Time for some open collaboration?

Last week's RSA Networks event was clearly a hit with NESTA, who are investing £100,000 in the overall process. Roland Harwood writes on the NESTA Connect blog:

.... it's been a while since I attended an event with such a buzz and determination, so I strongly believe that the right conditions are there for successful collaborations to flourish.

Since then the new RSA Networks collaboration site has seen some activity behind the login, but the RSA Networks blog has been quiet. I hope this doesn't mean RSA expects everything to happen in private in future ... I think the network effect Roland writes about in his item won't happen that way.
Civic innovation requires a lot of connections beyond RSA membership.
Is it time for a collaboration between RSA staff, NESTA, OpenRSA enthusiasts - and others - to create an online open space equivalent of our event last week, as well as plan further events?

Creating Community

One the things generating a lot of discussion about the RSA’s agenda at the moment are the balances between online connecting and face-to-face meetings. I found a lovely description of one person’s experiences into the online world of blogging and creating communities in a new publication by Community Links called Making Links . It includes some unique perspectives on community by some well-known people like Gordon Brown, David Robinson, David Cameron and Phil Beadle.

Russell Davies started blogging and built up a good readership. He describes blogging as ‘networking for shy people’, but ‘not in the horrible commercial sense of networking – serial small talk in the hope of opportunity – but the sort of networking that a village has, or a workplace, or a hobbyist club; like-minded people who help each other out, point each other at new like-minded people and generally see that what’s good for the network is probably good for them.”
What a nice way to describe networking in the way we collectively seem to be trying to achieve through opening up the RSA networks.

Russell started online, but soon began arranging spontaneous coffee drop ins, and people started turning up in greater numbers. In June this year Russell arranged a people’s conference called Interesting2007 and 300 people turned up to short presentations of interesting topics, which included How to split a log with an axe, Ibsen and The Muppets, Appearing on Oprah and the History of Knots. You can watch some of the talks Here

Russell writes, “My blogging experience has taught me that technology can create real, important, sustaining connections between people separated by geography and all sorts of other things. It’s taught me that generosity can be its own reward but that there’s also real tangible benefits in sharing your ideas and your time with people.”

Fast follow-up: see the project ideas

RSA staff made an enormous effort after the RSA Networks event to organise and upload reports of all the project ideas that were developed.
In an email to all involved, RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor provides a link to the reports for anyone with a login to the RSA site, and also urges project proposers to add their ideas to the RSA Networks site. This currently allows anyone to register.
As Matthew explains, RSA staff acting as network facilitators will follow up with offers of help. Matthew writes:

Dear Fellow
I'd like to say a huge thank you to all of you for making yesterday such an inspiring and energising event. I, for one, haven't seen the house buzzing in such a way since I started here. I hope that all of you had a similar experience, and that you left the building with some new contacts and lots of new ideas.
Of course, in many ways, yesterday was the very beginning of a new journey for the RSA. The challenge for all of us now is to find a way of holding onto that energy and passion, to combine it with patience and determination to build on the ideas that you began to develop yesterday.
You can see all the project ideas that you worked on, and those of all the other groups, by following this link http://www.thersa.org/projectideas. They are listed alphabetically under broad theme headings, and assigned to the project leaders. We would like you to log in to the networks platform that was discussed at the Tech Sessions yesterday http://networks.thersa.org, add your profile and, if you were the project leader, to upload your project proposal. That way you can tag your project in the way you want, which will be better and more accurate than what we have done so far.
The RSA networks project is all about giving you new tools to work together as groups of Fellows. That's what we started yesterday and we want to encourage you to continue the conversations over the next two weeks, to develop the thinking and ideas generation that you began at the event. The kind of questions you should be thinking about are: Is it a strong, clear idea? How much interest did it attract from other Fellows? Is it really different; are other organisations doing something similar and, if so, who should you link with? Are there other project ideas listed on the site with similar interests and is it worth collaborating with them? What is the next action? How can the RSA best help you as groups of Fellows to move forwards?
When you have developed your thinking please input your idea into the networks area of our website http://networks.thersa.org. Follow the link, log in and then click on to the ‘Propose’ box to get started. Next week, one of the network facilitators that you met yesterday will be telephoning you to see how things are progressing. We know that this initiative is all about what you as Fellows want to do together but we also want to do as much as we can to remove barriers to this new kind of collaboration, as well as providing you with new tools.
Of course, yesterday was not just about generating ideas about what you could do together. It was also a really important staging post on our journey to find a new kind of relationship between the Fellowship and the staff. Some of the sessions you posted under the 'How it will work' theme will inform our thinking here, and today we will be posting some of our own projects on these issues on to the platform for you to comment on. As our thinking progresses, informed by your views, we will keep you posted.
In keeping with the spirit we began to create yesterday, we want your thoughts to be shared as a discussion of many Fellows, rather than a closed dialogue with just me. We are sure that you will keep us on our toes on this but, in the meantime, we look forward to seeing what the seeds you sowed yesterday grow into!
Matthew Taylor
Chief Executive

At present reports are all Word documents that have to be downloaded, which makes it difficult to scan through the ideas quickly. However, it was a terrific achievement to get everyone concerned to complete reports, get them uploaded, and then categorised, within a day. The new networks site is designed to make it easier to see project summaries, and who is involved.
For me this immediate follow-up shows a real commitment to help Fellows move from a buzzy event to action. It could develop into a great demonstration of how to mix Open Space event technology with online follow-up and support from network facilitators.

Charles Leadbeater says it is time for we-thinking

Charles Leadbeater is developing a book on collaboration, collaboratively - so who better to offer some opening philosophy on RSA Networks day? Charles explained that the book is called We-think ... emphasising "we think therefore we are" rather than the more familiar "I think..."
People are contributing ideas and comments, Charles is re-drafting, and the whole enterprise is due for publication in 2008.
However, Charles warned us against believing that collaboration can be wholly a bottom-up,self-organising process. Large projects need a core of people at the heart, with development processes broken into smaller parts that people could work on. It was, he said, a bit like putting together a lot of Lego bricks.
You also need a governance structure, said Charles. He quoted Jimmy Wales, the founder of the Wikipedia,which is written by thousands of contributors, as follows.
Wikipedia is one part anarchy - in that anyone can contribute. It is one part democracy - when there is a dispute, people vote on it; one part meritocracy, because the best ideas win out; one part aristocracy because the people who have been around longest count for more; and one part monarchy - it's me.

