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Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings

Selection_001 — Jenny King FRSA opens proceedings…

(A year has passed since the 2014 World Autism Day. We suspect that the clarity and depth of knowledge about neuro-diversity still has a continuing development need across all our communities.

We publish below a review article of an event at the University of Hertfordshire, held a year ago. Jenny King FRSA ends the piece with a call for action – an opportunity to repeat and expand the work that was started at this well attended and well received regional event.

If the filmic evidence and the narrative below inspire you to engage and help, do make contact with Jenny and offer support for this important project…Ed.)

A review of an evening forum for local professionals in Health and Education held at the University of Hertfordshire April 2 2014, World Autism Day.

Aims in 2014:

To raise awareness of the talents and needs of high functioning neuro-diverse young children.

To clarify:

a) the best pathway to early diagnosis and

b) the most appropriate intervention from families and educators to maximise strengths and minimise challenging behaviour.

Objectives one year on in 2015:

To encourage Fellows to “roll out” similar events across the Country.

This unique Forum hosted by the University of Hertfordshire and the Royal Society of Arts, provided qualified practitioners in Health and Education an opportunity hear first hand information on young, high functioning neuro-diverse children and their traits and behavioural challenges. The aim was to facilitate conversation on the need to recognise the potential in the children’s often exceptional talents, and focus on their needs. The chief of these to try to clarify a pathway to early diagnosis and consequent support.

Two hundred and fifty representatives from health and education were invited: GPs Paediatricians, Health Visitors, Clinical and Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Headteachers, SENcos – Nursery and Early years Managers, Family Support Workers, Counsellors, HomeStart, and support groups working specificially for Neuro-Diverse children, including members of the Hertfordshire County Council and East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.

Two Fellows of the RSA, Jenny King and Sue Hind Woodward, put together this event after sharing a conversation at an RSA East Herts function dinner at Hatfield House about their concerns for the lack of recognition and support for the majority of young, high functioning neuro-diverse children. Those whose extraordinary gifts and talents could ultimately change the world, but whose extreme behavioural challenges prevented their recognition and progress.

Following the best tradition of the origins of the RSA in the coffeehouses in London in the 1700s, Sue and Jenny progressed their discussions at a Costa Coffee shop at a service station on the A1(!), halfway for both, against the clamour of travellers and fruit machines etc. Not quite the same cerebral atmosphere but nonetheless the idea was developed and they parted bent on growing their conversation to reach the people who could make a difference. Sue coined the phrase “Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings” which encapsulated their aims.

Some research prior to the event showed that primarily there seemed to be a lack of knowledge of the traits of neuro-diversity e.g. Autistic Spectrum, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Bipolar and related difficulties. In particular even when the traits had been identified there was no clear route forwards to diagnosis. Getting help was a frustrating performance for parents trying to demonstrate that their child was challenging for a reason unconnected to their upbringing. Delays were up to two years for a first appointment with an NHS specialist.

Looking into the situation more closely it appeared that some GPs were unfamiliar with the traits of neuro-diversity and did not know where to start with a referral. Health Visitors, possibly with more involvement supporting low-functioning children with behavioural problems, tended to direct parents towards family counselling which implied failure in parental terms. Family Counsellors visited were often equally unsure about further diagnosis for the child. Some schools, already frustrated by the challenging behaviours exhibited by neuro-diverse children, were not always sympathetic and were not well informed about traits, or how to address the difficulties experienced, and the routes to follow for help.

With these discoveries, Sue and Jenny met with Lyn Bhania Senior Tutor in Education who takes a focus on Special Needs at The University of Hertfordshire. Lyn and her colleague Lewis Stockwell were invaluable in offering advice and support for the function and facilitating this at the University. Once the evening’s format was established, Jo Massie at the RSA proved invaluable in helping with administration, managing Eventbrite for ticketing etc.

Contacts were made and eminent Speakers invited on the topic, and a panel of experts to take Q & A. The University helped with their contact lists and specially designed invitations went by snail mail and email across the county. It was decided not to include parents of neuro-diverse children as owing to their frustrations and difficulties this could have brought controversy to a proceeding aimed at bridge building. Thus the event was strictly for professionals. However two of the main Speakers each had an autistic child, so parents were represented. Jenny King FRSA (a retired Headteacher with a specific interest in neuro-diversity) introduced the event with its aims and objectives.

