs Fellows met for the first time in , at Rawthnells coee

house in Covent Garden. They came together because of their common

interests and concerns, but from the outset they were determined to

work for the benefit of others in society.

The idea of people meeting for the common good is nothing

new: think of civic associations, trade unions or political parties.

Many of these forms of association have struggled in recent years,

with membership of the main political parties declining rapidly over

the last thirty years. However, the impulse is still there for peopleto come together and share ideas for making things better and

the scale and severity of the social problems we face today makes

it even more important that we do.

A good place to start is by bringing together a group of people, and

exploring what they have in common. The RSAs Regional Programme

Team supports Fellows in organising events and workshops to explore

issues facing their communities, and provides advice on how to organise

and facilitate them eectively. In this section, well give some examples

of Fellows coming together, and how they make the time they spend

with each other productive and enjoyable.

OpenDinner

RSA Fellows debate topical social issues over an informal meal

. See Participation: trends, facts and figures, NCVO, March (bit.ly/ncvoparticipation)

Education writer and

campaigner Fiona Millar

speaks at an OpenDinner
http://bit.ly/ncvoparticipationhttp://bit.ly/ncvoparticipation


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. Meet with others

When focusing on serious issues, its easy to forget that people also want

to enjoy themselves. The things that we look for when we spend time with

our friends and family good conversation, laughter, food dont cease

to matter when the focus shifts to solving a problem. In fact, sometimes

the best work gets done when people forget that theyre working and

enjoy themselves.

Longstanding RSA Fellow Kevin Donovan is firmly of the opinionthat discussing important issues shouldnt mean adopting a serious tone.

Through the OpenDinner events hes been organising in Liverpool for

the last couple of years, he sets out to create an alternative to the stuy

atmosphere of the formal dinner. My approach as chair of the meeting

is to get people to relax and realise that were having some fun some

serious fun together, Kevin says. Its being an MC more than a chair.

Its informal, its friendly and its collegiate.

The Liverpool OpenDinners take place at Delifonseca, a restaurant

in the city centre owned and managed by an RSA Fellow. They aim to

provide an entertaining, informative evening of debate and discussion.

Topics discussed at the meetings have ranged from criminal justice toeducation, with a speaker sharing their personal experience in order to

provoke discussion. One of the best, says Kevin, was education writer

and campaigner Fiona Millar: her delivery and style were obviously

very, very good, he says. Experienced, professional and political:

she knew how to provoke questions.

The success of an event isnt just down to an engaging talk, though:

theres also careful planning involved. Whenever possible, Kevin meets

with the speakers in person ahead of the evening, to discuss what theyre

going to talk about and put together some prompts to get others talking.

These are particularly important: a set of questions or provocations,

shared with attendees on the night, which help give the evening some

focus. This ensures that as well as being sociable occasions, the dinners

provide plenty of opportunity for debate, with everybody encouraged

to contribute.

Sometimes this preparation can be quite involved. At the most recent

event, RSA Fellow Michael King gave a talk on an unusual and perhaps

unpromising subject: heavy trains. Drawing on his PhD research, Michael

had prepared a Cluedo-style game that challenged diners to think about

an engineering puzzle: why are British trains heavier and hence less

energy ecient than those of other countries? By inviting attendees to

consider all the economic, organisational and engineering factors thatmight be responsible, as well as the key characters from John Major to

Richard Branson he prompted a wide-ranging debate on the complexity

of addressing climate change.

The dinners are always lively and spirited, but Kevin reflects that

so far they havent sparked o any activities that go beyond the evening.

It hasnt made that little important click in peoples heads, Kevin

observes, to see that they can now use or be involved in the RSA in more

active ways. I find it frustrating that it still isnt happening. Perhaps it need

not perhaps Im trying too hard.

Nonetheless, hes already making plans for the next dinner, which

will be the last he organises, featuring Gemma Bodinetz, artistic direc-

tor of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse theatres. The reason for


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having her is that later this year the work will be completed on the new

theatre, so we plan to dedicate a seat to the RSA.

Kevin has no doubt that itll be a memorable way to cap o his time

organising these events, and is pleased to have already found two volunteers

to organise future events. Hes challenged them to develop the events further,

and build on the relationships that have already formed around the evenings.

Key learning: People learn more and make lasting connections when theyre

enjoying themselves

Find out more about the philosophy behind OpenDinners in Kevins

RSA Comment piece: bit.ly/opendinner

Unleashing Potential

Connecting community organisations and RSA Fellows in the

east of England

Most voluntary organisations hold an annual conference a chance for

people to reflect on a year of activity and form plans for the next. A good

idea in principle, but the reality can sometimes be dispiriting. The formal-

ity of these occasions can stifle creativity, with time spent chewing over

administrative issues, or debating the finer points of group governance.

Increasingly, RSA Fellows who work together in regions across the UKto plan activities and projects are trying something dierent: making

their yearly meet-ups an opportunity to share what theyve been working

on and draw inspiration from others.

When Chris Kington, an RSA Fellow based in Cambridge, was

thinking about plans for an annual meeting of Fellows in the east

of England, he struck on the idea of bringing them to the Centre for

Mathematical Sciences a striking modernist building on the outskirts

of the city, light and spacious. Exactly the kind of place, he thought,

to get people to reflect expansively on what they could achieve together

through the RSA. On June , after much preparation, the Centre

opened its doors for Unleashing Potential a day-long event with a

tightly-packed programme.

