20 Comments on Centre – local relations: an RSA perspective

Kevin Donovan on Thu, 12th Mar 2009 10:04 am


It is difficult to change an organisation like the RSA (and, yes, of course there isn’t an organisation like the RSA!) which has particular traditions and ways of working. But I think Matthew’s analysis is exactly right.

I am based in the North West of England and, because I work part-time, I have the luxury of being able to devote some time to the RSA locally (in Liverpool) and regionally. And I have some time to sit at my desk and use technology/communications like this.

I think we have managed to develop new ways of working in the Region precisely because we’ve recognised collectively that there is an awful lot of Fellowship energy and ideas which can be marshalled for better use BUT we have responsibilities to act within democratically-agreed parameters. We have to keep the RSA true to its mission and tradition, but we have to find ways to involve ourselves responsibly. That implies limits on all sides: Fellows can’t just go their own sweet way using RSA resources; RSA nationally can’t function like a private London club. And we all lives to live. We are glad that the (superb) RSA staff carry the day-to-day burden of organisation; in turn Fellows will only be involved as and when they can. But new ways of working and communicating, and new ways of relating between the centre and the regions and individual Fellows, should help us all to be part of a more productive organisation which remains true to its ideals.

Now back to work!

Ann Fuchs on Thu, 12th Mar 2009 12:35 pm


I am part of the Leicestershire group and until very recently have been the Chairman (note – not Chair). When I joined this group some ten years’ ago I was concerned that we were not following the phylosophy of William Shipley, that is, in my words, discussion and seeking new ideas to make a difference. Slowly we have achieved just that. Well, the discussion bit and we are still seeking the eureka moment. This is all a preamble to say that I wholeheartedly agree with Matthew”s views. We need to network and share our ideas and experiences and behave as ambassadors of the RSA.

Ian Hosker on Fri, 13th Mar 2009 10:52 am


It is good that Matthew has given this clarification. I will add my take in a moment, but want to share something that has puzzled me for some time in the past with regard to charitable status. Until relatively recently, I have found it difficult to reconcile charitable status with what was actually happening on the ground – i.e. social networking. While this is a valid activity for local RSA regions, it seemed to me that this did not genuinely reflect charitable purpose. Nor, frankly, did it engage too many Fellows.
Now, I will declare my interest. I am the current chair of the South West region, and while a committee member and later Secretary, I was increasingly disturbed by this problem. As a consequence, and following a very painful shake up, the committee was reduced to three people with the stated purpose of developing social project networks. This has not been an easy task, but the effort is now (three years on) reaping a dividend. We are engaging with a very different group of Fellows who have rediscovered the links between the work of their own organisations and the objectives of the RSA. We now have several projects/networks operating or at initial stages of development.
The cornerstone of our approach has been the simple realisation that Fellows are busy individuals, but do want to engage (they told us so). Where there aan obvious synergy to be gained, it made much more sense to engage Fellows (and often non-Fellows) through their organisations.
This strategy is proving to be an effective one. The projects local Fellows (not some faceless committee) are developing are as a direct result of the three of us brokering and nurturing projects from initial idea, brokering networking and enabling generating partnerships between RSA in the regions and organisations led by Fellows.
In other words, the overall effect is one of creating added value through engaging Fellows through the wider RSA network. For example, RSA South West is working with Connexions Cornwall and Devon on the Skills Challenge project which will, among other things test the idea that the RSA Opening Minds competences can be applied to a much wider set of learning environments in the community (i.e. not only embedded in school curricula). We also have a Health and Social Care Network/Forum that is developing a relationship with the Peninsula Medical School (the Dean is a Fellow), and there are other joint ventures at the start of their journey.
Why has this worked?
The answer is simple, but perhaps an unpalatable truth. Regional committees can be either a force for Fellowship engagement, or a ‘turnoff’ for it.
I am coming to the end of my tenure as chair, and I would like to see one thing come out of my time: Fellows who want to engage with each other in social activist projects that are consistent with the charitable aims of the RSA; and a regional structure that reflects the need to manage the funding of such activities (i.e. ensures due diligence and good governance – such as a project evaluation panel that is able to provide seed funding) but at the same time does not neglect the real and unpredictable (in terms of ideas that may emerge) value of social networking (e.g. local RSA social networks such as the very lively Exeter group convened by Kevin Cahill whose energy astonishes me!).
You may guess I come from a critical theorist perspective – it’s part of my day job – and so did the RSA 250 years ago.
We have to go back to first principles on this, or risk becoming an anachronistic, and perhaps quaint, irrelevance.
Best wishes to all.
Ian Hosker

matthewtaylor on Fri, 13th Mar 2009 2:33 pm


Thanks Ann. I wonder whether there is anything we can do to help wiith that eureka moment?