This was followed by the Keynote Speaker, Dr. Simon Williams, PhD, FRSPH a former Research Fellow at Cambridge University, current Research Associate Feinberg School of Medicine, and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Public Health. His focus: Public Mental Health Policy and the Effectiveness of Early Diagnosis.

Dr. Williams travelled from the US to become the Keynote Speaker. He opened his talk by stating his wish to discuss a proposal for the introduction of school-based universal screening, for the early identification of risk of emotional, behavioural and mental health problems in children and adolescents. He would also discuss some evaluation research of a school-based counselling intervention, which could be a model for what post-screening targeted intervention would look like.

Dr. Williams went on to add that “in the long term, the spirit of ‘neuro-diversity’ urges us to reconfigure social and cultural institutions and customs such that neuro-diverse conditions are seen as normal variations in the human condition. To put it simply, the spirit of neuro-diversity urges that it is Society and not the individual that has, or causes, the ‘problem’.

Changing social and cultural perceptions and assumptions takes time. In the short term it is prudent to look at ways of improving current diagnostic and intervention processes. Doing so can reduce diagnostic delays and disparities and ensure that more children with ASD or ADHD for example, can access the support from which they could benefit. “

The content of Dr. Williams’ speech can be found on YouTube. Link given below. He covers:

Pre School Screening for ASD,
Universal emotional and behavioural mental health screening
School based Mental Health Intervention
Criticisms re: labelling and stigma, harmful false positives, opposition from parents, overburdening of health and educational services
An evaluation of school based mental health intervention

See the original YouTube post here…

In conclusion, Dr. Williams explained that because no matter how effective the intervention is once the children are in the system, the problem is that so long as it relies on referrals it is likely that a substantial proportion of children with emotional and behavioural problems, particularly those with internalizing problems, will fail to be identified in the first place.

The second Speaker was Tom Purser of the National Autistic Society, who is their Policy and Participation Officer and also the parent of an Autistic child.

His subject was “The Expert Parent” in which he spoke of the difficulties that beset the parent and gave an overview of Autism in general.

To hear the content of this interesting and informative speech, demonstrating Tom Purser’s in depth knowledge of this topic, follow the Youtube link:

See the original YouTube post here…

The third and final Speaker was Melanie Peeke, MA Oxon, who works with ADD-vance as a Specialist Trainer delivering workshops/courses for parents and teachers. Also Founder of “Spectrum Girls” social group for girls with High Functioning Autism. Melanie Peeke is the parent of a high functioning autistic daughter. Her talk was on The Empathetic Teacher.

Many of those listening to this talk, especially from the educational arena, found Melanie Peeke’s insights on appropriate school intervention strategies for young, high functioning neurodiverse children, helpful, positive, and relevant.

Following the Speakers was a half hour break for discussion and refreshment in the main Foyer. Groups assembled under “Muster Points” for their professional connection and questions were formed for the Panel in the second half.

The Panel Discussion was chaired by Sue Hind Woodward, stepping into the breach as John Cooper QC FRSA was delayed travelling to the venue.

The Panellists were:

Dr. Paul Bradley – Consultant Learning Disability Psychiatrist.
Julia Carmichael, Communication Disorders Team
Dr. Anna Dillon, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Challenging Behaviour Psychology Service
Claire Fitt – SenCo How Wood School
Ann Griffin – National Autistic Society/ harc
Lizanne du Plessis – Occupational Therapist, Author, Public Speaker
Dr. Peter Shilliday – GP . Senior Partner, Spring House Medical Centre WGC

To hear the panel Q&A with the audience, please see below.

See the original YouTube panel session here.

Now approximately one year on from Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings, the question is “What has been achieved”. Following the event the RSA launched a Survey Monkey from which many helpful comments were gleaned. On the whole the audience felt that questions pre-formed and directed at the Panel would have been useful. The interval mid-way had not been used by the audience to form these questions so perhaps there is a lesson learned here. Workshopping was suggested in any follow up event and this is a possibility for the future.

However on the positives, members of the audience felt they left better informed and with some determination to progress discussions in their own field towards creating better understanding for neuro-diverse young, high functioning children. There is some evidence that this is happening.

