Social Network for RSA Fellows
Overseas Fellows - What's On Your Mind?
I was elected to the Fellowship Council as the International representative. The Council members will first meet together at the RSA AGM on October 7th 2009. Whether you are in Africa, Australia, Europe, India, the USA or elsewhere outside the UK, please help me to understand what issues are uppermost on your mind. I want to help by providing a voice for overseas fellows at Council and also help propagate UK programmes and discussions overseas.
Please feel free to post comments below that are relevant to your experience as an overseas fellow.
Please feel free to post comments below that are relevant to your experience as an overseas fellow.
Tags: Africa, Australia, Clarke, David, Europe, India, South, States, USA, United, More…
Views: 167
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robin Thompson on -
David: Congratulations on your election.
I am in 2 minds about whether RSA should have one network for all or should have a hierarchy of networks.
My current view is we should have both.
Some issues are UK specific and RSA remains very UK-centric. In some cases this makes good sense, for example having a heated discussion about the Gurkas being denied UK citizenship.
About 80 years ago when much of the world map was shaded pink, many Brits in the professions were widely traveled and knew about places such as India, Italy and the colonies. Today Brits such as myself have emigrated and have a fond but more detached view of the UK. We will stand up and be counted for example when US politicians talk nonsense about the UK national health system; or we will provide a different perspective on charter schooling. However we are less interested in the curriculum for s specific school in Edinburgh.
My conclusion to be challenged please is that RSA needs to provide for both global and local conversations. However, the way this is current achieved is to list all local groups together regardless of their scale. USA with a population of 300 million is shown alongside Wales with 3 million. Most large organizations have some form of regional grouping....the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and so on. I would ask that consideration be given to this approach.
What does anyone else think?
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Permalink Reply by Mike Knowles on -
Congratulations David
This is a great step forward for the Society
Here in India the original goals of the RSA are very much to the fore. Elevation of the working man within society by means of accreditation, design education, finding solutions to long term but necessary evils ( I.E. rag pickers ) - the list is endless
The Delhi chapter was set up 4 years ago and we now have circa 100 Fellows. We are moving forward and achieving many of our objectives but I am sure we would achieve many more with the help of the greater Fellowship
We will suggest to London an Indian page on the website. It would feel more like we accepted the notion that we are RSA Fellows in India rather than Indian Fellows - if you get my point, part of the whole picture. As Fellows our goals and aspirations will be similar. We stand more chance of making change collectively than otherwise.
May I conclude by inviting all and any Fellows visiting India or who may need some advice on particular issues to feel free to contact us
Kind regards
Mike Knowles
Head of Fellowship
RSA in India
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Permalink Reply by Geoff Gibas on -
Hello David!
I am currently looking at ways of re-engergising the Brussels RSA membership.
Early thoughts include extending our remit beyond this country. Initially to near neighbours but maybe beyond . Many of the Brussels fellows (like myself) have EMEA or global responsibilities. One of the strenghts of the RSA is the global network.
As Robin Thompson commented yesterday, many RSA issues are UK-centric. That being said, the UK has a global role to play across the EU 27 and beyond.
As a relative newcomer to the RSA I am still learning and discovering the its true nature. I would very much like to see a commom message platform that ensures the RSA is represented around the globe in a consistent fashion.
We have meetings scheduled at the end of next week to see how we can tke this further
Best regards
Geoff
RSA Brussels
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Permalink Reply by Theodore Gabriel on -
I am a member from India. Came to the UK in 1981. Will be glad to participate in discussions about India
Theodore Gabriel
Mike Knowles said:Congratulations David
This is a great step forward for the Society
Here in India the original goals of the RSA are very much to the fore. Elevation of the working man within society by means of accreditation, design education, finding solutions to long term but necessary evils ( I.E. rag pickers ) - the list is endless
The Delhi chapter was set up 4 years ago and we now have circa 100 Fellows. We are moving forward and achieving many of our objectives but I am sure we would achieve many more with the help of the greater Fellowship
We will suggest to London an Indian page on the website. It would feel more like we accepted the notion that we are RSA Fellows in India rather than Indian Fellows - if you get my point, part of the whole picture. As Fellows our goals and aspirations will be similar. We stand more chance of making change collectively than otherwise.