Best

Matthew

matthewtaylor on Fri, 13th Mar 2009 2:36 pm


Thanks Kevin

This is exactly right. We have to remove the barriers to engagement, we have to develop the capacity for engagement and we have to identify the content (purpose) of engagement in relation to our wider charitable aims. Easy to do one of these, harder to do two but we only get traction if we do all three at once. It takes time, commitment, imagination and a bit of luck. But once we have some examples of what the Fellowship can do it will be so much easier for others to follow

Best

Matthew

joe on Fri, 13th Mar 2009 4:44 pm


I’m obviously very new to this, but my perception is that the local groups vary enormously from groups involved in many things to others which have irregular ‘study’ tours of random local businesses to those which are more like a Rotary Club.

So what am I missing? What is the point of a local group?

Laura on Fri, 13th Mar 2009 5:45 pm


It’s very energising to read such positive and constructive comments here and striking to see such convergence. It is a challenge for an organisation of this scale and diverse range of interests and expectations in the Fellowship to reconcile and realise its ambitions but recently there seems to be increasing convergence.

The combination of the (inter)national and local aspects of the RSA offers a real opportunity. Fellows want to engage on a local level and organise themselves around issues that they are passionate about. The RSA as a national organisation has the potential to amplify and celebrate local action and bring it onto a national playing field through partnerships with other networks and organisations. As Matthew points out, it is important to balance the relationships between central, regional and local groups but the potential for the RSA to provide an ideological framework, incentivise participation and celebrate achievement can sit well with regional agency and local delivery.

The RSA is committed to creating the best conditions to host and support the Fellowship network and enabling Fellows to achieve their goals. It is paramount that the RSA is clear about its purpose and sets out parameters as a scaffolding to support activity rather than a straight jacket that constricts it.

The approaches Ian, Kevin and Ann describe respond fantastically to the challenge and are evidently sparking results. The RSA needs to accommodate a wide range of expectations and different levels of participation from the Fellowship. Fellows are busy people and ‘action’ means different things to different people. The Fellowship team are working throughout the regions to structure opportunities for engagement at a number of levels. Face to face city network events, online interaction and idea generation can broker relationships and improve communication. Through partnerships, project panels and research support we can develop projects and achieve real impact. Along with new technologies to support and strengthen connections, ever pressing incentives to collaborate and accelerate future innovations and with the RSA providing the institutional framework to stimulate new networks, the RSA Fellowship can come together as a real force for public good and citizen-led change.

David Wilcox on Fri, 13th Mar 2009 5:48 pm


Matthew – I live in London, and sense that the role and benefits of Fellowship is different – and maybe more evidently valuable – in the regions. We are spoiled for networking opportunities … although I’m not sure we make as good use of them as those elsewhere who have to work harder to connect. It would be interesting to explore this difference, if you think it exists. Formation of the London City Network by Laura Bunt and RSA networks colleagues is very welcome, and will help us be sociable and purposeful.
I just want to welcome your effort to create a space for this discussion, by blogged openly on the issues, as you did recently on the general challenges for membership organisations. It’s what I hoped for when I wrote Could blogging bosses ’08 become social artists ’09 Evidently.

daniel snell on Sat, 14th Mar 2009 11:27 am


It really feels as though you are starting to run with this new approach/thinking now Matthew, opening up the debate further to the challenges that face the Fellowship. Bravo.

What if…

…the debate could be opened up even further, and the level of freedom and support could be give the fellowship that reflect the passion and desire to actually do something with this extraordinary group of people – in different states – and allow them to participate as their interests, time and energy allowed.

If we can punture the interests (create context) of the individuals to the benefit of the many/RSA, we may see a genuine ground-swell of commitment and energy. Allowing busy fellows to both use the network for their own interests for the dynamic and collective good, otherwise, for many the RSA will be a point of interest, but not heart and central to their thinking, energy and organizations!

I assert, if you make it harder to be a fellow and the standards for entry are high, you then might feel more prone to trust in the collective value we offer, in our commitment to support you and the underpining intentions/vision of the RSA.

This is ultimately (i believe) the only way to create real, energized, sustainable mirco empowerment within the rhizome of the RSA. Thoughts?