Anthropologist enthused by developing networks

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Ellie Ford is an anthropologist, filmmaker and entrepreneur who is capturing the story of the development of RSA Networks on behalf of NESTA, who are investing £100,000 is the networks process.

Ellie explained that she and a colleague were filming during the day, to capture the opinions of Fellows and how they related to RSA staff. She remarked on the risk involved in trying something so different - and the braveness of the Society in experimenting. More similar events, with some designed for new Fellows, would be a good way to develop the new culture neded for innovation.

More RSA Spaces needed: offline too

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One of the recurring themes throughout the RSA Networks day discussion was how to match the plans for new online spaces, with better facilities for Fellows to meet face-to-face, particularly out of London.

In addition, could spaces within RSA headquarters at John Adam Street be used more effectively?

Malcolm Forbes, who has been closely involved in the development of OpenRSA, was one of those developing fresh ideas. These ranged from a directory of "branded" spaces that could be used by Fellows, to an online fundraising exercise, and returning the Tavern Room to its original sociable purpose. 

Network facilitators will support project development

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The RSA Networks day produced lots of buzz and plenty of ideas - but how will these be turned into action?

Susan Butler, RSA Head of Marketing and Communications, explained that a key element in this will be the role of networks facilitators, who have been trained to support people proposing projects through research and brokerage of contacts.

However, Susan made it clear that it will be up to Fellows to drive projects forward. 

Making better use of RSA events

Alhough the RSA Networks online site drew a lot of attention, people were perhaps even more concerned to improve face-to-face networking and make better use of the many lectures and other events offered by the RSA.
Just how this might be done was discussed in one group by Frank Spring, National Director of RSA US, and Fellow Fiona Coffey - who does quite a bit of event organising herself. As Fiona said, this could mean changes for RSA staff as well as for Fellows.

RSA chair Gerry Acher

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The chair of RSA trustees, Gerry Acher, was very much part of the conversation at the RSA Networks day, and explained to me how he saw the role of the RSA in today's society.

At a time when political parties are clustered together in the centre ground, people are not offered many alternatives - and increasingly want to work things out for themselves. Gerry explained this was very much in line with William Shipley's original vision for the RSA in 1754 - small groups of people getting together to talk about the future - and plan what to do.

RSA networks site raises the issue of openness

As conversations buzzed around the RSA house in John Adam Street, Saul Albert and Andy Gibson were tucked about in the theatre demonstrating a new online system that will be at the heart of helping Fellows develop project ideas, discuss them with others, and move them forward.
Saul and Andy have only had a few weeks to develop the prototype - yet during that time have been extraordinarily open and collaborative, as you can see from postings on this blog.
The site was well received - and the key issues raised were not about the technology, but about openness: for example, how far it should be for Fellows-only? This might seem logical in a membership organisation, but could be a handicap in developing projects that will inevitably involve a wide range of interests beyond the Fellowship. It's an issue already raised here. For the moment the site is open, so I urge you to click across and sign up to try it out. 

Sean Blair and Sophia Parker

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The RSA Networks event was facilitated by Sean Blair, and Sophia Parker is working on Fellowship engagement and network development.

They found a few moments to talk about how networking can move from conversations and connections to action, and how more Fellows can be involved

Matthew Taylor launches the Networks event

Yesterday's RSA Networks event brought together some 250 Fellows, and generated both an extraordinary buzz of conversations as Mick Fealty reports, and also something less tangible but equally important - a terrific feeling of togetherness. It was, as Tessy Britton says, a sense of fellowship.
The idea of the day was to fill out the vision of chief executive Matthew Taylor for the Fellowship as a network for civic innovation. Before the event, that was a little sketchy. However, as things progressed, with a mix of presentations and Open Space discussions facilitated by Sean Blair, we produced both a rich mix of project ideas and the means to take them forward.
I took a camera along, and will be posting videos. Here's the first one, of Matthew Taylor welcoming us to the event.

A Sense of Fellowship

I was privileged to attend the RSA Networks Workshop today and I wanted to share some of the things that I personally took away. To describe briefly the Open Space method, this involved discussion items being proposed by the participants, which then formed the agenda for each discussion period. Most discussion groups were then made up of 8 – 12 people approximately.

My overriding feeling from the day has been a huge sense of fellowship. And this was equally between Fellows and RSA staff, who hosted and participated fully in the day. In all the groups there were really stimulating discussions, a real passion around issues which ranged from positively engaging teenagers, climate change to RSA’s role within communities.

I will watch with great interest to see the ‘output’ of all these discussions, but am really much more interested in seeing how this sense of fellowship, shared purpose and individual drives can spread renewed energy from 250 Fellows today to the entire fellowship of the RSA, and out from there into our smaller and important local communities.

The demonstration of the new website was very well presented and the initial simplicity of the system will help attract larger numbers to register and take part. The very open processes in place to allow for feedback will undoubtedly lead to a continual stream of developments as the requirements become more apparent through use.

I love computers. They have lots of very nice neat coloured boxes which make things feel controlled and manageable. But I have a sneaky, and rather pleasant feeling that we are in the middle of wonderfully messy, very human process which could lead to even more exciting work in our communities led and initiated by groups of spirited, creative and excitable Fellows who seem equally willing to be inspired as inspire.

Thank you to everyone at the RSA for a superbly organised and interesting day. More days for more Fellows please!

More perspectives are sure to follow on this blog and on the RSA Networks Blog .

Open Source for civic innovation?

At the informal meeting at the RSA on Monday we spoke briefly about the applicability of Open Source principles to the kind of networking/organising/innovating that OpenRSA is seeking to bring about. It's very seductive to see the achievements of Open Source software (such as the Linux operating system) and Wikipedia as providing a model for other forms of social production and creativity, particularly those informal activities based on voluntary contributions.

I don't want to pour cold water on the inspirations that these fantastic initiatives can provide. But (you could tell there was a but coming, couldn't you?) we should also be cautious about how easy it is to 'read across' from software coding or populating a knowledge base to the often quite fuzzy and diffuse settings where civic innovation takes place. To give one crude example: software either runs or it doesn't, it produces a verifiably accurate output, or it doesn't; working in social and civic spaces often isn't like that.

If we're going to learn the lessons of Open Source and successful wikis, we need a relatively fine-grained analysis of what it is about them that makes them work, and how transferable these lower-level features might be to the kind of work we're tackling. One of the best I've come across is Paul Duguid's analysis of so-called 'peer production' and what he calls the 'laws of quality' (in Open Source, one such law is "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow [easy to fix]") in his Limits of Self-Organization paper. It's quite a long in-depth paper that covers Wikipedia, Gracenote and Project Gutenberg. If you haven't got the stomach for that, here's a briefer commentary and summary by Seb Schmoller.

