Editing Royal Society of Arts (section)

==Activities==
In Great Britain and Ireland, the RSA offers regional activities to encourage Fellows to address local topics of interest and to connect with other Fellows in their locality. The British Regions are: London, Central, North, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales and, Ireland. The RSA has a presence around the world under its RSA Global scheme with a notable presence in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.<ref name=Fellowship>[https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/in-your-area/international "Fellowship"], RSA. Retrieved 16 March 2017.</ref>

===Events===

The RSA's public events programme is a key part of its charitable mission to make world-changing ideas and debate freely available to all.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thersa.org/events/about-events|title=About RSA events|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328204520/http://www.thersa.org/events/about-events|archive-date=28 March 2014}}</ref> Over 100 keynote lectures, panel discussions, debates, and documentary screenings are held each year, many of which are live-streamed over the web.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMo9vqiZPs0SuX-Xsj56_Drfw8V8O43MZ|title=RSA Replay channel on Youtube|website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> Events are free and open to the public, and mp3 audio files<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events|title=Audio and past events|website=RSA|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315110127/http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events|archive-date=15 March 2010}}</ref> and videos<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thersa.org/events/vision|title=RSA videos|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030233056/http://www.thersa.org/events/vision|archive-date=30 October 2009}}</ref> are made available on the RSA's website and [[YouTube]] page.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/theRSAorg|title=RSA channel on Youtube|website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

Speakers on the RSA's stage have included [[Ken Robinson (educationalist)|Ken Robinson]], [[Al Gore]], Sir [[David Attenborough]], [[Alain de Botton]], [[Michael Sandel]], [[Nassim Nicholas Taleb]], [[Martha Nussbaum]], [[Desmond Tutu]], [[Steven Pinker]], [[Susan Cain]], [[Dan Pink]], [[Dan Ariely]], [[Brene Brown]], [[Slavoj Zizek]], [[David Cameron]], [[Yuval Noah Harari]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vllgib842g RSA Replay: A Brief History of Humankind], Sept. 9, 2014</ref> and [[Dambisa Moyo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thersa.org/events/speakers|title=RSA Events Speakers|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327203035/http://www.thersa.org/events/speakers|archive-date=27 March 2010}}</ref>

The choice of speaker for the recent annual Presidential lecture has been a matter of interest in the press.<ref>{{cite news
 |url         = http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2010/06/prince-philip-picks-climate-change-sceptic-for-rsa-talk.html
 |title       = Prince Philip picks climate change sceptic for RSA talk
 |author = Londoner's Diary

 |newspaper  =[[Evening Standard]]
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716081041/http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2010/06/prince-philip-picks-climate-change-sceptic-for-rsa-talk.html
 |date= 4 June 2010
 |archive-date = 16 July 2011}}</ref> Danish professor [[Björn Lomborg]], was chosen; his latest book, ''Cool It'', suggests that the imminent demise of polar bears is a myth. As president of the RSA, Prince Philip's first choice of speaker was [[Ian Plimer]], professor of mineral geology at Adelaide University, but this was rejected{{by whom|date=August 2024}} as too controversial, as Plimer argues that the theory of Anthropogenic Global Warming is unproven.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

On 14 January 2010, the RSA in partnership with [[Arts Council England]] hosted a one-day conference in London called "State of the Arts".<ref>[http://www.thersa.org/events/state-of-the-arts-conference State of the Arts Conference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207011617/http://www.thersa.org/events/state-of-the-arts-conference |date=7 December 2009 }}, RSA.</ref> A number of speakers from various disciplines from art to government gathered to talk about the state of the arts industry in the United Kingdom. Notable speakers included [[Jeremy Hunt (politician)|Jeremy Hunt]] MP, [[Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport]], and his counterpart, [[Ben Bradshaw]] MP, who was then the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

====RSA Animate (animation series)====
Excerpts from the events programme form the basis for the 10-minute [[whiteboard animation]]s as shown on the '''theRSAorg''' YouTube channel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL39BF9545D740ECFF
|title=RSA Youtube channel|website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> The series was created as a way of making important, socially-beneficial ideas as accessible, clear, engaging and universal as possible.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://explainer.net/2010/12/explain-yourself-rsanimates-abigail-stephenson/
 |title       = RSA Animate interview
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140203011412/http://explainer.net/2010/12/explain-yourself-rsanimates-abigail-stephenson/
 |archive-date = 3 February 2014}}</ref> The series is produced and audio-edited at the RSA, and the animations are created by RSA Fellow [[Andrew Park (animator)|Andrew Park]] at Cognitive.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wearecognitive.com/|title= Cognitive}}</ref>

The first 14 of these had gained 46 million views as of 2011,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/oct/21/internet-users-animated-rsa-films | work=[[The Guardian]] | location=London | title=Internet users get animated about RSA short film series: Andrew Park's videos, which are drawn from capitalism and education speeches, have received 46m YouTube hits | first=Josh | last= Halliday | date=21 October 2011 | access-date=10 November 2011}}</ref> making it the no.1 nonprofit YouTube channel worldwide. The first animation in the RSA Animate series was based on [[Renata Salecl]]'s speech delivered for RSA on her book about choice.