Paul Dickson on Sun, 15th Mar 2009 5:58 pm


I have been involved in the RSA East of England committee for nearly four years. I became Chairman last September. Throughout this time we have been actively supporting the development of local groups/networks as well as running an events programme aiming to help Fellows engage with issues of regional concern.

We have active groups in Chelmsford and Norwich working to connect with issues/projects that concern fellows at the local level. We hope to get a group going in Cambridge in the autumn.

My take is for the Fellowship to act as a ‘dating’ agency connecting people and making things happen either online, or face to face at local and regional meetings. I do think this in tune with Matthew’s view.

Fellows must feel equally connected with the RSA at both the local and national level. I do feel that regional committees have an important role, working with RSA outreach staff as a conduit for this connection.

David Wilcox on Sun, 15th Mar 2009 8:33 pm


Daniel – I’ll join your applause for opening up the discussion, as Matthew is doing. Please excuse self-linking but it is briefer …
I think membership organisations face the same challenge as events organisers and newspapers. They have been convenors of activity and content, but that is changing. I’m not sure drawing the boundaries tighter will work for RSA unless there is a really clear model and support for the ways in which Fellows can work together with staff. And why it is worth the sub. I like the way in which RSA staff are now working on the edge, with a mix of Fellows and friends.
As Clay Shirky says we need lots of small experiments, and stories about what hasn’t worked. I think that’s the real potential of RSA and the change Matthew has been leading: action as well as thought-leading.
Oh, and it would be great if we had our own public RSA Fellows space as well as finding a home in Matthew’s blog comments. There was one once, though posting permissions were limited.

matthewtaylor on Mon, 16th Mar 2009 8:24 am


Thanks Paul

I really like what you are doing. If we get people together sometimes things happen, sometimes they don’t, but it creates a capacity waiting for the right idea or issue to tap into it. I have in the past said I hope the RSA will be a kind of RAC of civil activism and innovation. On other words when something breaks down or needs jump starting the RSA s ready to step in and make a difference. Having lively networks enables us to be that kind of organisation

Thanks again for all your good work

matthewtaylor on Mon, 16th Mar 2009 8:29 am


Hi Daniel thanks for your support and your comments. Over the last two years we have steadily increased the funding to Fellowship support, for example from a half a member of staff to five. And we have become much more targeted in those we invite to become Fellows. Also, we are now much more explicit with new Fellows about what we think Fellowship means not just as a status but as a commitment. And today the Trustees are discussing turning our Council into a Fellowship Council creating, we hope, a strong ethos of self government within the Fellowship

I hope you approve.

matthewtaylor on Mon, 16th Mar 2009 8:30 am


Thanks David. One of my dreams is that one day people lke Clay hold up the RSA as an example of how even the oldest most traditional organisations can become new networked spaces

daniel snell on Tue, 17th Mar 2009 6:17 pm


Hi Matthew,

Thanks for the note and encouragement. i look forward to seeing that initiative blossom. I thought your note on engaging with the old and traditional and the new, a worthy and important point to make.

I’m a firm believe of change from with in. If you really want to take people with you, you must first illicit community ownership authenically – harder to do than to say – given how most people are entrenched or stubborn or both (I know I can be)

Very exciting where you are now starting to take the debate and practical actions of leadership.

Keep it up

matthewtaylor on Wed, 18th Mar 2009 10:59 am


Thanks Daniel. A really encouraging response.

Tessy Britton on Fri, 20th Mar 2009 6:23 pm


Having worked closely with the networks project and the regions I wonder if there may be further scope to consider ‘mutuality’ in this discussion. The conditions have changed considerably since the start of the networks project 18 months ago. At that time it was inspiring to anticipate working on social projects collectively.

In current conditions however, an emphasis on strengthening the Fellowship network may be important, especially in the context of social progress. Increased attention to ‘mutual advocacy’ (rather than engagement) could potentially serve to further energise the RSA network beyond the Fellowship itself, at a time when social action may be compromised (due to the need to focus on keeping afloat).

The value I see emerging from the networks project are in areas of ‘shared contribution’, in addition to what Daniel describes as ‘community ownership’. There seems great opportunity for creating further ways of Fellows supporting RSA projects (education campaign, social brain, arts and ecology etc), but also for the RSA to seek ways to actively support some of the many exciting initiatives that already exist within the Fellowship. It seems that in this ‘mutual space’, that the benefits of membership, currently so debated, will find value for both the organisation and the membership.