RSA chairman Vikki Heywood

hears about local community

projects (photo: R. A. Porrer)
http://bit.ly/opendinnerhttp://socialmediasurgery.com/http://bit.ly/opendinner


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The conference was designed to showcase Fellows activity in

the region to allow light into previously unlit areas, said Chris.

Any Fellow who needed a voice was encouraged to be heard. And

there were plenty of takers: dierent organisations and projects were

represented on the day, ranging from a local community radio station in

Norwich to the Big Issue whose editor-in-chief and founder John Bird

gave a keynote speech.Having two excellent, engaging speakers John and the RSAs

chairman Vikki Heywood certainly helped to give the day momentum.

As well as this, though, Chris and his fellow organisers provided plenty

of space for attendees to discuss issues facing the region, inviting them

to suggest topics in advance. Having facilitators for a series of dierent

interest groups, which were all set out in the programme, meant that

people were free to join whichever discussion interested them most.

Topics up for discussion ranged from environmental protection to

education and employment and gave local Fellows a chance to plan

the activities that will take place in the region during the year to come.

One group identified lack of help with parenting skills as a pressingissue, and identified a Norwich-based charity, Home Start, which might

benefit from the support of local Fellows.

Organisations represented on the day found it useful too. Not only

was the general feedback very encouraging, but a number of connections

were made with Fellows who actively want to get involved in a personal

capacity, said Gavin Shelton, who runs community food sharing organi-

sation The Peoples Pantry. Just one of many great outcomes from a

highly positive day.

When surveyed afterwards, percent of attendees said they were

satisfied with the event and there was much positive feedback on the day.

Robert Porrer, a Fellow who attended the event, found the diversity of

the discussions particularly impressive. I went round all of the groups,

and each one was being run dierently, he commented. It was entirely

appropriate they were dierent topics, dierent people and interests.

Often the risk with engaging, noisy events is that all the energy they

create disappears when everyone goes home. Chris has avoided this by

working with other members of the regional team to produce a follow-up

newsletter, which identifies dierent ideas discussed at the event to

pursue as well as reports on all the discussions and talks from the day.

And hes confident that the momentum will keep up: all in all, he says,

it was an immensely satisfying day with so many new links made andplans are taking shape.

Key learning: Strong facilitation will help people to have more

rewarding discussions

Read the follow-up report from the conference:

bit.ly/eeconference

. Meet with others
http://bit.ly/eeconference%0Dhttp://www.eventbrite.com/http://bit.ly/eeconference%0D


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Jules Bagnoli has just received funding from the RSAs North-West

Venture Fund to trial a system for using shipping containers for food

farming, using hydroponic technology.

What made this event work and set it apart from other conferences

and meetings was the extent to which it brought people together around

a shared aim. Collaboration between organisations and people is becom-

ing increasingly important, particularly within the environment we haveto operate in today, Lily explains. Those that dont work together in

partnership are letting great opportunities slip away.

Key learning: Find people and organisations that share an interest, and let

them spark o each other

Find out more about Keep Calm Prepare for Change:

www.keepcalmnw.co.uk

Find out more about Jules Bagnolis Refarming project:

www.refarming.co.uk

Support and resources

Inspired to meet with others to solve a problem facing your community?

Heres where to go next:

See the RSA ChangeMakers handbook for more advice on facilitating

meetings: bit.ly/changestarts

If youre an RSA Fellow, your regional programme manager can provide

advice and support on facilitation. Find out how to contact them here:

www.thersa.org/fellowship/contact-fellowship

Find out more about RSA networks and meetings near you:

www.thersa.org/fellowship/where-you-are

. Meet with others
http://www.keepcalmnw.co.uk/http://www.refarming.co.uk/http://bit.ly/changestartshttp://www.thersa.org/fellowship/contact-fellowshiphttp://www.thersa.org/fellowship/where-you-arehttp://www.thersa.org/fellowship/where-you-arehttp://www.thersa.org/fellowship/contact-fellowshiphttp://bit.ly/changestartshttp://www.refarming.co.uk/http://www.keepcalmnw.co.uk/


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2. Connect online

Its never been easier to share your idea with the world. The web and

social media provide a way of communicating with people thats both

quick and inexpensive, and RSA Animate videos have shown how chal-

lenging ideas can reach a worldwide audience. However, people are

quickly realising that as useful as the new tools we have are, they remain

just that: tools. Theres a craft to getting your message across well online,

just as there is when youre talking to a room full of people .

In the last section, we saw how bringing people together in person can

help generate excitement about an idea. Not everyone, though, is able orwilling to spend time at events or meetings and if the focus of what youre

doing is wider than the immediate community, there may be people with

insights to oer from further afield. For this reason, people are increasingly

turning to social media online tools that allow people to communicate

easily and quickly, such as Twitter and Facebook as an alternative way

of promoting causes and projects in which theyre involved.

RSA Fellows are a vocal presence on social media, as youll see if you look

at one of the many places where theyre talking about their work together.

Increasingly, RSA events and meetings have a second, parallel life on Twitter,

with people commenting, sharing and contributing their own knowledge.

The Fellowship has a group of voluntary digital champions who help others

to get involved online, and theres also plenty of free advice available to get

started. In this section, well look at two examples of Fellows projects that

have used the web to engage with two very dierent communities.