May I conclude by inviting all and any Fellows visiting India or who may need some advice on particular issues to feel free to contact us
Kind regards
Mike Knowles
Head of Fellowship
RSA in India
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Permalink Reply by Mike Knowles on
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Hi Theodore
Very many Fellows in the UK are keen to work with RSA in India. We had discussed setting up Friends of the RSA in India. Let's keep in touch and see if we can formulate the idea
Kind regards
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Permalink Reply by Michaela Crimmin on -
Dear David
Great that you are fostering the international activities of the RSA. The RSA Arts & Ecology Centre has supported two artists to spend time in Delhi as a basis for making work addressing environmental issues. I'm keen to hear about art initiatives taking place in India - and indeed in other countries - that highlight and explore environmental challenges. We can then profile these on the website - www.RSAartsandecology.org.uk
very best, Michaela
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Permalink Reply by Belinda Lester on -
I was very lucky to spend a few weeks in Australia in May – I met with the RSA Australia + New Zealand Board in Sydney and they later hosted a fascinating talk by FRSAs Ian Bailey and Annie Georgeson on sustainable urban design and specifically the development of an eco-village in Port Macquarie, NSW.
I met with individual Fellows in Adelaide and Canberra and attended emerging city networks in Melbourne and Brisbane. We discovered potential links to RSA Projects, particularly in prisons and drugs, but most importantly we uncovered a wealth of enthusiasm and a desire for practical action.
The team in A+NZ have put a lot of work into identifying what Fellows would like to do, and how they (with help where required from the team in London) can best provide support. They have started an initiative called the 3Ps – passion, proposal and progress – which is intended to encourage and assist individuals, small groups or organisations to undertake actions that contribute to creating the kind of society we want to live and work in. I will encourage Paul Vittles to tell us more about this!
I will be in the US, with Michael Devlin, in September – if you are a US-based Fellow I hope to meet you at one of the network meetings.
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Permalink Reply by Professor Arthur Mark on -
Robin Thompson said:David: Congratulations on your election.
I am in 2 minds about whether RSA should have one network for all or should have a hierarchy of networks.
My current view is we should have both.
Some issues are UK specific and RSA remains very UK-centric. In some cases this makes good sense, for example having a heated discussion about the Gurkas being denied UK citizenship.
About 80 years ago when much of the world map was shaded pink, many Brits in the professions were widely traveled and knew about places such as India, Italy and the colonies. Today Brits such as myself have emigrated and have a fond but more detached view of the UK. We will stand up and be counted for example when US politicians talk nonsense about the UK national health system; or we will provide a different perspective on charter schooling. However we are less interested in the curriculum for s specific school in Edinburgh.
My conclusion to be challenged please is that RSA needs to provide for both global and local conversations. However, the way this is current achieved is to list all local groups together regardless of their scale. USA with a population of 300 million is shown alongside Wales with 3 million. Most large organizations have some form of regional grouping....the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and so on. I would ask that consideration be given to this approach.
What does anyone else think?
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Permalink Reply by Professor Arthur Mark on
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Robin Thompson said:David: Congratulations on your election.
I am in 2 minds about whether RSA should have one network for all or should have a hierarchy of networks.
My current view is we should have both.
Some issues are UK specific and RSA remains very UK-centric. In some cases this makes good sense, for example having a heated discussion about the Gurkas being denied UK citizenship.
About 80 years ago when much of the world map was shaded pink, many Brits in the professions were widely traveled and knew about places such as India, Italy and the colonies. Today Brits such as myself have emigrated and have a fond but more detached view of the UK. We will stand up and be counted for example when US politicians talk nonsense about the UK national health system; or we will provide a different perspective on charter schooling. However we are less interested in the curriculum for s specific school in Edinburgh.
