The 2017 Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) was awarded posthumously to Robin Murray for pioneering work in social innovation.
A co-operator, environmental and industrial economist, Robin Murray passed away earlier this year. He was an associate of Co-operatives UK as well as the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Young Foundation. He also served on the Wales Commission on Co-operatives and Mutuals.
Described by those who worked with him as a visionary thinker, Robin Murray was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and at the LSE. He joined the London Business School, where he lectured in Economics, moving to the Institute of Development Studies, at the University of Sussex, where he was a Fellow for 20 years.
As well as working with former London Mayor Ken Livingstone in the 1980s on promoting a new industrial strategy, he also helped to found Twin and Twin Trading – a fair trade organisation with a focus on the practical development of co-operatives in supply chains overseas.
Later on, he served as a director of development in the Government of Ontario, Canada. He also led the report Co-operation in the Age of Google.
The Albert Medal was given to his wife, Frances Murray, during an event hosted by Nesta featuring three speakers who had worked with him: social entrepreneur, Hilary Cottam; Co-operatives UK secretary general, Ed Mayo; and chief executive of Nesta, Geoff Mulgan.
Receiving the award Ms Murray said: “This is a very special moment for me and for all of Robin’s family. I think Robin would have been truly amazed today by this award. Although he was a fierce competitor in sport, in his academic and working life what mattered most to him was working with others collectively.”
“I can hear him say today insist that it is not him alone that it is honoured tonight and he would like it shared with those with whom he has taught and from whom he has learnt organised with written with, shared thoughts and ideas with.”
Speaking at the event, Ed Mayo also said: “He was an organiser he was modest enough to be a joiner whether in his local co-ops in Hackney or Cumbria. We are living so much in an age of ‘I’ where individual action and social entrepreneurs are loaded as the way to make a change. Not so much Robin. He always sought out the ‘we’. “
