Welcome to Imagining Possible Futures
Our ambitious plan is to undertake the first large scale, participatory study of lived experience-led criminal justice across the five countries of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Former prisoners and criminalised people take active roles as researchers, lecturers and trainers, practitioners (peer supporters, prison council and equality representatives, co-producers and leaders of services), policy and practice advisors, and (academic) authors advancing criminological theory. Despite growing forms of participation in criminal justice internationally, there is a need for a fuller evidence base.
The project has 3 core aims
To document a history lived experience-led criminal justice.
To critically examine current models of participation, coproduction and lived experience-informed criminal justice practice.
To use artistic and speculative design practices to explore future possibilities for participatory criminal justice.
If you are interested in being a participant in the research or collaborating on a project, get in touch, Gill Buck g.buck@chester.ac.uk
Meet the Team
Publications
Explore our list of publications for valuable insights and information
Free Resources
View and download our range of free resources
Photo & Artefact Gallery
View our galleries
News & Events
- Dr Gill Buck delivers first keynote speech!
Dr Gill Buck presented her first keynote speech at the Correctional Research Symposium 2025. Practitioners and researchers joined the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) and the European Organisation for Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) for the fourth symposium, hosted by the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) in Belfast. The event explored quality research to direct the design and… Read more: Dr Gill Buck delivers first keynote speech! - Visiting Researcher Paula Harriott launches co-edited book on prison lived experience leadership in Parliament
‘Prisoner Leaders: Leadership as Experience and Institution’ is a new innovative book from editors Paula Harriott and Marion Vannier that explores opportunities for the systematic development of prison leadership. Co-editor, Paula Harriott explains, “Prison leadership is an unmined sea of knowledge, strengthening people as they pass through the justice process.” The launch event held on… Read more: Visiting Researcher Paula Harriott launches co-edited book on prison lived experience leadership in Parliament - Life after Prison: The Spark: Kemi and Tash
Our amazing research team members Kemi and Tasha Ryan talk about Life After Prison in a new podcast. - A safer criminal justice system
Dr Gill Buck will facilitate a workshop on Thursday, 8 May at the Criminal Justice Research Symposium, Manchester Metropolitan University: Fostering lived experience in research. She will be joined by Jenni Berlin, User Voice, Professor Line Lerche Morck and Martin Celosse-Andersen, Aarhus University to discuss: How can research be done safely and responsibly with people directly impacted… Read more: A safer criminal justice system