The UN and Social Media

Dan McQuillan has written a terribly interesting post on the UN and the use of social media on his blog interenet.artizans .

Dan writes: “But the UN is both Ideal and Institution, and the implications of social media are different for the two sides of this duality. For the Institution, the transition to the world of digital natives will be a difficult one. No institution, let alone a leviathan like the UN, is well adapted to the informal & peer-to-peer culture of the social web. More than that, the increased transparency enabled by the web is going to bring pressure to bear on the gritty realities of UN delivery. Big brands are already experiencing this pain and the UN will surely follow.”

Dan’s observations about the lack of privacy and transparency demonstrated by young people on social network sites are particularly insightful.

“But dig a bit deeper and the perennial idealism of youth starts to emerge from their online profiles & comments - as in every generation, plenty of young people care passionately about peace and justice.”

RSA Networks preview meeting

Last Friday evening at 6:30pm a group of five fellows, five RSA staff, and two or three interested individuals gathered in the Shipley room around the Talkaoke table for a very early preview of the RSA Networks prototype website.

The event was also an opportunity to test out the non-technical (offline) process of project development and discussion we had whittled down from all the ideas, requests and discussions we had dug amongst the RSA's diverse communities. We attempted to do this by mirroring the process outlined in my first three blog postings (the ideas, the flow diagram and the wireframes).

As you may now be bored of reading me say, that process is to propose ideas, discuss them, then support them through to execution. We thought that if we set up an equivalent process 'offline' - in a convivial environment (provided by Oddbins and Anshuman's generosity) we could think through how we might be able to augment the process online.

We were not disappointed. The evening began with a presentation of the prototype - which was still quite broken and bare-bones at that stage - of course the first thing that happened was that I forgot my password in the bustle to get ready but that was swiftly glossed over and I presented our working model so far.

Unfortunately, I had failed to take the advice of our facilitator for the 22nd - Sean Blair to make some 'response' cards to capture people's thoughts about the prototype as it was demonstrated. Immediately afterwards, some really great questions came thick and fast, and quickly turned into a heated discussion about the broader issues: what is civic innovation in this context? Should the RSA's website be open to the public? What's the point of building another social networking site when Facebook is already doing a very good job? Luckily we have this all on video (up on youtube later today)

Rebecca Daddow coordinator of the RSA Risk Commission gave a fascinating powerpoint presentation about a new research project she's working on to help develop an online 'Behavior Change Tool' to help young children learn to make more informed decisions in their daily lives. This was a great example of an RSA project: multi-disciplinary, socially applicable and requiring the participation of multiple organisations and individuals.

Nico Macdonald talked about his research into the poverty of debating standards on and off-line, and the tantalising possibilities offered by RSS syndication in further cross-linking blogs, turning the infrastructure of the blogosphere into a loosely coupled adversarial debating floor.

Richard Millwood then gave a very inspiring presentation about his work with the Ultraversity, an online degree course in technology and research - during which he showed an incredible video of two enthusiastic women at their graduation ceremony, explaining the wonders of network-assisted learning at home beautifully - as if, (he said), they'd been given a script for a student recruitment commercial.

There was some debate about the projects, but far more about the mechanics of project assistance and development within the RSA, and how it relates to the RSA Networks project. I am very grateful to the presenters for offering to put their projects forward knowing this was likely to be the case. However, some connections were made - particularly between Richard and Team Everything - who were well represented at the gathering.

Sunny Hundal really hit one of the many nails of the evening on the head when he was talking about his work on Comment is Free. When he develops projects, it is impossible to imagine only involving fellows - there has to be some way of bringing in other people to work alongside them. This issue - of access and openness of the platform became one of the most interesting discussions of the night, with David Wilcox bringing up some very good questions about the incentives for fellows (or anyone) to use and participate without the terms of engagement being completely clear.

This theme - of degrees of openness, picking up on many of the threads on this blog and on the RSA Networks blog really became the core of the evening, and revealed some of the paradoxical issues inherent in a members-only organisation embarking on a process of opening access to its networks and resources. However, there were some interesting suggestions made about variable access granted by project initiators, depending on the stage in a project's development.

On the whole, the evening was very rich with bigger picture ideas of what the debates and issues are surrounding the RSA Networks project - and we came away with many new ideas to work into the prototype and our report.

Which I now have a prototype to launch!

The videos from the evening will be online soon.

RSA team sets out ideas for network development

The team developing the RSA networks programme has now produced a briefing for the workshop this Thursday, November 22.
You can find it on the OpenRSA wiki or download as a pdf. There's also an item on the RSA Networks blog, with a promise of more there too.
The paper asks Fellows broadly whether they want a deeper engagement with the RSA, and what they would like to change about interactions between themselves and the organisation.
Following earlier statements from chief executive Matthew Taylor there is a strong presumption in the paper that centrally-resourced interaction will be around networks that focus on the development of civic innovation projects.
Ten possible major project ideas are offered, ranging from reviving market town high streets to a debate on the proposed Severn Barrage, and a Speakers Corner in 20 cities across the UK.
Project development will require innovative thinking and action, and the paper explains that substantial use will be made of an online system a bit like that proposed for the Innovation Exchange. (Details of the RSA prototype have been outline here).
The prototype will be demonstrated on the 22nd. The aim is that it will be:

... a marketplace for new ideas, a space where Fellows can post new project ideas and a chance to tap into the collective wisdom and connections of a diverse and thoughtful group of people. In other words, the Fellowship will become more ‘searchable’, more visible and more accessible.
Through this, we hope that the Fellowship begins to understand itself as a complex, innovative network, powered through online tools as well as offline get- togethers, buzzing with ideas.
We also know that in order to strengthen the connections between busy Fellows, we can help by offering tools and techniques for those of you wishing to do work together as a network. Tools might include ‘routemaps’ or ‘guidebooks’, designed to share learning around popular Fellows’ causes, for example how to influence planning decisions in your local area. These could be published online, so that Fellows can work together to improve them.

The paper adds that central support could be available:

RSA staff as facilitators and brokers

Above and beyond the online resources outlined above, we could create a ‘field team’ of regional facilitators, sometimes Fellows themselves; sometimes staff, whose primary role is to support, challenge and develop emergent networks. This team would be ably supported by core staff at RSA headquarters, whose primary role would be to provide research support and a form of ‘concierge’ or brokerage service. That brokerage service would connect networks together if they had not already done so themselves, as well as building partnerships between networks and other key institutions and organisations.