Clay Shirky talks of members having no need of the organisation as they increasingly are able to connect without the ‘convenor’. What I haven’t seen discussed very much is how the strength of an organisation and it’s member is increased through mutual advocacy and shared aims. I am not sure that this collective strength can simply be replaced with an informal network.

Without debate between Fellows and the centre it would be hard to see how shared aims might evolve. Whatever self-governing is put in place, as you describe, in practice this needs to be genuinely influential in forming shared aims, not just a body to manage Fellows.

Visible signs of changes within the RSA indicate in many ways that the institution now offers increased enthusiasm and flexibility – as well as an openness to new thinking in the way that it manages itself. This ability to self-reflect, in an organisational sense, is often absent, and it is great to it happening at the RSA.

matthewtaylor on Mon, 23rd Mar 2009 9:02 am


Thanks Tessy. I agree absolutely. Our proposal for a new Fellowship Council is exactly about balancing a body which has the legitimacy to engage with and challenge Fellows’ groups to be more ambitious and open with a stronger capacity to challenge the Trustees and management team so that Society is working in the best way to support and encourage Fellowship engagement.

Bob Porrer on Thu, 9th Apr 2009 11:47 am


I write as Deputy Chair (and former Chair) of RSA Scotland to welcome Matthew’s clear statement on the relationship between the centre and the regions/nations represented in the RSA.

One important reason for allowing each region/nation a reasonable amount of autonomy (while recognising the need to conform to the charitable aims of the RSA) is that the political, social and economic environments can be very different. Devolved government for Scotland has created opportunities and we have responded to the desire of Fellows for the RSA and its Fellows to have an impact on Scottish Society. The new strategy, developed by the Scottish Committee after extensive consultation with Fellows, focuses on how we can have an impact within the devolved Scotland from national to local level, increasing the involvement of Fellows across Scotland, developing new partnerships and enhancing the RSA’s profile in Scotland.

We see the role of the RSA’s Scottish Committee as stimulating and facilitating change-focussed activity, which means in practice that:
• The Scottish Committee is focussing on two main project areas (Design and Sustainability and Learning and Skills) but also encouraging the activity of freestanding groups of Fellows
• A Venture Fund has been established to provide seed-corn financial support for Fellows’ projects
• We are developing partnerships with organisations relevant to social change and areas linked to our projects and activities
• We monitor public consultations in Scotland and facilitate input from RSA Scotland and individual Fellows
• We aim to offer a high quality events programme demonstrating challenge and thought leadership, linked (though not exclusively) to key themes and activities
• We are working to enhance the profile of the RSA in Scotland, working with national bodies such as the Scottish Parliament and its Futures Forum as well as more local organisations
• We continue to liaise with John Adam Street over UK-wide projects to ensure that the Scottish dimension is fully considered

The appointment of a member of RSA staff to work in Scotland as Outreach Co-ordinator and facilitate networking and developmental activity has been a major step forward and the developing networks platform clearly has the potential to engage a higher proportion of Fellows. We have redesigned our Newsletter (see http://www.thersa.org/fellowship/regions-and-worldwide/scotland/current-newsletter) and improved communications with Fellows.

In the Scottish context, because we need to be active both nationally and locally, we have not felt the need (so far) to slim down the Scottish Committee; indeed, demand has meant that all available places have been taken on it. However, we have changed the way the Committee works, with a focus on strategy rather than operational matters. I am sure that there will be further changes as things develop.

Inevitably, with the RSA headquarters being in London, those outside the London area cast envious eyes at the programme of lectures held at John Adam Street. Videocasting and podcasting is a good way to extend the reach of these stimulating lectures but I do think that it would be good to present some of the lectures outside London in order to reinforce the RSA’s reputation there – with, of course, videocasting/podcasting so that those in London and elsewhere can benefit from them!

The proposed change of the Advisory Council into a Fellowship Council with clearer objectives and function and including regional/national representation looks good and the development of the Fellows’ Charter summarising rights, responsibilities and opportunities also fits well with the changes in the RSA. It takes time to change large and venerable organisations like the RSA, but the foundations laid over the past couple of years give us a sound basis for creating an organisation and Fellowship able to make a real contribution to society, in the spirit of the original Shipley mission.

matthewtaylor on Thu, 9th Apr 2009 1:23 pm


Thanks for this Bob. Great stuff. The progress made in Scotland should be an inspiration to others. On the issue of lectures outside London, the issue is audience. If we were sure we could get a good attendance I am sure we could use our links with thinkers and publishers to get more people to speak outside London. We used to do more of this but one of the reasons we cut back was low turnout.

Thanks again for all your good work

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