A call to action:

A year on from the function, Sue Hind Woodward and Jenny King feel that a second event in East Herts might be worth exploring.

However the purpose of this article is to ask whether you, as a Fellow, might be interested in continuing the conversation in your area? In East Herts the ball has started rolling, but there is no reason why events such as Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings, cannot be “rolled out” across the country.

If you might be one of those to take up the baton – please don’t hesitate to contact Jenny King – jenniferkate.king@gmail.com who will supply all the details you might need to set up a similar event.

Jennifer King FRSA

Sue Hind Woodward FRSA

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Mar 28, 2015
conversationsEAST, Health, Research

Visiting the Sainsbury Centre at UEA

View image | gettyimages.com

(Image: Alberto Giacometti, with his work)

A visit to Sainsbury Centre on Friday 20th February, 2015

We had a group of seventeen fellows and friends who met up for the visit. We congregated at 10.30 for complimentary tea and coffee at the Modern Life café and then we were taken off by three guides to explore the Centre. We began with the Permanent exhibition on the ground floor and then after a short break proceeded to the basement exhibition areas to view the Reality exhibition, which was outstanding.

Curated by artist Chris Stevens, REALITY brings together over 50 works celebrating the strength of British painting with some of the best and most influential artists of the last sixty years.

The Sainsbury Centre is one of the most prominent university art galleries in Britain, and a major national Centre for the study and presentation of art.

It houses the extraordinary art collection of Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, as well as the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau and the University’s Abstract and Constructivist Collection. Alongside these permanent collections, there is a range of temporary exhibitions, with new galleries providing the largest climate-controlled exhibition space in Eastern England. Also on offer is an award-winning learning programme of gallery talks, lectures and art workshops. (See the programme of lectures, symposia and training here).

The Collections at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts represent some of the most remarkable works of art assembled in the UK. The Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection features work spanning 5,000 years of human creativity. The presentation of art from across time and place continues to inspire and surprise and uniquely presents art as a universal global phenomenon.

femmeaucafePic — Picasso, 1901-2 Femme au Cafe

The Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection
Permanently displayed in the Living Area Gallery, the collection includes major holdings of art from Oceania, Africa, the Americas, Asia, the ancient Mediterranean cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome, Medieval Europe, and including a significant number of works acknowledged as seminal examples of European modern art. Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Francis Bacon, Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and Amedeo Modigliani are all represented in the collection.

The Lisa Sainsbury Ceramics Collection
Although not formally part of the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, the Lisa Sainsbury Ceramics Collection represents a major collection of 20th century studio ceramics, including a significant body of work by Lucie Rie and Hans Coper.

The Sainsbury Abstract Collection
The Sainsbury Abstract Collection includes paintings from the post second world war Ecole de Paris with a strong preference for lyrical abstraction and Tachisme, art movements that flourished in France from 1945 to 1960. Notable artists included in the collection are Jean Fautrier, Charles Maussion and Mubin Orhon.

The Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau
Alongside the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection sits another principle collection; The Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau, donated in 1978 by Sir Colin Anderson, a close friend of Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury. The collection represents artists working across a range of disciplines and materials such as glassware and furniture, metalware and jewelry. The collection includes pieces by leading exponents of Art Nouveau such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Emile Gallé and René Lalique.

Vorticist David Bomberg's The Mud Bath, 1914 — Vorticist David Bomberg’s The Mud Bath, 1914

The University Collection of Abstract and Constructivist Art, Design and Architecture was established by the University in 1968. This Collection concentrates on the non-objective, constructive and concrete art movements of the 20th century and the related fields of architecture and design, such as the English Vorticists, the Russian Suprematists and Constructivists, the Dutch De Stijl Group and the German Bauhaus School.

All who attended enjoyed getting to know each other and spoke of possibly another visit soon. It was very much enjoyed by all and many used their ticket to linger longer in the afternoon. Also, a new Francis Bacon exhibition is coming soon. The Francis Bacon paintings are currently at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and will return for the Francis Bacon and the Masters exhibition in April.

Possibly another day out!

Christine O’Hanlon FRSA

(Public domain images are for illustrative purposes only – they do not seek to represent the collections in the narrative about this visit).

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Feb 23, 2015
Art, conversationsEAST, Culture, Education, Museums, RSA, The Arts

The Self Employment Summit!

