The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Commerce is a London-based, British organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. Founded in 1754 by William Shipley as the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Commerce, it was granted a Royal Charter in 1847, the right to use the term Royal in its name by King Edward VII in 1908; the shorter version, The Royal Society of Arts and the related RSA acronym, are used more than the full name. Notable past fellows include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Atkinson, Stephen Hawking, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, William Hogarth, John Diefenbaker, Tim Berners-Lee. Today, the RSA has Fellows elected from 80 countries worldwide; the RSA award three medals, the Albert Medal, the Benjamin Franklin Medal and the Bicentenary Medal. Medal winners include Nelson Mandela, Sir Frank Whittle, Professor Stephen Hawking; the RSA members are innovative contributors to the human knowledge, as shown by the Oxford English Dictionary, which records the first use of the term "sustainability" in an environmental sense of the word in the RSA Journal in 1980.

On the RSA building's frieze The Royal Society of Arts words are engraved, although its full name is Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts and Commerce. The short name and the related R S of A abbreviation is used more than the full name; the RSA's mission expressed in the founding charter was to "embolden enterprise, enlarge science, refine art, improve our manufacturers and extend our commerce", but of the need to alleviate poverty and secure full employment. On its website, the RSA characterises itself as "an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges"; the RSA's Patron is Elizabeth II, the RSA's President is The Princess Royal, its Chairman is Vikki Heywood, its Chief Executive is Matthew Taylor. 1755–1761: The Viscount Folkestone 1761–1793: The Lord Romney 1794–1815: The Duke of Norfolk 1816–1843: The Duke of Sussex 1843–1861: The Prince Consort 1862–1862: William Tooke 1863–1901: The Prince of Wales 1901–1901: Sir Frederick Bramwell 1901–1910: The Prince of Wales 1910–1910: The Lord Alverstone 1911–1942: The Duke of Connaught 1942–1943: Sir Edward Crowe 1943–1945: E. F. Armstrong 1945–1947: The Viscount Bennett 1947–1952: The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh 1952–2011: The Duke of Edinburgh 2011–present: The Princess Royal Prospective fellows can apply for membership.

There have been nearly 28,000 Fellows since 1754. Fellows must have demonstrated a high level of achievement related to the arts and commerce and more "share the values" of the RSA and be "committed to supporting the mission of the RSA"; this change coincided with a rebranding of the RSA mission as a "21st century enlightenment" and its approach as "The Power to Create", which aims at broadening the RSA's impact through increasing its Fellowship. Life Fellows must have demonstrated exceptionally high achievement; the RSA says: "The RSA Fellowship is an international community achievers and influencers from a wide array of backgrounds and professions, distinguished by the title'FRSA'. Fellows are social entrepreneurs to scientists, community leaders to commercial innovators and journalists to architects and engineers, many more." Fellows of the RSA are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRSA. Fellowship is regarded as an honour and privilege. Modelled on the Dublin Society for improving Husbandry and other Useful Arts, the RSA, from its foundation, offered prizes through a Premium Award Scheme that continued for 100 years.

Medals and, in some cases, money were awarded to individuals who achieved success in published challenges within the categories of Agriculture, Polite Arts, Manufacture and Trade, Chemistry and Mechanics. Successful submission included agricultural improvements in the cultivation of crops and reforestation, devising new forms of machinery, including an extendable ladder to aid firefighting that has remained in use unchanged, artistic skill, through submissions by young students, many of whom developed into famous artists e.g. Edwin Landseer who at the age of 10 was awarded a silver medal for his drawing of a dog; the RSA specifically precluded premiums for patented solutions. Today the RSA continues to offer premiums. In 1936, the RSA awarded the first distinctions of Royal Designers for Industry, reserved for "those few who in the judgment of their peers have achieved'sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry'". In 1937 "The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry" was established as an association with the object of "furthering excellence in design and its application to industrial purposes": membership of the Faculty is automatic for all RDIs and HonRDIs.