Leeds Empties

A Fellow-led campaign to bring empty houses in Leeds back into use

Leeds has over , emptyresidential properties

(photo: Anthony Farrimond)


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in a couple of months we will have proper stories of real people whose

home was empty three months ago and now have got tenants living in it,

Rob says, and we want to tell that story.

Key learning: Use your own networks on social media, and ask questions

that draw people in

Find out more about Leeds Empties: www.leedsempties.org.uk

Shout Out Suffolk!

Using social media tools to share young peoples views on education

in Suolk

Theres plenty of potential to use social media to get across a message, but

its real strength is that it works in both directions. The ease of connecting

using these new tools gives them the potential to amplify peoples voices,

and uncover those that might otherwise not be heard. If youre trying to

work with a community of people, theres no better way to involve them

in what youre doing than letting them speak for themselves.

In July , the RSA and Suolk County Council launched an inquiry

into how to improve education in the county, which is underperforming

compared to the national average. The project brought together school

leaders, teachers, parents and educational experts from other parts ofthe country to create a response to this huge challenge. RSA Fellows in

Suolk also lent their time and ideas, and firmest among these was a

commitment to help make sure young peoples voices were represented.

Dr. Emma Bond, a senior lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies at

University Campus Suolk (UCS), worked with other Fellows, including

local RSA Fellowship councillor Suzanna Pickering, to design an online

research project that encouraged young people across the county to

share their views about education using social media. If we are really

going to grasp why Suolk is failing to meet the educational needs of

young people, Emma explained at the time, we need to understand

what their educational experiences are like and we need to listen to

their views, as they are the very people who are going to be aected.

One of hundreds of

submissions to the project,

from Makia, aged
http://www.leedsempties.org.uk/http://www.leedsempties.org.uk/


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The project received support both financial and in-kind from RSA

Catalyst and UCS, which made it possible to make progress very rapidly.

Young people were encouraged to submit their ideas which could be

in the form of drawings, text or videos to Pinterest (an online pinboard

tool that makes it easy to collate dierent media). These were then shared

with a wider audience through a Twitter account for the project.

Emma and others produced an engagement guide that they sent out toschools, young peoples organisations and RSA Fellows, which explained how

young people could make their contribution to the project. It was important

to ensure that as many young people from as broad a range of backgrounds

as possible were able to join in. The project accepted submissions through

a range of tools including Facebook, Twitter and email and worked with

the Widening Participation team at UCS to engage students from disadvan-

taged backgrounds. The team also used targeted advertisements to reach

more of the , Facebook users under the age of in Suolk.

The project involved an incredible young people, and their contri-

butions covered subjects ranging from bullying to the pressure of GCSE

choices. Many submissions were illustrated, and one group of studentsproduced a YouTube film with the support of a theatre company. Emma

was struck by the range and quality of the contributions, and produced

a document collating the young peoples views for the inquiry to consider

alongside evidence from teachers, the public and RSA Fellows.

The team involved in the project are keen to ensure that it has a legacy

beyond the publication of the final report in May , which drew on

the projects work. They plan to seek further Catalyst funding to develop

the project so that it can be adapted elsewhere in the country, and have

published an evaluation report that explains how they designed the

project to help others learn from the experience.

Key learning: Social media can help you to capture voices that would

otherwise be left out

Find out more about Shout Out Suolk!: shoutoutsuolk.org

Read the projects evaluation report: bit.ly/suolkeval

Read the final report of the Raising the Bar Inquiry, No School an Island:

bit.ly/noschoolanisland


There are plenty of ways to get started using social media no matter

your level of familiarity with them:

You can get started by visiting RSAFellowship.com, our online social

network, and reading about the seven ways to be an online Fellow

Connect with RSA Fellows by searching for #FRSA and #thersa on

Twitter, joining our LinkedIn group, or liking us on Facebook.

See the RSA ChangeMakers handbook for more advice on how to use

social media: bit.ly/changestarts

. Connect online
http://shoutoutsuffolk.org/http://bit.ly/suffolkevalhttp://bit.ly/noschoolanislandhttp://rsafellowship.com/http://twitter.com/search?q=%23thersahttp://twitter.com/search?q=%23thersahttp://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3391http://www.facebook.com/theRSAorghttp://bit.ly/changestartshttp://bit.ly/changestartshttp://www.facebook.com/theRSAorghttp://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3391http://twitter.com/search?q=%23thersahttp://twitter.com/search?q=%23thersahttp://rsafellowship.com/http://bit.ly/noschoolanislandhttp://bit.ly/suffolkevalhttp://shoutoutsuffolk.org/


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A Social Entrepreneurs

Network breakfast meeting

(photo: Anthony Epes,

www.anthonyepes.com)

3. Share your skills

Theres long been a popular image of volunteering as carrying out selfless,

often thankless tasks in aid of good causes. In many cases, such as the per-

ennial bake sale, they have little relation to the cause in question beyond

the money they raise. Increasingly, though, people are seeing volunteering

dierently: as an opportunity to use the skills theyve developed in their

professional lives to help others in their community.

These skilled volunteers are more focused and demanding, and may

see their volunteer roles as a natural extension of their professional life:

in fact, the line between the two often blurs, particularly for those whoare self-employed or work flexibly. The growth of social enterprise, which

blends a commercial approach with values drawn from the third sector, is

a big part of this shift, as people come to see their working lives and their

commitment to social causes as intimately linked.