The RSA, in partnership with Google and craft marketplace Etsy, recently held a Self Employment summit. Stimulating debate and reflection about the changing landscape of employment and the rise and condition of those ‘going it alone’.

The short film below offers insights into the various debates on the day and some of the original ideas and thoughts emerging from the discussion…

See the original film on YouTube here…

The debate ranges across some interesting data, movements in the economy and is awash with definitions. Data seems to show that since the year 2000, the self -employed as a recognisable economic cohort, have increased by 30%. With the self-employed now representing some 15% of the total active work force in the UK.

Between 2008 and 2013, we are told, the self-employed made up a staggering 90% of all jobs created. Even more seismic, in terms of paradigm shift, is the suggestion that by 2017/2018, the self employed numerically, may exceed the total number of individuals currently working in the Public Sector.

For those of us who work across the Public Sector/Charitable Sector divide, this is perhaps not so surprising. As Local Authorities continue to divest themselves of employed core professional expertise in a number of community support, education and housing sectors, the expertise is re-hired as consultants or contractors.

What does set this change in context, however, is not the numeric rise in self-employment, whatever the sector, professional or otherwise. It is the dramatic increase in diminution of turnover.

Steven Toft, who is the author of Flip Chart Fairy Tales, speaking at the one day RSA event, opines that between 2008 and 2013 aggregate income by the self-employed has fallen by a staggering 8 billion pounds.

However you define being self-employed, and there are multiple definitions, in the RSA research, by HMRC and in the national Labour Market Survey – it is clear that there is a re-structuring of the nature of employment wholly under way.

What this movement is not, however, is an attempt to create quality of life, sustainability of earnings or the increase in cultural and fiscal capital that this change might, given the right business environment, look to build over time.

Not all self-employed people strive to be the next Richard Branson, but that for the individual, given this data, the drive might be led by a belief, actual or not, in the achievement of a better work/life balance, access to culture and the arts and an exercise of choice regardless of cost, that corporatism or global capital does not offer. We do not know.

Finally, we would have liked the debate to have extended fully across social enterprise/social business as a new model for the self employed and entrepreneurially minded. New financial markets and new business models are emerging in these two sectors. Perhaps that is where the real dynamism in the economy is, for those who go it alone?

Towards a new social settlement?

This is a new report from Anna Coote, the Head of Social Policy at the New Economics Foundation. People, Planet, Power – Towards a new social settlement is an attempt to re-define the shape of economy and community, and how these concepts are leveraged through socio-political and econo-social models onwards through the 21st Century.

newsocialmodelNEFImage-m — A new social settlement?

This NEF report is an engaging, challenging and thoughtful piece of work. It chimes well with current RSA intellectual modelling of the same themes.

Download a copy of the report here…

The RSA thought leadership, and the recent strategic review at the Society, led to challenging aims for this year on focus, impact and joining up.

What has emerged has been a three-pronged change aim scenario for the work of RSA Fellows and the Society. This is neatly all encapsulated by the driving force of Matthew Taylor’s keenly edged concept of The Power to Create.

The thematic change aims for 2015 of the RSA are given below…

Public services and communities
Creative learning and development
Economy, enterprise and manufacturing

Reading A New Social Settlement you will find long echoes and a contingency of similar RSA aims and concerns about inequality, elite power, creativity and community empowerment.

NEF‘s aims for their new settlement are stated thus…

This settlement has three main goals: social justice, environmental sustainability, and a more equal distribution of power. There is a dynamic relationship between these goals; each depends on the others for fulfilment. Addressing them together means aiming for sustainable social justice, which requires a fair and equitable distribution of social, environmental, economic, and political resources between people, places, and – where possible – between generations.

In summation, Anna Coote stresses that the NEF report lays out a new set of goals and objectives, and offers some illustrative effects that can achieve them.

It is though, perhaps more importantly, that the semiotic significance of strategic review at the RSA and the concentration by other leading thinkers on societal change and economic renewal of an equitable kind, all indicate that a sea-change may be under way.

The partiality of tax gatherers, the greed of bankers and the ‘socially neutral’ activities of global business may, at last, be under assault.

Be part of the debate, be part of a movement that puts equality of distribution, whether economic, social or intellectual, at the forefront of its aims. Be part of the RSA?