The RSA as a Fellow-led ‘clearing house’ for ideas, and co-created projects

Much as it is now, but perhaps more explicitly, the content of the RSA’s research programme could be shaped to reflect the concerns and enthusiasms of the Fellowship, tapping into the energy and commitment amongst Fellows for action. Fellows could be involved as co-designers and project team members in areas identified by Fellows as priorities for RSA work. We could see Fellows forming ‘self-organised’ networks; networks which are connected to more substantial resources (such as funding, venues, or expertise); or even networks which formed the basis of a RSA research programme. Fellows could generate ideas for new projects at regular national and regional network symposia, working together with RSA staff to decide how to prioritise the allocation of resources and support.

The paper emphasises that the aim is to develop ideas and plans jointly between staff and Fellows. What are the implications, asks the paper?

First and foremost, we know that a networked model of change is about much more than ‘networking’ alone. Networks need both processes and content. Extensive research about such models – in technology, education and elsewhere – shows that really powerful networks have the following assets and qualities:

• A well-articulated and shared set of goals, and a plan for how to meet those goals.
• All members feel able and encouraged to participate – which in turn requires accessible, open channels of communication online and offline.
• All network members perceive themselves to have an active role in doing work - between meetings and dialogue – so that the network does not become a talking shop.
• A good balance of network leadership (sometimes shared by people) and facilitation that is designed to maintain momentum and provide challenge.

So, to make this model come alive, the Fellows involved in networks will themselves need to do a good deal of the work. However it is also true that if this is where the RSA networks project takes us, it will have implications for the staff roles at the RSA as well.

As noted above, you can read the paper here in full, and also download. There may be discussion on the RSA Networks blog, or do of course comment here.

Creativity and Risk Taking

One of the most interesting things I got out of the book The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley (Ideo) was being brave with emerging ideas. His great example, pictured above, which I often use is the surgeon’s tool which started life with someone leaving a long and tiring development meeting and returning with a prototype made from pens and other stationary taped together very crudely.

Rowland Harwood’s observation about NESTA’s view on innovation and the RSA 360 project: ‘Good innovations don't just rise to the surface naturally without the momentum of a wider community of advocates’ also points to a creative climate which is created purposefully.

Sir Ken Robinson - also a RSA Fellow, describes in Out of Our Minds:

‘Creativity prospers best under particular conditions, especially where there is a flow of ideas between people who have different sorts of expertise. It requires an atmosphere where risk-taking and experimentation are encouraged rather than stifled. Creativity flourishes when there is a systemic strategy to promote it’

Reflecting on the RSA’s process recently I was struck by the fact that the process of exploring how the Fellowship becomes a force for social innovation has been conducted in an exemplary manner in the sense of creativity. The new RSA Network’s blog has had an open conversation from the beginning, and the RSA continues to do this very strongly on this blog as Saul is posting daily developments on the prototype as it develops. This also included a face-to-face meeting with Fellows to see the progress so far last Friday. There is a continued sense that this only has a chance of working well with everyone's input.

If some of this innovative environment can be created deliberately through and around the new site, where everyone feels safe enough to post ‘emerging’ ideas for multi sector and discipline collaboration then we really would be justified in feeling as excited about the possibilities as we all obviously do!

Malcolm Gladwell on Spaghetti Sauce

I like this talk by Malcolm very much and felt the benefit from re-watching it. Themes on diversity and not knowing what you like/need/want seems appropriate at the moment.

Of SMEs and CSR

Hi there,

I'm one of the new Ideas Apprentices, and I've just been seconded to the Networks team. I'm really looking forward to getting out and about and finding out what everyone's passions are and seeing how Staff and Fellows can create really effective ways of furthering the aims of the RSA.

I've had a fair few fellows come to me saying they want to look at Small to Medium Enterprises. Obviously everyone's coming from slightly different places, but underlying many of the stories I've heard was a desire to help SMEs fulfil their environmental and social responsibilities. At the moment, it can be hard for them to do this - the business costs and risks are too much to shoulder alone.

It's a good question - SMEs employ well over half the population, according to recent official figures.

I'd love to get anyone with insight or interest in this area in a room together soon. I'm sure there's a network in this. Mail to rosie.anderson@rsa.org.uk please

Who will decide on "open" - and how?

Tessy - love the drawing as well as your insights on collaboration! More please!
There's further discussion about openness with Mick Fealty and Eleanor Ford over on the RSA Networks blog, where Eleanor posts:

A comment on the nature of openness has value. David is right in saying that it is central to the NESTA Connect lines of inquiry, where openness integrates with trust and collaboration to seed innovation.

However, as I see it, the RSA aims to provide a sort of 'fertile ground' to be cultivated by the Fellows and the Society alike. In this space great ideas and innovations can be grown. But this vision takes time to create. And most importantly at the heart of the transformation is participation, which reveals its elective basis, coming honestly and transparently out of the passion/interest/commitment of all those involved.

Perhaps we should accept that in a sense people have to elect to be open, and then the conditions set up by the RSA are ripe to accept and encourage that, rather than making it a prerequisite. There will always be some people who are more or less comfortable with this position. That said, if the RSA Networks project succeeds in its long-term aims, this should cease to become an issue - as openness will be something that naturally unfolds.

And I respond:

However, decisions about the architecture and operation of the online system (and other activities) will make a big difference from the outset. It seems to me that civic innovation projects must involve a wide range of collaborations outside the RSA staff and Fellows ... so the collaboration system must cater for "outside" involvement, not just be a closed talking place for Fellows. Who will make that decision, and how?
Openness is also important for the engagement process. At present we don't know who is designing it, and what it is beyond the meeting next week for 250 Fellows.

My reason for reposting this is that Saul and Andy will be demonstrating the prototype system over the next week, and we don't know how decisions are to be made about the way that it will operate. The architecture for project collaboration could be set without anyone being clear about who is the "client" for Saul and Andy (although, I expect they won't let that one slide by in practice:-) and where the governance of the system lies. In my experience, lack of clarity on these issues leads to trouble further down the line.
Which also leads to the question, where are the RSA trustees in all this? Shouldn't they be part of the conversation as custodians of the balance between benefit for Fellows, and benefit for wider interests in society?

Collaborating with Society

There are some very interesting themes on both the post below on NESTA’s view on collaboration and innovation, and the posting on the RSA Networks Blog about respect and democracy.