The Faculty has 120 Royal Designers and 45 Honorary Royal Designers: the number of designers who may hold the distinction of RDI at any one time is limited. The Faculty consists of the world's leading practitioners from fields as disparate as engineering, furniture and textiles, graphics and film design. Early members include Eric Gill, Enid Marx, Sir Frank Whittle and numerous other household names

Pablo Márquez is an Argentinean guitarist. He is known for his interpretations of historical classical works as well as his performances of Argentiean traditional music. Márquez collaborates with groups such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, he started his guitar studies at the age of 10, three years he gave his first performance with orchestra in Salta, the city in the Northwest of Argentina where he grew up and received his first training. He studied in Buenos Aires with Jorge Martínez Zárate and Eduardo Fernández, his student period came to an end with the unanimous First prizes at the Villa-Lobos and Radio France international competitions in Rio de Janeiro and Paris respectively. The prizes at the Geneva and Munich competitions confirmed his outstanding and rare artistry; as a musician, he studied conducting with Eric Sobzyck, Rodolfo Fischer and Peter Eötvös, followed the teaching of the legendary pianist György Sebők, who made on him the most profound and lasting impression. His career evolves in more than 40 countries, being acclaimed at many concert halls, as well as great festivals.

He established fruitful collaborations with Anja Lechner and Anne Gastinel, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the Rosamunde Quartett of Munich, Dino Saluzzi, Maria Cristina Kiehr and Mario Caroli. He is invited to perform as a soloist with great orchestras and ensembles, under de baton of Josep Pons, Susanna Mälkki, Lorraine Vaillancourt, Mark Foster, Pavel Baleff, Fabián Panisello and others, his continuous commitment to contemporary music has led to several first performances and to close collaborations with the greatest composers of our time such as Luciano Berio, György Kurtág and Mauricio Kagel. Pierre Boulez invited him to play Berio’ Sequenza XI for the 70th birthday celebrations of the Italian composer. Zad Moultaka, Félix Ibarrondo, Ramón Lazkano, Javier Torres Maldonado, Ahmed Essyad, Arthur Kampela, Oscar Strasnoy, Fuminori Tanada and Atanas Ourkouzounov, among others, wrote pieces for him, his recordings for ECM New Series, Naïve and Kairos received many prizes such as the Grand Prix du Disque of the Académie Charles Cros, the Italian Amadeus Prize, the RTL Classique d’Or, were designed as Best Early Music recording by the Neue Musik Zeitung in Germany and Best Classical Music recording of the year by Readings in Australia.

Pablo Márquez is Professor at the Musik-Akademie of Basel. He received in Buenos Aires the Konex Prize for his career and he is since 2006 Honorary Citizen of the City of Salta. Official site

Crecchio is a comune and village in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region in central Italy. The village is dominated by its castle, its main activities are agriculture and tourism. Crecchio is located between the Adriatic coast and the pedemountain areas of the Maiella Mountain Massif; the Arielli and Rifago streams flow in the north west of the territory. These have cut deep valleys and have given rise to a hill with steep flanks, the top of, occupied by Crecchio itself. In the south eastern areas, the landscape slopes towards the Moro stream. Though the area as a whole is dominated by hills and valleys, there are several flat areas within the boundaries of the commune; these include the areas Pietra Lata, Casone e Macchie near the provincial road "Marrucina", at Fonte Roberto and Ciaò, in the areas surrounding Villa Tucci and at S. Maria Cardetola; the elevation decreases from southwest to northeast. The minimum elevation of 86 metres above sea level is at Piano di Morrecine in the valley of the Arielli stream while the maximum elevation is 276 metres at the old railway station near the border with the commune of Arielli.

Historical sources date Crecchio back to at least the 11th century, archaeological evidence suggests it was inhabited at least as far back as the Roman era. The major building is the 12th-century castle, converted to residential use in 1789; the castle became the family seat of the de Riseis family. The family were host to Prince Umberto in 1926 for one night of their honeymoon; the castle was the site of an event during World War II when, on 10 September 1943, after the armistice, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy of Italy, in flight from Rome, spent a night in the castle before leaving Italy from the port of Ortona. An Etruscan and Byzantine museum is located inside the castle; the economy is based on agriculture where vineyards and olive trees dominate the hills and valleys. The main vines grown are Montepulciano Trebbiano; the first produces a dense red wine. The few business activities are focused on the textile and mechanical industry. Abruzzo Lariano, Italy