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Feb 17, 2015
conversationsEAST, Economic Models, Society

Coffee with my Fellowship Councillor?

View image | gettyimages.com

On Saturday 7th February, 2015 conversationsEAST are sponsoring an informal Open House drop-in event at their offices in Cambridge. Tim Smith FRSA will be holding a Fellowship Counsellor surgery, in his role as Fellowship Counsellor for the East of England. (Tim’s sponsored programme covers the region at monthly intervals or so. See more here...)

He’ll also be wearing his hat as Editor of this on-line publication, so a well as his Fellowship Council agenda, if you have a Fellow led project you would like support for, or to talk with another Fellow around funding, governance, communications or operational development…Tim will be on hand from 10.00am.

If you are intending to bring a charabanc of a dozen Fellows or so, do let Tim know, as our loft space will quickly fill up. See more details of Tim’s agenda and contact details for the day, including the creation of a women’s group to advance the interests of female Fellows in the region, here…

RSA Engage

‘The Power to Create is the theme of much RSA work this year and this Connect event will bring local Fellows (an interested others) together to discuss both local issues and exciting work coming out of the RSA’.

The RSA are currently about to deliver a suite of RSA Engage events in the Eastern Region. There are forthcoming events in Ipswich, Cambridge and other Fellow population centres. See details below.

RSA Connect Ipswich on 9 Feb
RSA Engage Cambridge on 21 April
RSA Connect Bedford on 12 May
RSA Connect Peterborough on 8 Sept

You can find an EventBrite booking page for the forthcoming Ipswich event here.

These Engage events are a great opportunity to meet the team from The House and to develop contacts and share ideas with other Fellows, or yet to be Fellows too. See you there?

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Feb 4, 2015
conversationsEAST, news, RSA, Society

Chelmsford Remembers
– Mental Health and the Armed Forces

As part of the Fellow led Chelmsford Remembers Project there is an upcoming joint meeting of RSA Chelmsford and The Civic Society at Anglia Ruskin University , Chelmsford.

Date: Monday 9th February, 2015 – 5.45pm for 6.00pm start

Venue: Room 001, The Sawyer Building, Anglia Ruskin University.

We are very pleased to announce that our guest speakers for the event will be Air Vice Marshall Ray Lock CBE, who is Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) and Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes from the Veterans and Families Institute at Anglia Ruskin University.

This event, as part of Chelmsford Remembers, links the centenary commemorations of the First World War to the effects of deployment to war zones today. Other items include…

Final report on the Ideas Festival 2014 (IF2014) and the initial consultations on 2015. IF2015 will run from the 18th October 2015 to 1st November inclusive.
Update on negotiations on future uses for the Hall Street Marconi Factory.
Notifications on upcoming Chelmsford Remembers event with Dr. Paul Rusiecki author of The Impact of Catastrophe – The First World War.

If you are able to attend, do please confirm with Malcolm Noble – (mnoble3211 at yahoo.com), or use our ‘contact us’ panel above and send Malcolm a message directly from this web page.

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Jan 17, 2015
Cities, History, news, Research, RSA, Society

Sainsbury Centre – a diary date

medium_3611396822 — Visit The Sainsbury Centre on-line here…

RSA East of England Visit to the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia

Friday 20 February 10.30 am to 2pm

You can book on-line here…

Fellows are invited to a guided tour of the outstanding collection at the Sainsbury Centre, UEA including the major REALITY exhibition of Modern British painting, Matisse sculptures (‘The Backs’), as well as the permanent collection (http://scva.ac.uk/art-and-artists/highlights)

REALITY brings together over 50 works celebrating the strength of British painting with some of the best and most influential artists of the last sixty years, testifying to the survival of painting as a medium and the impact of British painting today. Major 20th Century artists are represented such as Walter Sickert, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and David Hockney, alongside contemporary painters including Ken Currie, George Shaw and Caroline Walker.

The tour will be followed by lunch in the restaurant. Lunch is self service but we have reserved a table, so Fellows can eat together and review the morning.

See more details on our events page here…

Sainsbury Centre image credit: lucyrfisher via photopin cc

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Jan 13, 2015
Art, conversationsEAST, Culture, news, RSA, The Arts

Thinking about the Fellowship, 2014

During the summer of 2014 the Society sent out a survey to the Fellowship, seeking their responses on a number of issues and asking for their views and comments.