One of the challenges I feel about the current RSA agenda are the bridges not only between Fellows, but also collaboration with society, and the boundaries between where online collaboration and discussion end and face-to-face communication begins.

Two books which examine the wisdom of crowds, by actually using other people to write the books are interesting examples of mass collaboration in action. We Think by Charles Leadbeater (pic above) has been online for some time now and uses the We Think Wiki to generate contributions and comment. Charles has continued to be a futurist thinker himself, publishing The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur in 1997.

We Are Smarter than Me was published in September and claims 4000 authors about the collective intellect of mass collaboration.

Reflecting back to Mick Fealty’s post quoting Professor Stephen Coleman about respect my thought about mass collaboration is that it is inherently respectful, and it was a point that I made to Charles Leadbeater when I met him over the summer. Asking people for their contributions, listening and incorporating their ideas and opinions is possibly one of the most genuine ways of showing respect to another person.

Having returned from three days on a course with Dr Jerry Stein from the University of Minnesota on his Learning Dreams program I am more convinced than ever that the face-to-face interactions in live communities cannot be replaced by online dialogue. While the online forums provide us with a fantastic starting point we need to explore how the online social networking will serve and enable the face-to-face.

The most exciting aspect of the RSA’s new agenda is the potential not only for creative collaboration between Fellows, but creating spaces for creative collaboration between the Fellows and the communities in which we live, what Ellie would describe as 'fertile ground'. There can be few who would argue that communities themselves have a deeper understanding of their own concerns, and a greater ability to find their own solutions. Perhaps it could be part of the RSA's role to help facilitate these discussions within individual communities and activate the wide ranging expertise within the Fellowship.

RSA Networks Prototype day 3: wireframes

Hello OpenRSA readers,

Another extremely long and stimulating day today - during which the coding really got underway (more on that later). Friday will be a big push to get the prototype online in preparation for a first preview in the evening, so I don't expect to be able to blog at all, but I must get this wireframe out for feedback!

The front page that Liz has outlined here (click on it for an enlargement) shows what we're asking people to do with this simplified collaboration prototype. The headlines, as I've said before are: propose, discuss, and support.

Below that quick explanation, we're planning on showing a list of the most actively and recently discussed projects.

The two 'directories' here are for 'Projects' and 'People' - which both lead to a searchable list of people or projects organised by name, newness, geographical location (a google maps mash-up) or category tag - which is also represented as a 'tag cloud' of keywords on the front page.

Although 'folksonomy' is all the rage these days, we were hesitant about using it in an unconstrained way - allowing fellows to tag themselves and their projects without providing a category guideline of some kind. However, fellow Helen Westropp's excellent advice was that - due to the specificity of the fellow's professional vocabularies and terminologies, the tags fellows use will be recognisable to each other - and provide excellent indications of where multi-disciplinary approaches are at work. I'm excited to see what emerges in the tag cloud!

A project page (right) shows how each project will be represented on the site. Here the project has been described (all we are asking for is a title and a 30 word blurb) . Discussions can then develop - either by 'starting a new online discussion' - which creates a new thread underneath the project blurb, or by proposing an offline meetup - which is also listed beneath the project.

Others can either comment on the discussion thread, or sign up to attend the meetup, or start their own - and doing any of these actions automatically adds them to the list of people 'involved in this project discussion' - represented on the right column (2.5).

The main 'support' activity here is recommending the project to others - by typing their names into the 'recommendation' box on the right. This will fire off an email to the recommendee, providing a link to this project from the recommender. A similar function will allow fellows to invite each other to online discussion or events.

We are also keeping all this information (who recommends or invites what to whom) so that we can eventually start suggesting potential collaboration matches. For example: 'fellows who recommended this project to you are also involved in project X...' (amazon style), and will allow us to infer lots of other interesting interrelationships between the people and projects amongst the fellowship.

Finally, allow me to introduce 'Norman', our dummy fellow for the day. Each fellow, like Norman will have a 'profile' page showing all the kinds of information you'd expect from a useful web directory: mugshots, a short bio, his 'tags' - or categories of interests, events he's signed up for and a google map of where he's based (if you want to stalk Norman), online discussions he's involved in, and projects he's initiated.

You can also use Norman's profile page to introduce him to other fellows - just start typing their name into the 'introduce this person to...' box on the right (5.4) and you'll be able to select from a list of all fellows in the system - which will then send them both emails saying 'Norman, Simon thinks you ought to meet Norah... ' and providing links to each other's online profiles.

There is one final detail that we're hoping to be able to fit into the prototype stage... although time is running out now: 'aggregated feeds'.


We know that many fellows have blogs, use flickr, youtube, del.icio.us and countless other online tools to publish text, photos, video, links etc. etc. We want that activity to be reflected here so we are hoping to implement an 'aggregation' box on each profile, project, event and discussion page - where fellows can post 'feeds' from their activities around the 'Net, and see them collected on the RSA Networks site.

We are excited about the potential of this approach to allow the RSA Networks site to act as more of an expanding platform for participation and collaboration - than as yet another 'walled garden' type of social networking site (like Facebook) where we end up trying to lock our users into using the tools we provide. The web is full of great tools, and the fellowship are bound to have their own methods and preferences for what they use to communicate... we hope that this approach will help us facilitate rather than 'own' those collaborations.

In any case, this is getting a bit too philosophical - we are in the middle of frenzied site building for a pre-pre preview on Friday night at the RSA, so now I'm going to batton down the hatches and get on with it! Having said that - feedback is essential at this stage. Please do email me or comment with responses and ideas.

How NESTA sees the RSA Networks project

A link on Roland Harwood's Connect blog offers some insights into how NESTA views the £100,000 investment that they are making in the RSA Networks project - or RSA 360 as it is also known. Roland, writing about Interaction + Iteration = Innovation, says:

We've been arguing for some time that all innovation is fundamentally collaborative, and I believe it is becoming more so, given increasing specialisation in all domains. It may be possible to invent an idea or concept as an individual, though this always builds upon the work of others. But more importantly, to realise commercial or social value, requires input from many other people - both seen and unseen. And yet the finance, support and infrastructure for innovation in the UK (and elsewhere) tend to be mostly focussed upon the individual (person or organisation).

I'm particularly interested in the space between the individuals, or the 'interaction' within an innovation community. This interplay between participants has an inbuilt feedback mechanism or 'iteration' which is a hallmark of the design process and is essential in successful innovation. Good innovations don't just rise to the surface naturally without the momentum of a wider community of advocates. Returning to science for a moment, modern physics is clear that the world works very differently at different scales. The laws that are true of atoms and sub-atomic particles do not 'aggregate up' to apply to larger masses and structures where entirely new emergent phenomena occur at larger scales e.g. magnetism. The same applies to groups and communities.