RSA Fellows have a diverse range of skills, are often active in their

communities, and are increasingly giving their time and expertise to pro-

jects and organisations they find through the Fellowship. A recent survey

found that percent of RSA Fellows were interested in supporting each

others initiatives, and the RSA SkillsBank helps them do this by pledging

time to projects. As well as this, there are opportunities for Fellows to

become involved in our programme of action and research.

In the examples that follow, youll see some of the ways that RSA

Fellows are sharing their skills, and benefiting from the expertise of others.

Social Entrepreneurs Network

Helping social entrepreneurs learn from each others experiences


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. Share your skills

Social enterprise, at its simplest, is doing business with a social purpose.

In the UK its growing rapidly as a sector, with more and more people

looking at how they can solve issues in their communities using app-

roaches drawn from the commercial world. As both the public sector

and charities struggle to cope with cuts in state funding, policymakers

and politicians are increasingly looking to dierent models for providing

services and solving pressing social issues.Many RSA Fellows are at the cutting edge of this movement, and in

a group of them started to discuss how they could help each other

with some of the challenges they faced. As people working in a relatively

new sector, they discovered they had a lot to learn from each other. They

decided to arrange regular meet-ups and, with support from RSA sta

member Sarah Tucker, founded the Social Entrepreneurs Network,

a loose aliation of people working in or interested in the sector.

Since then, its helped hundreds of entrepreneurs share what theyve

learnt through the exhilarating, frustrating process of starting a social

business and inspired many others to make the jump themselves. Its

members have pooled their expertise on issues ranging from finance andfundraising to how to communicate eectively, and provided an informal

marketplace for tips, contacts and moral support.

At the start, this happened very informally, through meeting over

breakfast at the RSAs House in central London, and events where invited

speakers drawn from the network would share what they had learned. As

more people became involved including growing numbers from outside

the Fellowship many said how much they valued the opportunity to

reflect on the challenges they had faced, and share problems with others

who might have been through a similar experience.

In response, Fellows and sta worked together to set up the Spotlight

programme, which helps nine social entrepreneurs each year reflect

on their experiences setting up a business. Each time they meet, the

Spotlighters share three things: a success they have had since the last

meeting, a challenge they have faced, and a pledge of what theyll do

next. Talking about the bad as well as the good is a crucial part of

this, and one persistent theme thats emerged from their discussions

is that common sense about what works and what doesnt isnt always

as common as we assume.

Bringing together people with dierent perspectives and skills in

a safe space somewhere they can talk about their work in a free and

candid way allows them to admit the things theyre unsure about andshare insights that might seem obvious to them, but were in fact hard-won

through experience and trial and error. Given so many of those involved

in social business are trying to do something new, the opportunity to

share this kind of knowledge in confidence is invaluable.

RSA Spotlighters often lead the regular meetings of the network,

and the programme has just completed its second year with an event

that brought together over people at Westminster Hub, a shared

working space in central London. Sarah Tucker quotes one of the best

pieces of advice she shared with the network, from one of the more

established entrepreneurs involved: ask people for help: they usually

say yes.


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Key learning: Create a safe space to share experiences and ask

dicult questions

Join the Social Entrepreneurs Network online: rsafellowship.com/group/

socialentrepreneursnetwork

RSA Family of AcademiesRSA Fellows helping young people think clearly about their skills

and aspirations

The RSA has a growing family of Academy schools that are working

together to improve the prospects of young people in London and the

Midlands. As an organisation, the RSA has a long history of working

in education from the vocational examinations it established in the

mid-th century (now managed by the OCR exam board) to our recent

interventions in government debates on school standards and admissions.

The Academies are state schools serving communities with above aver-

age levels of deprivation. Schools and students benefit not just from theRSAs expertise in educational practice all the schools teach the Opening

Minds curriculum developed at the RSA but also from the skills and

connections available through the Fellowship. Through these, students

can access opportunities that they might otherwise not have access to.

For instance, Peter Johnson got involved with the RSA Academies

through a conversation with Rich Pickford, an RSA regional programme

manager who works closely with the schools. Peter helps senior figures

from businesses and charities right up to the board of companies that

have a turnover of billions of pounds every year understand their own

strengths and behaviour. He was organising a training session and oered

some free places to teachers at an RSA Academy.

As Peter recalls, Mark Healy, vice principal at Arrowvale Academy in

Redditch, had other ideas. He said: hmm, any chance we can send some of

the students? The head boy and girl at Arrowvale went on the programme,

and came back raving about their experience. They fitted in phenomenally

well; they were delightful and everyone thought they were fantastic during

the session. They went back to the academy saying this is brilliant.

The training the students attended builds a profile of their strengths

and capabilities, using a model called Insights Discovery. Peter, an accred-

ited trainer in using this tool, felt it was a particularly valuable experience

for the students because it helped them to understand their value andtheir uniqueness and that they have strengths, no matter where they are.

Celebrating that is very powerful. This kind of experience, more com-

monly experienced by students at schools in the private sector, reinforces

the Academies work to help students realise their potential.

