From grants to growth: How the RCA is strengthening local connections

The RCA Community Engagement Seed Fund is a small-grants scheme supporting staff to develop engagement activities and partnerships with local communities. Many colleagues across the College are already working on such initiatives as part of their art and design practice and research, and the Fund recognises, celebrates and enables this work.

The Fund supports projects aligned with the RCA’s vision for community and public engagement, with a focus on collaboration, co-production and mutual benefit. Successful projects value equally the expertise of academic and community partners, deliver tangible outcomes within the given timeframe, and share learning widely.

Common threads have emerged across the funded projects this year: strengthening partnerships with local groups, creating opportunities for young people, exploring themes of space and place, and broadening understanding of how to work with diverse communities. Many of the projects below have laid the groundwork for further development and future funding applications.

The Future of Fashion Show
RCA Lead: Flora McLean

Collaborators: RCA MA Fashion graduates involved: Huilli Jin, Christina Tang, Jacob Jiang, Meg Dennis. Leanne Thompson (Model and Muse).

What happened?
The Seed Fund supported Flora McLean (RCA Senior Tutor, Research, Fashion) and RCA MA Fashion students to work on The Future of Fashion Show at Kindred in Hammersmith, hosted by TV presenter Caryn Franklin and Bernie Yates (CSM). The event featured inclusive designers, industry specialists, and models, drawing an audience of around 150 people. The Future of Fashion project is a celebration of style that "empowers everyone to feel comfortable in their own skin—both on and off the runway".

Community and RCA involvement
Local co-designer Samanta Bullock, who spearheads Future of Fashion, was supported by the RCA to raise the profile of the show and connect with new networks. RCA students co-designed garments with the models, including a purple raincoat, bespoke cape and hats.

Outcomes
The show has created momentum for Bullock to continue developing the event, supported by the images and portfolio generated. RCA’s fashion studio, which works on co-design with disabled communities, plans to continue collaborating on this important area of inclusive and adaptable design. The RCA gained valuable insights into inclusive design and the power of ambitious, collaborative projects.

Future of Fashion is sponsored by @europeaninvestmentbank @atmos @lifeatzebra @londonkindred @southasianbeautycollective @lucas_nunes0 @marceloq.photography @angeharperphoto @riocafeuk @beths.uk @thearcheswinebar @royalcollegeofart

Dada Poetry Making and Zine Workshop
RCA Lead: Beth Malcolm and Corinne Noble

What happened?
Beth Malcolm (RCA Technical Instructor, Graduate Diploma) and Corinne Noble (RCA Evening Library Supervisor) led a workshop at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, welcoming 11 ArtMix participants aged 14–15. Building on Malcolm's first workshop for the RCA Library Residency, and using antique postcards of Gateshead as prompts, young people experimented with Dada-style poetry and produced pages for a zine.

Community and RCA involvement
The workshop leads’ backgrounds and personal previous connection to ArtMix relaxed the participants, who opened up to the idea of poetry making and reading their creative work out loud at the end of the event. The zine will be printed and distributed back to participants, the Baltic Library, and the RCA Library.

Outcomes
Baltic is keen to continue the partnership, and the RCA hopes to build sustained dialogue with ArtMix participants considering future study at the College. The experience also highlighted the importance of addressing perceptions of London’s inaccessibility by sharing scholarship information.

Speak Up
RCA Lead: Tracey Waller

Supported by: Laura Gordon (Workshop support and Associate Lecturer), Lukman Ipese and Makar Polovinka (RCA Students and Digital Media Support leads), and Lewis Danielski (Illustrator and Scribe).

What happened?
Tracey Waller (RCA Head of Programme, Visual Communication MA) ran a creative workshop in partnership with the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service. The brief for the workshop was to create a short-form social media video or GIF. Participants were encouraged to draw on their own experiences or imagination, with the aim of producing an animated poster that communicated a message of hope. They were invited to explore themes such as life near Grenfell and the local community or surrounding area, their collective experiences and personal stories, and aspirations for the future.