He then goes on to add:

One of the evaluation techniques we are using in several of our Connect projects, Corporate Connections and RSA 360, is the use of video ethnography to observe and track the development of diverse range of participants seeking to innovate collaboratively. I think this will be fruitful and will reveal insights not obtained through traditional quantative or qualitative techniques.

But I am beginning to realise that we lack a vocabulary to even talk about group dynamics properly. Can anybody please provide me with examples of case studies that capture the essence of group dynamics (both positive and negative) that properly explain the emergence of collaborative innovation, rather than simply telling the stories of heroic individuals or aggregating individual behaviour?

The link leads to a page which applauds the potential of the RSA Fellowship, and explains its importance to NESTA:

The 360 project taps into this massive latent potential of the Fellowship and supports them to develop new networks, which aim to deliver sustainable social change.

NESTA Connect will help to set up a team of external advisers to develop a set of pilot networks. Each network will be nurtured individually and encouraged to 'connect' with each other and other partners to generate action and learning.

For the RSA, the project flows directly from the belief that a better future depends on citizens closing the social aspiration gap - the gap between the world we say we want to live in, and the world we are likely to build.

For NESTA Connect, this is an opportunity to explore different types of collaborative innovation, and identify connections between these collaborations and successful innovation.

I'll send Roland an invite to see if he would like to add more over on this blog. It's really encouraging to feel in the forefront of social innovation experimentation and evaluation. More will be explained at our meet up next Monday with Eleanor Ford. However, I don't want to appear the least bit carping, but it would help a great deal if RSA could pull some of these references together and offer Fellows a full briefing on the programme. There's a few early ones here.

Following Mick Fealty's kind words over on the RSA Networks blog, I have high hopes of RSA-OpenRSA collaboration on this.

OpenRSA meetup on Monday 19th

Here's a chance to meet others involved in OpenRSA, and talk to Eleanor Ford who is researching the RSA Networks process

Malcolm Forbes posted this to Facebook. Sign up there
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6189699789
If you aren't in Facebook, it is free to join, and you'll be promoted to sign up. Any problems, email david@partnerships.org.uk

As many people know, the RSA is hosting a big (but closed) event on November 22 to plan ways forward with Fellows. A group of us are meeting for a drink on the evening of Monday November 19 to catch up on developments, and possible ways forward. The get-together is also
an opportunity to meet Eleanor Ford, who posted to the Facebook group:

"As many of you know, I am doing some ethnographic evaluation work on the RSA Networks project with NESTA, and would be really interested in capturing some of the experiences at the heart of the process as it develops. I have had a chat with a few of you, but would love a chance
to speak with some more Fellows before the 22nd, just to get some opinions on the project and where it might be going.
"Just to give you a one line bio - I am an anthropologist, filmmaker and entrepreneur, and am currently working on a new technology service funded by NESTA's Creative Pioneer Programme, the LDA and private investment."

Open to anyone, whether you are attending November 22 or not ... but do sign in at the link above.
Update: We'll be meeting in the Shipley Room, RSA, 8 John Adam Street. Thanks Victoria, of RSA hospitality, for arranging.

RSA Networks Prototype day 2

Well, it's actually day 3, but I'm lagging behind a day. This is just a quick post about the higher level 'flow' and expected uses of the system that we are developing at the moment. I hope to blog again later today and put a bit more meat on the bones.

We are eager for feedback, especially as we are now finding the holes in our thinking as we build... your help with that task is much appreciated!

We have another flow diagram for you - this one explaining the three key activities we're expecting fellows to engage in via the RSA Networks prototype:


Proposal: describing a nascent project, this is where up and coming, enthusiastic RSA fellows will be posting their projects, hoping to win support, criticism, and the benefit of the experience, connections and resources of other fellows.

Discussion: this is the core function of the site. Fellows can get involved by creating online discussions (threaded blog posts and comments) or offline discussions (meetups) relating to a project. The result of all this activity is reflected on the site, and the most active projects rise to the surface.

Support: making connections and expressing appreciation. Fellows can act as match-makers, promoting events to each other, making introductions between other fellows, recommending projects, and inviting each other to blog discussions. If they want to, they can also 'pledge support' - which is either public (visible on the project page) or private (a message to the project initiator).

This is basically a more abstract expression of what Norah, Simon and Trevor were doing yesterday, but in abstracting it, we're now wondering what processes we're missing out on.

How do people already support 'social innovation'? What other existing processes could we augment? Can anyone see any glaring holes here? Any unnecessary steps?

More soon... hopefully with some screenshots from the bleeding edge!

Networks Prototype

Thanks for the detail Saul on the prototype. The Drupal platform looks very versatile and the Indianapolis Museum of Art site shows how exciting it can look as well. I particularly like their feature called 'Collaborative Book' which seems to create opportunities to really develop ideas. Importing from other media is essential as you show - particularly if the site is going to be used for information sharing as well.

It would be very interesting to see how the new types of networking opportunties that many fellows would like to create off line can be replicated online. From your flow plan your designs could facilitate the same type of collaborative 'spaces' to connect fellows over longer distances. One of the greatest needs expressed so far about opening up the network has been for fellows to get to know each other's areas of interest and expertise. The driver for this idea being developing trusting relationships around high-interest areas... and project ideas potentially growing from there. Frequently mentioned is the idea of open mic evenings for fellows to introduce their work and projects to one another in an informal setting and finding suitable ways of replicating this type of opportunity online would be very interesting. . . and exciting.

Groups functions would be very helpful for regional interest groups and LEGS to draw fellows to idea generating events . . .

Those attending the RSA meeting on the 22nd are really looking forward to seeing your prototype!

While I am here, just a reminder that there is an Informal Face 2 Face Meeting on the 19th November - more information and replies on the Facebook event page

Building the RSA Networks Prototype

Hello openrsa readers.

I'm going to blog our progress on the RSA Networks Prototype here so we can benefit from even more of your comments and guidance.

After collating a huge mass of material, ideas and suggestions over the last week, we finally fixed on some simple first steps and put our noses firmly to the grindstone.

When I say 'we' - I should introduce the rest of the development team (as David did such a nice job of introducing Andy and myself on this blog): Liz Turner on design and user interface and Peter Brownell (left, with loud hailer) on code and architecture. This is the same team that I put together to develop nm-x.com - RSA Fellow Neil Johnston's initiative to network creative businesses in West London.