Its clear that there are huge benefits to this kind of skilled volunteering

for both students and sta at the schools but what about the Fellows

who give their time? Peter is clear that he gained a great deal from work-

ing with the students. The experience was uplifting there are some

fantastic young people coming out of the schools, he says. Whats more,

though, it provided a route into the RSAs work. Ive been a Fellow for

years, Peter explains, and Ive been relatively passive because Ive

not known what to do, how to get engaged.
http://rsafellowship.com/group/socialentrepreneursnetworkhttp://rsafellowship.com/group/socialentrepreneursnetworkhttp://rsafellowship.com/group/socialentrepreneursnetworkhttp://rsafellowship.com/group/socialentrepreneursnetwork


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Another example of a Fellow sharing their expertise with the RSAs

Academies is Bruno Taylor, a designer who is working to tackle the root

causes of youth unemployment. He and his team are building a web plat-

form, with the working name of Flip Yourself, which helps young people

showcase their skills and achievements to employers. Bruno has been

working with RSA schools to trial the tool, and feels they have welcomed

his approach to solving problems.Our design and development process is very much user-led, he says,

and I dont think many people get young people as involved in the design

process as we have done. Weve been focused on what provides real value

to the young people first, and then the school. The trials of the software

are about to begin, and the project will soon launch as a fully-fledged

social venture.

Like Peter, for Bruno the RSA Fellowship is a good place to apply

his skills to social challenges, and he looks forward to doing more.

Im constantly surprised, and very pleasantly, about what the

community has to oer, he says.

Key learning: Applying your professional skills to social challenges can

open new doors

Find out more about the RSAs Family of Academies:

bit.ly/rsaacademies


If you want to share your skills with others, or get help with a project

youre running, here are some ideas:

If youre an RSA Fellow, register for RSA SkillsBank and we will try

and match you to projects and opportunities that fit with your skills

and interests: www.thersa.org/fellowship/skillsbank

Explore GoodPeople, a website run by RSA Fellow Richard Tyrie

that helps connect people and opportunities to do good:

goodpeople.co.uk

. Share your skills
http://bit.ly/rsaacademieshttp://www.thersa.org/fellowship/skillsbankhttps://goodpeople.co.uk/https://goodpeople.co.uk/http://www.thersa.org/fellowship/skillsbankhttp://bit.ly/rsaacademies


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4. Grow your idea

Weve explored some of the ways that ideas are strengthened through

being discussed, shared and improved by the skills and experience of

others. At some point, these ideas need to prove that they can work in

practice. This can demand a lot of things funding, persistence, luck

but its also about making sure that the right support and guidance

is in place to help an idea take root.

For the last couple of years, RSA Catalyst has been supporting Fellows

ventures and helping them to achieve social impact. Through it, weve

given nearly , in small grants to projects, and made hundreds ofconnections between projects and individuals or organisations that help

them meet their goals. Catalyst aims to support ventures that go beyond

the community of RSA Fellows.

In this last section, youll see how three projects led by RSA Fellows

have come to play an important role in improving their communities.

Changing Chelmsford

A group of RSA Fellows who helped their town to become a city

In , a group of RSA Fellows led by Malcolm Noble came together

to discuss a big question: how could Chelmsford become a more success-

ful place? The Essex town had plenty of things going for it, but the group

felt that its civic and cultural potential were not being realised, and that

local people deserved a greater say in some of the decisions that were

being taken about its development.

Over the summer of that year, they organised a series of debates,

workshops and talks that brought together over people and

The Ideas Hub in High Chelmer

shopping centre, Chelmsford

(photo: Sam Thomas)


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. Grow your idea

organisations including residents, politicians and experts from

other parts of the country. Many of these came to the project through

the projects partners: the RSA, the two local councils and the Academy

of Urbanism. Over ideas emerged from the events, and to capitalise

on this the partners created a Community Interest Company (CIC),

Changing Chelmsford.

Since then, the team has gone from strength to strength. Lastyear, they opened an Ideas Hub in an empty unit of the High Chelmer

shopping centre. Its designed to be a space fit both for business and

community activity, and as Malcolm explains, it hasnt been short of

users. People can rent space for working; weve had exhibitions on;

weve got all sorts of dierent age groups doing workshops; elderly

folk doing crochet one week, fathers and children next.

Malcolm attributes much of this success to the way that Changing

Chelmsford built its network gradually, starting with groups (like the

local civic society) who were easier to engage. Start with groups that

are easy to make contact with and involve, he advises. Identify who

your easy allies are to begin with, whoever it is, get them on board,and then work out a strategy of moving stage by stage.

Another advantage of a broad partnership like Changing Chelmsford

is its ability to inspire new projects. Young Urban Explorers, the brain-

child of local architect Annabel Brown, worked with over young

people from the area to re-imagine the citys under-used spaces. It received

funding from RSA Catalyst to create an interactive online map of their

photographs, and with the support of the CIC they were able to present

their ideas to representatives from the council, having their say about

what would improve their neighbourhoods.

Looking to the future, the project is increasingly focused on opening

up Chelmsfords civic buildings. For instance, the Shire Hall in the middle

of town which had long been largely inaccessible to the public is now

to be the object of a million-pound restoration, due in no small part to

Changing Chelmsfords eorts. Theyve had even greater success with the

former Marconi factory in the town an iconic building that hosted early

experiments in radio broadcasting. The site had been derelict for some

years, but a concerted campaign led by the organisation which attracted

coverage in both the local and national press has persuaded the develop-

ers who own it to adapt their master-plan for the site, creating a walking

link between the university and the city centre.