Below is a copy that analysis, garnered from the 29% of Fellows who responded, along with some thoughts from the conversationsEAST team as to how our contribution to the work of the Fellowship might be flexed, in response to the findings.

The summary findings from The House indicated the following…

“Overall responses to the survey were positive. Over two-thirds of Fellows join–at least partially–to support our mission, the quality of almost all of our outputs is seen as very high and by far the majority of Fellows are intending to renew their Fellowship. The Survey also generated a large amount of information that can be used to guide ongoing Fellowship development”.

Key findings included…

There is less satisfaction with local events compared to other areas of our work.
There are a large number of Fellows wanting to self- organise but are frustrated at being unable to do so.
There are a large number of Fellows wanting to self- organise but are frustrated at being unable to do so.
Some Fellows want to be more involved in the work we do.
There is a lack of knowledge about what we do. Across the seven RSA Projects included in the survey, `have not heard of it at all’ accounted for between a quarter and a half of all responses.
Younger people and females are less likely to recommend the Fellowship to suitable people than others
There are strong regional variations in how Fellows perceive the RSA.

(Key findings drawn from the RSA Fellowship summary report – Ed.)

Looking forward into 2015 we have recently published our ‘road-map’ as a journal, where we have been working with Tim, our new Fellowship Councillor in the East, to develop a series of gatherings to explore how Fellows can become more engaged with the Society.

You can view, print or download a copy of the 2014 RSA Survey here…

fellowsurvey2014coverPic-m — See the Survey here…

We will, as stated, pivot these, supporting Tim directly in the delivery of a series of Fellowship Councillor Surgeries across the region. This might help inform and engage the interested Fellowship directly. Offering an informal setting, with refreshments, for the survey itself to be discussed and for Tim to explain and heighten awareness of the work and input of the Fellowship Council itself. One of the findings in the survey was that many Fellows were unaware of the function of the Fellowship Council, for example.

Another way forward, we would argue, would be to foster the engagement of female Fellows, either as new Fellows, or to develop some way to engage with the Fellowship on a gender basis. We have written before in this journal and in our regional annual reports about the gender imbalances, including in the Fellowship, in our region.

(We could start an Otrera Group in every region to foster the engagement and promotion of Fellowship skills by gender, for example? -Ed.)

If this imbalance in Fellowship is ‘normalised’ across all regions, we would look to develop a campaign/project to engage by gender across adjacent regions for example. Sharing both the information in the recent survey, but garnering explicit local knowledge on gender bias as part of the project initiation work.

(Having talked so long about the matter, it seems that a short burst of positive discrimination, in terms of engagement and resources, might go a long way? -Ed.)

In our publishing activities we will develop a ‘Fellows have their say!’ web journal page. Where the Fellowship can directly contribute to the regional debate in the East. This might be particularly useful in bolstering the regional events catalogue in terms of feedback or activity recommendation. All this information will be passed directly and securely to the Eastern Region Fellowship team, of course.

We will foster and web publish a set of ‘View from the Fellowship Council’ reports. Getting Tim to write a regular review of Council activity and debate, in a generalised way, which can feed into regional meetings and, more importantly, be immediately available to the wider regional Fellowship. Helping to support and deliver a clearer understanding of its work and role.

We think the new RSA web site, arriving this month, which will enable Fellows to contact each other directly if they wish, offers an important and effective mechanism for pan regional co-operation, as well as improving inter-region project and activity development. We look forward to reviewing it on our web pages.

Also useful, we believe, will be the launch of artSUFFUSION, our sister arts focused web journal. We are refining the publication manifesto this month.

We hope that by combining the arts, crafts and making into one energy stream in the region, whilst connecting new conversationsEAST social enterprise start-up projects, we can also help convert our Society’s brilliant research papers and mission into real world examples of sustainable community business and social outcome funded projects.

We look forward to 2015, hoping that our readers will come along with us?

The conversationsEAST team.

Article image credit: David J. Thomas via photopin cc

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Jan 2, 2015
Art, Business, conversationsEAST, RSA, Society, The Arts, Volunteering

The Gift of Knowledge?