But enough preliminaries - you are probably all eager to hear what we're actually going to do.

The most important function of the Network Prototype by all accounts is to foster online and offline discussion and development of new projects amongst the RSA fellowship. There are many other functions that can be added later, but these are the ones we are focusing on for the prototype.

To explain how we are going to do this, allow me to introduce more new faces: Norah, Simon, and Trevor - our hypothetical group of RSA fellows.

The idea here is that ideas are contributed by fellows, and through discussion (online as blog posts and comments) and offline (as events) they are refined and developed into projects.

Of course there will be a lot more to this process than we are outlining here, but this is the very basic flow between idea, discussion and project.

We also have some key principles that we are going to use in the development process that will inform how we achieve this:

• We are using Drupal, an Open Source toolkit as our starting point.
• We will be building this fast, explaining what we are doing (here) and releasing our results and trying to do two or three micro-iterations by the 22nd November.
• We don't want to re-invent the Web(2.0) or create a walled garden for fellows (facebook style), so we will be using a lot of RSS aggregation to pull in discussions and media from other sites (such as flickr, youtube, technorati, blogger etc.) and show them alongside relevant projects.
  

I hope that gives you some indication as to what direction we're going in with this.

Please do give feedback and ask any questions you have about what we're doing - here or to saul@theps.net, and I'll try to pry myself out of the process for long enough to respond!

Until tomorrow then...

Matthew fills out the vision

RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor has now filled out his vision of how RSA Networks might develop, and what sort of projects might result from discussions on November 22:

I am looking forward to the event on the 22nd, but not because I have a plan that I want to see unfold. It is because I suspect that it is only in being part of 200 plus Fellows and staff working hard at the tough issues for a whole day that we will really get a sense of the potential of RSA Networks.

There are three questions to which I hope I will be closer to having my own answer by the evening of the 22nd.

First, what really are the potential synergies between the RSA's research programmes and the Fellowship? Will developing a Fellowship engagement aspect to major projects help us develop powerful and distinctive projects? Will it simply be a feel-good exercise, or could it be a pointless distraction?

Second, what might be the characteristics of RSA Networks that make them stand out from other initiatives?

I don't think that we can be entirely new and different, but we need a consistent story about the value added the RSA brings. I suspect this will involve elements such as our multi-disciplinarity, our pragmatism (we are not tied like some NGOs to a single account of how best to impact on the world), our non-affiliation to a fixed political ideology and our commitment to a model of change that combines, on the one hand, research and action and, on the other, ideas about public policy, with a commitment to fostering individual and collective action.

Third - and hardest of all - is there really the commitment and the capacity at the RSA (HQ and Fellows) to develop effective experiments and models of civic innovation? This, I have said in previous blog posts, is about combining willing with insight and team working. Maybe it's the three C's; commitment, cleverness and collaboration.

He then gives examples of possible projects including Speakers Corners in cities, a debate on the proposed Severn Barrage, and "a high profile attitude-shifting debate about how young people can get on better together, driving violence out of their relationships?"

RSA appoints consultancy for online system

The RSA have appointed the consultancy Sociability to help define the online system by which Fellows may collaborate together, and with others, to work on civic innovation projects. A first version will be demonstrated at the event for some 250 Fellows at RSA on November 22.
The development work is being carried out by Andy Gibson (left), and Saul Albert, who runs the company The People Speak.
Andy is a co-founder of the Web 2.0 start up The School of Everything, and before developing Sociability worked at Skillset commissioning web sites. He blogs here.
Saul says about The People speak

The People Speak is a set of ideas, technologies and strategies we've developed for bringing people together to have conversations and discussions in an open-ended and fun way. We design events, architectures, systems and processes in which people are encouraged to express themselves, share ideas, flirt, and be as creative as they can.

One possible model for the RSA work is the new media eXchange, which Andy says has similarities to the RSA prototype. The site says

It shouldn't be so hard to find great talent and outstanding projects - or for talented people to find opportunities to work and collaborate.

The nm-x is a network for bringing together people, projects, events and organisations to eXchange with each other.

Mark's model for a civic innovation network

RSA Fellow Mark Gray has been critical of the lack of detail available about the RSA re-invention programme, as you can see from his comments on the RSA Networks blog. However, in a comment on one post there he has provided his ideas for a model of network and project development - and agreed they should be republished here.

Mark writes:

I said earlier that I'd shut up on this topic, but I can't help trying to be positive. Here are some thoughts scribbled down last on a train journey.

For some time now I’ve been calling in a variety of places for some more concrete sense of what this vision of an RSA as a ‘network for civic innovation’ actually means. I can’t, for all the pages of blogs, columns of the Journal or emails from the RSA discern what it is we are being offered as an alternative model for our Society. I keep hearing that Fellows will steer this through consultation – but consultation on what, precisely?

Instead of grumbling I thought I’d try to get the ball rolling by suggesting what I would like to see if – as I’m told is the case – there is a desperate desire among the Fellowship to turn itself into something different. What I’ll present below is my version of what such a network might be. It is not complete, not the final word – but it is a model on which one can reasonably expect others to have opinions and thereby (through discussion, challenge and improvement) shape a better model.

1. The ‘core’

For me, the RSA remains a great network of individuals – individuals connected with and interested in the historic themes of the Society. There are things we may not agree on (for example now that the executive of the Society has deemed that we are ‘working to remove the barriers to social progress’, many of us will have different views of what that little word ‘progress’ means. That broad church, unaligned, multidisciplinary network has real advantages and, at the core of my model, the scope for individual discussion, the generation of new ideas, sharing of best practice and the facilitation of debate remain as key elements. I want these to be supported by the RSA directly – but I recognise that this is the hardest element of my model to put in place. After all, while the RSA might use indirect means of ‘pairing’ off interested Fellows (using a more detailed version of the current Directory to match those with interests and invite them to meet each other at John Adam Street) it can hardly force them to engage in purposeful individual discussion, let alone take that one-on-one meeting to the point of promoting ‘civic innovation’, whatever that might mean. I think that this core of the RSA’s activities needs to be thought about with the Fellowship, but with some concrete options. Here are some of mine for the core:

(a) ‘One-on-one meetings’ as an obligation of Fellowship – to keep your Fellowship you have to make contact with at least one (more?) other Fellows and together propose an activity to an activity ‘pool’.
(b) A seminar (not lecture) programme that fits with the reality of the Fellowships structure – that more Fellows don’t get to John Adam Street than do. That means more non face-to-face meetings facilitated by other means. Webcasting of seminars which would be of shorter length; fewer discussants, and more time for Fellows to exchange thoughts online or by other means (even post, with the results posted on the website after).
(c) A means of disseminating best practice by means of an annual conference – with expert summaries of the evidence for what works in areas related to RSA projects. I am not suggesting here a series of ‘talking heads’ meetings so much as an annual practitioners meeting in which, for example, we review what actually seems to work (globally, based on best evidence) in the area of enabling a capable population. The more refined, focused and purposeful the topic the better.
(d) Open debates based on extensions to the RSA Fellows Forum, which is underused. Methods of improving usage include – better external links to it; more use of the Forum to hold documents from RSA projects and to carry comments on them from Fellows; more project work groups to be offered space on the Forum for open discussion of their projects; more use of the Forum (possibly, but not sure about this) for RSA-affiliated projects to conduct their work and discuss their activities.

I could add a lot more here (slide galleries for PP slides from seminars; data sets from projects; white papers from organisations working with the RSA….) but in essence the ‘core’ element of the model is there to facilitate exchange and discussion. It supports the traditional purpose of the RSA – that is, to network people involved in the development of the arts, commerce and manufacture and the relationship of these themes to the trajectory of society.

2. The ‘satellite’ activities

I envisage four ‘satellite’ activities of this core – the spokes of what will inevitably be seen as a ‘hub and spoke’ model. My spokes here are four in number. Each extends work in the core but does so in greater depth and with specific tools and audiences. They are,

(i) An exchange/’trading’ facility for organisations engaged in activities related to the themes of the RSA

The RSA would create an (electronic) ‘market place’ to enable organisations and individual Fellows to ‘gift’, share, swap or (in effect) sell services that would enable specific projects to get off the ground. There could be, in my view, no room here for commercial sales (although I could be persuaded otherwise) but the sort of exchange I am thinking of would certainly support Fellow A in Winchester who wanted access to data on the number of house-bound disabled pensioners in Hampshire in order to make a case for funding by publicising her need and getting Fellows who knew where such data was to provide it. Equally, though, Fellow A’s charity might be in need of some tax advice on a particular point, which it might be willing to ‘swap’ for some redundant office equipment; it might also offer the skills of its staff for hire at the margin. Clearly there is much to be thought about here, but the idea of a purposeful exchange facility is one that would, in the most concrete way imaginable, support projects, individuals and agencies interested in work in the theme areas of the RSA. The facility might, for example, allow charities or community groups to come together to co-purchase equipment or services and secure discounts thereby.

(ii) A ‘best practice bank’

Modelled on the Cochrane Collaboration and related programmes for the codification of best evidence and systematic review of the evidence of what works, the RSA could work – possibly with the Cabinet Office which has been developing work along these lines for the public sector – to create for 3rd sector organisations and public sector organisations as library of best practice evidence. This would NOT – I repeat not – consist of project reports from every RSA related project, but commissioned and researched (maybe even borrowed?) systematic reviews of the best evidence in themed areas. For example, what seems to work in raising school attendance? What seems to work in encouraging better design in small and medium sized businesses? The range of areas covered would need some definition, but that should be shaped by the Fellows and (very importantly) external collaborators. The venue for discussion of the evidence would be back in the ‘core’ area of the RSA.

(iii) A ‘matching service’ for new projects

The ‘exchange’ facility above would support projects and activities that are in play, but what about the support of new ventures? The need for some sort of match-making service, ferreting out the scope for partnership between individuals, agencies, public and third sector bodies and business to pursue practical projects would enhance the role of the RSA. Such a matching service could begin by asking for Fellows/organisations to commit to ‘clusters’ of activity, and to provide information about their particular skills, resources and capabilities. The ‘service’ would consist of the active and human (i.e. not computer-generated) winnowing of this information and the negotiation of, and support for, projects or project areas. The RSA could then help and assist from the same team by providing information on funding sources, legal and procedural requirements and advice – or call on that from the ‘exchange’ service.

(iv) Solution clinics

The RSA can assist the development, and the longevity, of Fellows’ projects by sponsoring what is in effect a set of face-to-face, online, virtual world or other (posted newsletter?) ‘solution clinics’. For example, my hypothetical Fellow in Bournemouth is now well on her way to providing services to the house-bound elderly disabled in Hampshire, but she has encountered a problem: how does she deal with getting parking restrictions relaxed for her vehicles? She could post/mail/ask such a question and the Fellowship could supply solutions. The solutions would have to be quality assured and checked – and that would be another role for the RSA executive team

Four ‘spokes’ and a ‘core’. The model aims to provide support for all stages of the development of innovative projects – whether they are to design better housing, provide services for disadvantaged teenagers, improve the aesthetic pleasure of urban streets, or network isolated cottagers in the rural highlands.

This is not a complete model, and certainly not the best. But it is a start.

Challenges to it, and better still suggestions on concrete ways to improve it and make it more certain are welcome.

What is the RSA re-invention plan?

It is difficult to find one statement of what is planned - however there are a number of articles and blog posts.

• Email from Matthew Taylor to RSA Fellows says "In essence, our aim is that the RSA becomes a network for civic innovation, empowering both Fellows and staff to develop new initiatives that promote and deliver progress in society. We want to make it easier for any Fellow who wants to get involved to connect with other like-minded Fellows and to develop initiatives that seek to remove barriers to progress, working locally, in professional groups or simply among people who share interests and enthusiasms."
• Q and A on Matthew's blog about the initiative
• Journal article by Sophia Parker says Civic innovation will only realise its full potential once citizens are involved in setting the agenda and the terms of engagement.
• NESTA provides £100,000 funding for the programme
• Sophia Parker on the RSA Networks blog: Effective engagement is a learning process
• From these items it seems that the vision is for Fellows to work together, and with RSA staff to develop projects for civic innovation. There will be some process by which choices will be made over projects to be supoported.

Update: the RSA Networks team have now produced a briefing for the workshop on November 22. Blog item here

About this blog

OpenRSA was started to help the re-invention of the 250-year-old RSA - the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce. RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor has said he wants to put RSA Fellows - members - at the heart of the new organisation.
OpenRSA is a Fellow-led initiative to complement the work Matthew and others are leading internally: more here about how we started on our wiki, and how to join in OpenRSA.
If you are an RSA Fellow, and want to contribute to this blog, please email the editor.
For posts about the RSA Networks event on November 22, click here.