My conclusion to be challenged please is that RSA needs to provide for both global and local conversations. However, the way this is current achieved is to list all local groups together regardless of their scale. USA with a population of 300 million is shown alongside Wales with 3 million. Most large organizations have some form of regional grouping....the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and so on. I would ask that consideration be given to this approach.
What does anyone else think?
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Permalink Reply by Professor Arthur Mark on
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My congrats as well!
Robin, as usual you have expressed so well what many feel. So much garbage out there about Health Care in the UK. If we want
to have erroneous "facts" about the UK, Canada or elsewhere, what about entering the fray? How?
Let's also see to it that new Fellows Overseas are added to the Journal spotlight? While we're at it how about short reports from
Overseas chapters, if you will, be included in the Journal as well.
Professor Arthur Mark Providence, RI US
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Permalink Reply by Paul Vittles on -
We are bursting with RSA life in Australia at the moment, due to the efforts of a small number of very active Fellows who are Board Members of RSA A+NZ and/or have put themselves forward to lead on City Networks. New Zealand is more of a challenge, as we don't have anyone taking a lead role on-the-ground (any willing volunteers?) but let's focus on the success story in Australia.
City Networks are up-and-running in Brisbane (next meeting on 21 September) and Melbourne (next one on 30 September). Thanks to Kevin Green and Peta Nagle in Brisbane and Mark Strachan in Melbourne. There have been events in Sydney in the past 12 months and another two are coming up - on 14 October (Clive Hamilton on Climate Change) and 21 November (coinciding with the RSA A+NZ AGM). We have two Fellows, Anni Rowland-Campbell and David Wilson, who have agreed to lead a Sydney City Network so there will be monthly meetings here.
I recently travelled to Perth to meet Fellows there and we will be launching the Perth City Network on 28 October, after Sir/Dr Les Pyke agreed to take the lead in Western Australia.
We are looking out for leaders who want to make things happen in Adelaide and Canberra, and are confident this will happen in 2010.
In the past two years, we have reviewed our marketing strategy and materials, and have produced some extremely impressive, professionally-designed, consistently branded communications materials – banners, brochures, flyers for events, etc. Thanks again go to Mark Strachan and his design centre team at Swinburne University.
Communication with our Fellows in Australia and New Zealand has been stepped up, with a mixture of high tech and high touch approaches. We have been sending out regular emails but also posting out letters as many of our older Fellows still prefer the hard copy.
Our most recent letter (attached) made the point that everything we do is founded on the passions of our Fellows. With this letter, we formally launched The 3 Ps – Passion, Proposal, Progress. This initiative enables us to more formally recognise the efforts of our Fellows, showcase their activities, and – where appropriate – provide stimulus funding for their projects.
There is no question from our experience that Fellows need local, regional and global networks, and benefit from the framework that RSA provides. For some, their passions are local. For others, it’s global. For some, it is both, and often simultaneously. In Australia, we are interested in what Fellows are doing in our City, our State, our country, other countries in our region, and on the other side of the world, especially the UK because that special bond remains.
Online networking means that we can develop global communities of interest. But there is still something special about meeting up locally and forming strong bonds with a few. A recent survey I was involved in showed that the 6 million Australians now on Facebook have an average of 120 ‘friends’. When we drill down into the number who have made direct contact with a Facebook friend in the past week, the average is just 9. We tend to throw our net out to the 120 who might be on our wavelength and then return to the 9 we know are.
Good luck to all of you in all of your efforts to remove the barriers to social progress, whatever that might be and wherever it might be.
Paul Vittles, FRSA, FMRS
Chair, RSA A+NZ - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Jewell on -
I do need to talk to you, David, about our tentative transcultural theme for Glory of Failure: would rather get some ideas before launching our resources into that, because they are finite - would you be available to meet up at some point?
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The aim will be to improve connectivity for Fellows, improve communication and reduce fragmentation.
If you would like further information on these changes please contact the RSAde team via the Digital Engagement group on this network.
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