More than just assuring these sites future, though, theyve also helpedcreate activity in the meantime. We also commissioned some public art

on Marconi around the building, Malcolm says, and had volunteers

digging, making the garden look nice. Funded by the local businesses

and the council, its a great illustration of how a volunteer campaign can

also be an eective lobbying tool: the sheer number of people and range

of activities around these historic buildings proved to the developers that

there was interest and aection for them.

Malcolm says that while the problem at first was finding enough

people to help keep the project afloat, they now have the opposite

problem: you get to a tipping point, and were well past that tipping

point, where youve got so many people involved that the issue becomes

managing them which is a nice place to be. One thing thats helped


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enormously is having talented project managers initially Stephanie

Mills, and now Leonie Raymondt keeping everything together, but

he admits that finding funding for these vital positions has been a

real challenge.

Changing Chelmsford shows how a simple idea that the places we

live could be better and that citizens have a role to play in shaping them

can become an enormous source of civic pride and energy. In , theproject was cited in Chelmsfords successful application for city status

as a leading example of good community engagement, and this has been

reflected by growing awareness about the project and its impact. Malcolm

explains the dierence: when we started not that many people knew

about Changing Chelmsford. You wont find that now.

Key learning: Grow slowly and steadily, and dont be afraid to be political

Find out more about Changing Chelmsford: www.changingchelmsford.org

Vertical Allotments

Bringing urban gardening to sheltered housing schemes

Lynette Warren and Mike Anstey have turned Vertical Allotments their

idea for growing vegetables upwards, not outwards into a promising

social business. Mike and Lynettes journey started when they took thedecision to leave their jobs at the University of Bedfordshire, and strike

out on their own.

We went a bit demob happy, and had so many ideas bouncing

around, Lynette recalls fondly. At the university, the pair had managed a

programme which created spin-o companies to adapt academic research

for profit. Its therefore hardly surprising that they started to think about

how they could make a living from some of their own interests.

We picked up the feeling that grow your own initiatives were well,

growing! And that there was a shortage of allotment space. Looking

at the high rise flats, we thought: wouldnt it be nice to green the

environment there as well? They were interested in working with older

people, especially those in sheltered housing, to tackle the problem of

Growing vegetables in a vertical

allotment (photo: Centre for

Sustainable Technologies)
http://www.changingchelmsford.org/http://www.changingchelmsford.org/


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growing plants in very confined spaces: a small patio, for instance, or

the balcony of a high-rise flat. We thought: why not grow upwards?

Lynette says. It makes sense youre utilising wall space that does

nothing, and if you start growing on balconies or walls it gives a

much more pleasant appearance.

An initial challenge was that equipment available on the market was

too expensive and sophisticated for their purposes. Instead, they tookmatters into their own hands. Mike was interested in Meccano as a

boy, Lynette says, so he said the easiest thing to build is something

that follows those lines. After a great deal of research to find the best

materials for the job, they settled on a flexible design that used inexpen-

sive plastic tubing and steel joints to form a growing frame which they

called GutterGrow.

Mike and Lynette were able to secure good partnerships with housing

associations. Most of the housing associations weve had contact with

are charities or social enterprises, so we have the same ethos. Theyre

always looking for initiatives that will help their residents. The project

has been a huge success in terms of participants reactions, with the newgardens helping to bring people together, sharing food that they had

grown with their neighbours. It was a real focal point new residents

that came in said they had really like to get involved, so in that way its cer-

tainly demonstrated that it was a pleasurable activity, Lynette explains.

In building these partnerships, they benefited from receiving an

RSA Catalyst award, which provided funds to make the first pilot of their

technique possible, purchasing equipment and tools. It also helped to get

their foot in the door with other organisations: going to talk to people,

the fact that we were Fellows from the RSA gave us credibility, and you

cant discount that people took it more seriously.

The project also demonstrates the challenges of partnership working,

particularly when it comes to engaging volunteers. Through an RSA

connection, Lynette and Mike teamed up with Cambridge Hub, an

organisation at Cambridge University that helps students give their time

to good causes. They recruited several volunteers, but found the growing

time as dictated by nature clashed with the students exams. Although

the students were enthusiastic, they struggled to commit time to the

project; Lynette hopes that planning their involvement more carefully

will mean they can make a fuller contribution in the future.

And thats not the only way that she and Mike are looking to the

future. Theyre currently applying for further Catalyst funding to supportan apprentice, who would work to promote the model to other housing

associations, while also developing horticultural and business skills.

Their ambitions are big, too: wed like to set up an apprentice scheme

that could be emulated across dierent regions, Lynette says. Our ideal

vision is for the social enterprise to be run by a whole team of young

people. All in all, Vertical Allotments shows how a good idea can benefit

from the support of willing partners especially when they can see the

benefits for their own work.

Key learning: Finding the right partners is crucial in helping your idea take o

Keep up with Lynette and Mike via Twitter: twitter.com/Guttergrow

. Grow your idea
http://twitter.com/Guttergrowhttp://twitter.com/Guttergrow


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Plan Zheroes

Helping fight food waste and food poverty in London

Every year in the UK, . billion tonnes of surplus food is sent to landfill

sites by retail outlets. And at the same time, in the same country, four mil-

lion people are in food poverty. In , three campaigners Lotti Henley,

Maria Ana Botelho Neves, and Chris Wilkie decided they wanted this

to change. The impulse came from Lotti, whose experiences of food

shortages during the Second World War left her appalled by the idea of

good food going to waste. Their response was Plan Zheroes (short for

zero food waste heroes): a project to raise awareness about food waste

and food poverty and help tackle the two together.