===Projects===

The society offered the first national public examinations in 1882 that led to the formation of the RSA Examinations Board now included in the [[OCR (examination board)|Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations Board]].

In 1876, a predecessor of the [[Royal College of Music]], the ''National Training School for Music'', was founded by the RSA.<ref>Skidmore, John (February 1992), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41378132?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents "7. The Society and the National Training School for Music"], ''RSA Journal'', Vol. 140, p. 203. Retrieved 19 July 2018.</ref>

The RSA devised a scheme for commemorating the links between famous people and buildings, by placing plaques on the walls – these continue today as "[[blue plaque]]s" which have been administered by a range of government bodies. The first of these plaques was, in fact, of red terracotta erected outside a former residence of [[Lord Byron]] (since demolished). The society erected 36 plaques until, in 1901, responsibility for them was transferred to the [[London County Council]] (which changed the colour of the plaques to the current blue) and, later, the [[Greater London Council]] (the G.L.C.) and, most recently, English Heritage. Similar schemes are now operated in all the [[constituent countries of the United Kingdom]].

In 1929, the society purchased the entire village of [[West Wycombe]]. After extensive repairs, the village was legally conveyed by deed to the [[National Trust]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Explore West Wycombe Village |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/west-wycombe-park-village-and-hill/features/explore-west-wycombe-village |website=National Trust |access-date=2 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Delafons |first1=J |title=Politics and Preservation: A Policy History of the Built Heritage 1882–1996 |date=2005 |publisher=E & F N Spon |location=London |isbn=0419223908 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-GRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |language=en}}</ref>

During the 1980s, the RSA worked with the [[Comino Foundation]] and established a Comino Fellowship Committee 'to change the cultural attitude to industry from one of lack of interest or dislike to one of concern and esteem'. This eventually led to a joint government/industry initiative to promote 1986 as "Industry Year",<ref>Chandler, Sir Geoffrey, CBE (1985), "Industry Year 1986", ''Industrial Management & Data Systems'', Vol. 85, Issue 5/6, pp. 6–10.</ref><ref>Anne Powell (1986) "The Industry Year Attack", ''Production Engineer'' vol. 65. Issue: 1, pp.13–14.</ref> with the RSA and the Comino Foundation providing core funding of £250,000 – which persuaded the [[Confederation of British Industry]] to raise £1 million and government departments to provide £3 million.<ref name="Darbyshire">Darbyshire, Anthony, and Duckworth, Eric (2011), [http://www.cominofoundation.org.uk/PDF/Demetrius_Comino_a_life_and_legacy_of_achievement.pdf ''Demetrius Comino: A life and legacy of achievement''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514235835/http://www.cominofoundation.org.uk/PDF/Demetrius_Comino_a_life_and_legacy_of_achievement.pdf |date=14 May 2013 }}, Comino Foundation. Retrieved 22 February 2012.</ref>

In July 2008, the RSA became a sponsor of an [[Academy (English school)|academy]] in [[Tipton]], The [[RSA Academy]], which opened in September 2008. A New building for the school was completed in September 2010. In 2021 it was announced that the school would no longer be associated with the RSA. Projects include Arts and Ecology, Citizen Power, Connected Communities, Design and Society, Education, Public Services, Social Brain, and Technology in a Cold Climate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thersa.org/projects|title=RSA Projects|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310020748/http://www.thersa.org/projects|archive-date=10 March 2010}}</ref> There are six schools in the RSA Family of Academies, all in the West Midlands, including [[Whitley Academy]]. The former RSA Academy in Tipton was also a member, until its disassociation in 2021.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rsaacademiesteachingschool.org.uk/about-us/our-academies/ | title=Our Academies | publisher=Royal Society of Arts | work=RSA Teaching School Alliance | access-date=18 November 2017}}</ref>

Past projects include delivering fresh drinking water to the developing world, rethinking intellectual property from first principles to produce a Charter (published as the [[Adelphi Charter]]), investigating schemes to manage international migration and exploring the feasibility of a UK-wide [[personal carbon trading]] system. It still promotes the practice of inclusive design, and is working with artists to communicate ideas about environmental sustainability (for example, through one of the RSA's past projects, [[WEEE Man]], and currently through the Arts and Ecology project).

The RSA has been home to [[TEDxLambeth]], a TEDx conference based in Lambeth, since October 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=TEDxLambeth {{!}} TED|url=https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/33524|access-date=16 August 2020|website=www.ted.com}}</ref>