Community and RCA involvement
Two RCA students and an RCA alumnus, Lewis Danielski, supported the session. Danielski produced an illustrated documentation of the event, which captured participant insights and served as an evaluation tool. Members of the Health and Wellbeing team attended and supported the session, ensuring that participants were comfortable and that the workshop aligned with wider community wellbeing goals. The workshop was attended by 11 participants, all of whom live in North Kensington. Each participant is known to the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service, and all come from families directly impacted by the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. The young people who took part were aged between 12 and 16 years old.

Outcomes
The workshop had a clear impact on participants, both in terms of their relationship to the community and in how they viewed sources of support available to them. Participants began to reflect on their community in hopeful terms, reinforced through the creative outputs they produced. This pilot has already helped to support a successful application for an Impact Fellowship, providing a platform to extend and deepen this work through funded research and community collaboration.

Hammersmith Bridge XR
RCA Lead: Atif Ghani

What happened?
Atif Ghani (RCA Associate Lecturer, MA Digital Direction & MFA Communication) developed a mixed-reality experience about Hammersmith Bridge, exploring its history, closure and future repair. A free drop-in pilot workshop at Riverside Studios brought together 48 participants, including 36 RCA students and 12 members of the public, to test the XR model.

Community and RCA involvement
Participants trialled a multi-modal approach combining VR headsets with AR content on the bridge itself. While they appreciated the VR model’s quality and the heightened awareness of the environment when on-site, feedback revealed a strong desire for a more cohesive narrative, moving away from fragmented information delivery. Participants wanted the bridge itself to “tell a story” — one that integrated personal histories and deeper cultural meaning alongside factual detail.

Outcomes
The pilot highlighted both the educational potential of XR and the need for refinement. Users left with a stronger understanding of the bridge’s history, but also pointed to technical challenges such as QR-code overload, reliance on internet connectivity, and limited accessibility via Snapchat. Feedback suggested a single compiled app, more immersive audio, and guided, smaller-group experiences would enhance impact.

MyCity
RCA Lead: Krity Gera

What happened?
Krity Gera (Tutor, Research, School of Design) led two participatory workshops with teenage girls from Burntwood School and Battersea Youth Club, exploring their experiences of public space through zine-making and other creative methods. The resulting work was exhibited for one month at Southside Shopping Centre in June 2025.

Community and RCA involvement
A total of 33 girls took part, from diverse cultural backgrounds. Three students from the ‘Community Centered Design’ thematic cluster (Design Products, RCA), led by Gera, supported the workshops and exhibition. Participants expressed pride in seeing their work exhibited publicly, with comments emphasising creativity, freedom of expression, and visibility.

Outcomes

The project is informing Gera’s research into urban mobility and socio-spatial integration. She has applied for external funding, including a UKRI Policy Fellowship, and one of her students is shortlisted for the 1st round of a V&A residency inspired by the project. The project will be presented at the Public Space Biennial, Rome in September 2025. Working with a local school and youth club has helped Gera better understand how to work with diverse communities.

Sound Pavilion
RCA Lead: Jaspar Joseph-Lester

Supported by Krity Gera, Ben Judd and Asher Levitas (RCA Sites and Situations Research Lab)

What happened?
Developed with colleagues from RCA Sites and Situations Research Lab and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Sound Pavilion explored belonging through soundscapes created with children from local schools and youth centres in Battersea. Recordings drew on the rhythms of passing trains and oral histories of the Winstanley Estate.

Community and RCA involvement
Sounds and stories were gathered through workshops with Ark John Archer, Belleville Wix Primary Schools and Providence House Youth Centre. The project was shared via Wandsworth Council and London Festival of Architecture platforms.

Outcomes
The project has established an international partnership with Hannover University, with plans for a joint pavilion project funded by both institutions. Jaspar Joseph-Lester (Professor of Critical Spatial Practice, SoAH) reflected on the pavilion as a conceptual and experimental space for interdisciplinary exchange, with learning feeding into both his research and teaching, including an MFA elective on Art and the Urban.