From talking to small businesses, they realised there was a need for a

simple way to link businesses with food to spare and charities who could

give it to those in need. Initially, this seemed a straightforward goal.

At the beginning we were nave, full of enthusiasm, Maria Ana recalls.

We just had a vision, we knew where we wanted to be, and had no clue

how dicult it is. What the team hadnt counted on was the complexity

of the surplus food problem.

What works for a hotel doesnt necessarily work for a shop or a

supermarket, Maria Ana explains. Sometimes you have food that is only

surplus for hours, and you need to quickly find a place that will consume

it, while at other times it might be packaged and fine for three months.

And charities needs are very dierent too, from the soup runs on theStrand where theres no phone contact, its just something that happens

to organisations like the Salvation Army, who have fully-equipped kitchens.

Theres also the question of health and safety regulations, often given as

the reason that food must be thrown away. According to Maria Ana, this is

often an excuse: in most circumstances, safety shouldnt be an impediment.

The more they learned, the more the team realised that the biggest

role they could play was learning from organisations like FareShare and

companies such as Pret a Manger, who have already done the groundwork

and found out what works, and inspire smaller businesses to do the same.

We [felt we should] focus on whos doing it those are the real heroes

and then learn from them and become gossipers, Maria Ana says: just

tell others whats possible.

Mapping food waste in London

at the launch of Plan Zheroes

(photo: Sam Thomas)


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The project received funding from RSA Catalyst and support from

the campaigning organisation London Citizens, and was launched at

Londons City Hall in February . Its not all been plain sailing,

though, and Maria Ana is all too aware of the costs of seeing an idea

through to completion. She explains that from the start everyone involved

saw the project as a collaborative one between equals with shared own-

ership, and shared leadership. That meant that as the campaign gatheredpace, it became dicult to make decisions: everybody the co-founders

felt this is my project.

This open approach extended to working with volunteers. Maria Ana

explains the format of early meetings: we would say okay, introduce

yourself, and the next thing we would say was now, do whatever you

think you can do. This is the worst way to engage volunteers! There isnt

a single person that wants to be thrown a huge opportunity and not know

where they fit.

These challenges became so severe that Plan Zheroes success became

impossible to manage and several people involved having to step back

from the project due to the pressure of keeping everything afloat withlittle funding or structure. As a result, they decided to put together a busi-

ness plan and budget, create proper procedures for managing volunteers

and are now registering as a charity. However, Maria Ana is adamant that

they had to decide to do these things the hard way, and that the initial

freedom or chaos, as she puts it was necessary. If wed been very

structured, you know what would have happened? Wed have given up,

she says. The reason we didnt is because there was a lot of enthusiasm

more than that, determination.

Its a real dilemma: a campaign like Plan Zheroes needs to be inclusive

and exciting enough to inspire people and get them on board, but struc-

tured enough to survive in the long term. How to get that balance right

will dier for every project. One important lesson, Maria Ana explains,

was to learn to say no to new ideas. People will throw you fantastic,

fantastic suggestions, and youre not ready, she says. Stop being over-

whelmed and panicked because its not the right time but put those

ideas in a place where you can visit them as the journey progresses.

Theres little doubt now that it will. Maria Ana and the Plan Zheroes

team have recently worked with the Greater London Authority and other

partners to design the London Food Map, a new tool allowing anyone in

urgent need of food to find the nearest provider that can help whether

thats a food bank, a soup kitchen, or a caterer or sandwich shop with left-over stock. This has encouraged the team to start thinking about how they

oer their model to other local authorities. However, Maria Ana insists that

the focus has to remain on the social impact of what theyre doing. What

we cant do, because it will kill the project, it will kill the culture and why

were doing it, is just look for ways of making money, she says. Because

its not about making money, its about solving a problem.

That sense, that the project is tackling a real and pressing issue, is

never far from the teams minds. We feel special every day we receive

an email from a charity to say what they achieved by being part of Plan

Zheroes, she says: that they can help another people now, or they

can save the money they have spent on food.

. Grow your idea


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Key learning: Have enough structure to make your idea sustainable

while keeping things fresh

Find out more about Plan Zheroes: www.planzheroes.org

Explore the London Food Map: www.londonfoodmap.org.uk


Theres more opportunity than ever to test out your ideas for social

change. Heres where to start:

The RSA supports Fellows ideas that aim to have a positive social impact

through Catalyst. It provides grants to ventures, connects them to support

from within the Fellowship, and helps them run crowdfunding campaigns:

www.thersa.org/fellowship/catalyst

Find out about some of the big ideas that RSA Fellows are developing,

and how you can get involved: www.rsablogs.org.uk/tag/big-idea
http://www.planzheroes.org/http://www.londonfoodmap.org.uk/http://www.thersa.org/fellowship/catalysthttp://www.rsablogs.org.uk/tag/big-idea/http://www.rsablogs.org.uk/tag/big-idea/http://www.thersa.org/fellowship/catalysthttp://www.londonfoodmap.org.uk/http://www.planzheroes.org/


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Conclusion

The path from having an idea to making it happen might be a long one,

but as weve seen, there are ways to make it much easier. These projects

diverse as they are point to the potential of good ideas when developed

in the right kind of environment, and where people work together and

pool their expertise to improve and act on them.

The first step in developing an idea is to meet with others to discuss

it, and draw on their knowledge to improve and refine it together. These

meetings neednt be stressful or glum indeed, they should be some of

the most inspiring and enjoyable time you can spend with others. The keyis making sure that the conditions are right: plenty of support, a relaxed

atmosphere, and strong facilitation to make sure that everyone is able to

make their views heard.

Next, put it out into the world. Its never been easier to tell the story of

something youre working on to others including those youve never met

who might share your interests. Creating excitement around an idea will

enlist others to your cause, but new technology also gives you the oppor-

tunity to seek others views, and get them to critique what youre doing.

At this stage, its time to draw on the skills and experience of others.

You may be sure that your idea is a good one, but its highly doubtful you

are able to realise its potential alone. This might mean asking for help

to make your idea happen, or it might mean finding the people who will

benefit from it. Either way, networks like the RSA Fellowship are a fantas-

tic place to find willing volunteers.

Finally, test your idea and make sure it works. At this point, dicult

questions start to arise: how do you persuade others to take notice? What

kind of scaolding do you need to make your idea stand up? And perhaps

most crucial of all, whos going to pay for it? None of these have easy

answers, but the support is there if youre willing to look for it.

Perhaps this makes solving social problems seem like hard work. If

so, thats because it often is: none of the people featured in this booklet,whether theyre rescuing empty homes or tackling food poverty, would

describe their achievements as easily won.

All the same, we hope theyd agree that discussing ideas, sharing

them and putting them into action is time well spent. We hope their

example inspires you to go out and do the same with your idea

whatever it may be.

Conclusion


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Key learnings by project

OpenDinner (page )People learn more and make lasting connections when theyre

enjoying themselves

Unleashing Potential (page )

Strong facilitation will help people to have more rewarding discussions

Keep Calm Prepare for Change (page )

Find people and organisations that share an interest, and let them

spark o each other

Leeds Empties (page )Use your own networks on social media, and ask questions that

draw people in

Shout Out Suffolk! (page )

Social media can help you to capture voices that would otherwise

be left out

Social Entrepreneurs Network(page )

Create a safe space to share experiences and ask dicult questions

RSA Family of Academies (page )

Applying your professional skills to social challenges can open new doors

Changing Chelmsford (page )

Grow slowly and steadily, and dont be afraid to be political

Vertical Allotments (page )

Finding the right partners is crucial in helping your idea take o

Plan Zheroes (page )

Have enough structure to make your idea sustainable while keepingthings fresh


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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to all of the RSA Fellows whose work is featured in this

publication, and especially the nine who generously gave their time tospeak to me over the spring and summer of 2013:

Lilian Barton Maria Ana Botelho Neves Kevin Donovan Rob Greenland Peter Johnson Malcolm Noble Robert Porrer Bruno Taylor Lynette Warren

Id like to recognise the hard work and enthusiasm of all my colleagues

at the RSA in supporting the initiatives featured here. Id particularly like

to thank Jamie Cooke, Joanna Massie, Nathalie Spencer, Sarah Tucker,

Alex Watson and Nikki Wilson for their thoughtful and constructive

comments on various drafts.

Im grateful to Alexandra Barker, Martina Booth, and Becca Massey-

Chase for their careful proof-reading, and Rachel Bray at Soapbox for

her design and typography.

Finally, thanks to Michael Ambjorn for his tireless efforts to help RSA

Fellows work together over the last three years.

About the author

Sam Thomas is the RSAs project engagement manager. He is

responsible for helping people engage with our programme of action

and research, and as part of this is shaping our approach to working

with skilled volunteers. He was previously the RSAs programmemanager for London and the east of England, and worked closely

with many of the projects featured in this publication.

You can follow him on Twitter at @iamsamthomas


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Join the RSA Fellowship

The RSA Fellowship is a network of people from a wide range of

backgrounds, united by a desire to build a better society. If you areinspired by ideas and have a commitment to social progress, you

should consider becoming an RSA Fellow.

Why become an RSA Fellow?

You will be joining a diverse and influential movement for social change,

which will allow you to:

connect with other Fellows access funding and advice to develop your ideas share your skills and expertise to support Fellow-led projects access the facilities at the RSAs House in central London receive our award-winning quarterly Journal

As a Fellow, your annual donation will also support the charitable

work of the RSA, including our public events programme, which

provides a platform for some of the worlds leading thinkers by

holding over 150 free talks and debates each year.

How to apply

Fellowship is open to anyone anywhere in the world who shares

or demonstrates a commitment to positive social change in their

professional, civic or personal life.

To request a joining pack, email [email protected], telephone the

Fellowship team on 020 7451 6904, or visit our website:

www.thersa.org/fellowship


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The RSA: an enlightenment organisation committed

to fnding innovative practical solutions to todays social

challenges. Through its ideas, research and 27,000-strong

Fellowship it seeks to understand and enhance human

capability so we can close the gap between todays reality

and peoples hopes or a better world.

8 John Adam StreetLondon WC2N 6EZ+44 (0) 20 7930 5115

Registered as a charity

in England and Walesno. 212424

Documents

RSA Fellowship Four Ways to Turn Ideas Into Action