Monthly Archives: May 2014

80,000 Hours have just published their strategic review for 2014.

As a new organisation 80,000 is clearly flexing and changing as the efficacy of their campaigns, support for students and discovery of a sustainable social business model begin to emerge.

As a group of people they are dedicated to the take up of social impact as a career choice by graduates. They have fostered a wide debate about earning to give, and now, from the evidence of their strategy thinking, are looking for a way to build upon their research expertise and web publishing capabilities.

We read the strategy document with interest here at conversationsEAST. What has been produced, it seems to us, is a general template for any organisation which wishes to pursue societal change.

What emerges is a strong focus on original research, coupled to applying the emergent information, data  and reflection to web outputs in order to disseminate ideas and raise recruitment.

Whilst expressed briefly here, the concepts do not seem sparklingly original. However, as to be expected from the creative cohort at 80,000, they are not often expressed so elegantly or in such a clear and structured way.

interneticon  Discover 80,000 Hours for yourself and read their 2014 strategy and development document here…

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A new RSA Short – energy renewal in a busy day…

“What if you really could change the world? Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize winner, firmly believes that each and every one of us can and should contribute to creating a better world. In this empowering RSA Short Jody explains why it is so important that we strive to make a difference”. Narrative courtesy of The RSA…

Jody Williams (born 1950) is an American political activist known around the world for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defense of human rights – especially those of women – and her efforts to promote new understandings of security in today’s world. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work toward the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines.

interneticon  You can see a longer version of this talk on YouTube here…

Jody posits that her reaction to anger is to harness it into passion. Mainly because anger and rage upsets her mom…harnessing instead a passion to change things in order to resolve injustice. Anyone can change the world? Yes you can she argues, if you turn your passion about injustice into your work. Exhilarating!

Join THE RSA – make change happen. interneticon Find out more here.

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Malcolm Noble, regional Chair of the RSA in the East of England writes…

Regional Fellowship – an overview

Our regional team arranges a programme of events open to Fellows wherever they live in the East of England. There are local networks serving four of the main population centres: Norwich, Ipswich, Cambridge and Chelmsford. They are all engaged in Fellow led projects designed to realise the objectives of our regional plan. The projects are:

NorwIch – educational disadvantage in some parts of the city; involving an RSA Catalyst funded link with Futures Radio.
Ipswich – the Shout Out Suffolk programme on educational under-achievement.
Cambridge – Community Based Initiatives.
Chelmsford – Changing Chelmsford shaping the future of England’s newest city.

We have a region wide project on renewable sources of energy. Our working group commissioned research undertaken by University Campus Suffolk on the mismatch between skills and employment opportunities in this sector.

New local networks are being established in Hertfordshire and South Essex.

We now plan to provide opportunities for Fellows to contribute to all of our projects, regardless of where they live or work. ConversationsEast will enable Fellows to link in to the project discussions through the ‘Local Groups’ and ‘Projects’ pages.

Our new Projects Group, representing each of the local networks, will connect all of the individual initiatives and facilitate Fellow involvement across the region.

interneticon Our conference on 14th June will enable Fellows to influence the changes now underway.

Image of Malcolm NobleMalcolm Noble
Chair: RSA East of England.

 Our summer conference in Norfolk.

‘The RSA East of England conference will happen this year on Saturday 14 June, 10am – 4pm at University of East Anglia, Norwich. Join Fellows, community partners, colleagues and students at the University of East Anglia for a lively and informative day of conversation, projects and activities from Fellows within the East of England region’.

The Conference this year takes place at UEA in Norfolk. You can listen to our keynote speakers and take part in a variety of interactive workshops across a number of themes.

Fellows and guests are happy to welcome RSA Chief Executive Matthew Taylor, whose keynote will be The Power to Create, and Professor Tim O’Riordan, who is the Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, who will be speaking to Listening to Young Voices for a Fairer Deal.

Twitter iconYou can join the conference Twitter conversation at #RSAEAST  – you can also follow the conference @CommunityatUEA and get re-tweeting from there.

flickr button image  Our conference images will be posted to the flickr account RSAEast2014

The conference group sessions include…

  • University and RSA research collaborations
  • Empowering Invisible Norwich: some initiatives undertaken by the Norwich
    Area Fellows Education Forum
  • Crowd-funding for Entrepreneurs, Creativity and Social Good
  • What is a learning city?

The Fellows will also have created ‘The Marketplace‘ again this year. Where you will have the opportunity to meet and explore a variety of organisations and projects with links to our regional activity.

You can catch up with our last regional conference in Cambridge here. This year in Norfolk is going to be as lively and informative as the previous event.

interneticon  Book your places on-line here, as well as view and download a full copy of the conference programme. We look forward to seeing you in Norwich on Saturday, June 14th, 2014.

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Image credit:

News Desk image by Markus Winkler, Creative Commons, Unsplash...

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