At this time of year everyone reflects a little on their progress in the previous twelve months, and more often than not, looks forward to the next twelve, with joy or trepidation depending on personal circumstance.

One factor of life that will not change is the ubiquity of the web and the range of services available for the owners of the right ‘machinery’, or for those who have access to it.

This journal is the product of Fellowship imaginations, but others are looking at the world and re-imagining news, reflection and analysis too. Below are some great ways that you can commit to developing knowledge and understanding, all at no cost…beyond that all important access to machinery!

Wonker – a complex news analysis engine:

This is a brave attempt to develop and share knowledge and understanding about the critical social, economic and community development conflicts across the globe.

Just getting started, but with a vast task in front of them, Casey and Nick the creators of Wonker, risk burn-out or perhaps even take-over by mainstream news outlets if the concept becomes a raging success. The site currently offers analysis of the ISIS crisis and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict for example.

That said, even if you are a ‘policy wonk‘ already, the site offers a great way to get contextual analysis from outside your own professional field of endeavour. Alternatively, you can use your professional knowledge to contribute to the Q & A style presentation of Wonker.

As with all user contributed content, there are potential questions of political bias, Americo-centrism in this case or even propogandism as the site develops. It is however, we think, a brave attempt to make clear the complicated to either the disengaged or the distracted, one conflict at a time.

See more of Wonker here…

Highbrow – expand your knowledge universe, one email at a time…

Not a new concept on the literate web, but this service is nicely presented for those who have just five minutes a day over ten days to become acquainted with a new field of study, one email at a time.

It’s not particularly clear on their web site, but you are constrained to one ten day course subscription at a time. Presumably to prevent burn-out or ‘knowledge fatigue’?

You can choose your starting date, in order to manage the light work-flow from the beginning. Courses you can choose from cover such topics as art, history, philosophy and psychology, amongst others.

It will be interesting to see the content as it develops over time, as the delivery is heavily dependent upon TED talks at the moment. Worth checking out, either as a refresher in a busy email day, or as context to develop a new interest.

See more of Highbrow here…

Don’t forget The RSA…

If video access to fresh thinking is your mode of learning, then the RSA has a long history of offfering its audience the most topical material from thought leaders of the day.

The RSA can offer you a whole range of video talks and presentations from some great thinkers. The example below is one such. The need for a revolution in education, breaking the political and social bounds of the mind to create new worlds. (Makes me breathless just reading this…Ed.)

Debra Kidd argues for the creation of ‘architects of hope’ for young people. A powerful ambition and an idea well worth spreading. One interesting observation Debra makes is that individuals need to know what they are voting for and how the solutions offered by the political machinery are tinkered with by the self interest of the elected representative.

See this original video on YouTube here.

Knowledge, context and critical thinking are key. With a tsunami of information crashing over us, the tools and resources above can help with process, we would argue.

See a catalogue of RSA videos here…

Happy New Year.

Headline photo credit: Bill on Capitol Hill via photopin cc

Posted by : The Team at conversationsEAST
Dec 26, 2014
conversationsEAST, Culture, Education, Publishing, RSA, Society

Seasonal Greetings
to everyone…

We hope that all our readers, subscribers and site visitors enjoy a warm and happy seasonal break, wherever you may be?

Thank you for your support and interest in the East of England regional activity in 2014. Below is our conversationsEast road-map for 2015. A short list, but with much energy and enthusiasm behind it.

Launch of our sister site artSUFFUSION.org in the first quarter 2015 (…putting the arts back into the RSA regional profile?)

Beginning our ‘guerilla gatherings’ programme, with some test ‘get togethers’, initially focussed on spreading news and information about the Fellowship Council. (A sort of Fellowship Councillor surgery programme in the East really).

Finally publishing our web and project support offer in a formalised and structured way to help regional projects build a web presence or develop a project plan.

Making our news feed a simple subscription based print edition, so that the lack of technology is not a bar to receiving our news.

As with all our conversationsEAST sponsored support – publications, events, coffee and buns are always free at the point of delivery.

Updated: 26th December 2014: Provided you don’t have Google code blocked in your browser, you can now translate all our content on individual article pages into many languages…including Latvian and Igbo, for example. Click the headline, and use the Google Translate drop-down box on the top right of every web page. Making the RSA more accessible…

Tag Archives: news

Tag: news

Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings