We’re on uncertain ground. What’s possible as we navigate crisis and change in our communities? How can we stretch our imaginations, re-think and shape the futures of our communities?

We’re working alongside communities across the UK to understand the different realities and responses to Covid-19.

In the moment of disaster, the old order no longer exists, and people improvise…

Rebecca Solnit
A Paradise Built in Hell

Navigating Crises and Change: voices on the past, present and future

During the winter of 2020-2021 we undertook a community enquiry to listen to stories of resilience, challenge and imagination arising from the pandemic. We invite you to reflect on these stories and share your own experiences.

Illustration of a landscape with mountains, a sun, and clouds. A river flows from a mountain lake to a city with buildings. Rain falls from clouds above the city, and trees dot the landscape.

We’re all weathering the storm in different boats.

There has been incredible stories of resilience, challenge and imagination arising from the pandemic.

At the heart of this work our community inquiry sought to help us understand:

  • how pre-existing conditions led to different impacts in different communities (what was)
  • The breadth of different responses to crisis (what is)
  • The long-term future aspirations people have (what might be).

The pandemic is not the first crisis and will not be the last…

What can we learn and what can we do, to help us all adapt to upcoming challenges, harness opportunities for change, spot new trends on the horizon and demand equity and social justice in our emerging futures?

This work is built on the RSA Future Change Framework and the RSA Living Change Approach, and supported by the Emerging Futures Fund from as part of the wider National Lottery Community Fund.

Funding partner

Crisis, communities, change

As part of our community inquiry, this briefing is an attempt to understand in greater detail how those of ethnic minority backgrounds have been impacted by the pandemic.

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Current RSA projects

All current RSA projects across education, public services, health, future of work, sustainability, finance, heritage, democracy and more.

A woman wearing a face mask stands outdoors with a shoulder bag. She's surrounded by a blurred crowd in the background. The setting appears to be a sunny urban street. The image is in black and white.