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 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
- 15th UN Congress Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi
On Wed 30th Sept, team members Gill and Paula, along with collaborotors, joined an international panel at the 15th UN Congress Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi. Olivia Rope from Penal Reform International opened the discussed the strong human rights basis for lived experience involvement in criminal justice, emphasising that people affected by… Read more: 15th UN Congress Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi - Eurocrim 2026
Some our UKRI-funded Imagine Justice team got to present emerging findings at Eurocrim 2026 in Warsaw. We drew on empirical research, reflective practice, and collaborative work to explore where the concept of “lived experience” has come from; where it is now; and where it might go next. We’re still developing our analysis, but were excited… Read more: Eurocrim 2026 - Team publication: Crime-Narrative Complex
Visiting researcher Paula Harriott and collaborator Andi Brierley have published a reflexive article in Crime, Media and Society, available here. The paper introduces the Crime–Narrative Complex (CNC) as a concept for understanding how lived experience stories of crime, punishment, trauma and desistance are curated and commodified across criminal justice. It examines how institutional and digital… Read more: Team publication: Crime-Narrative Complex - British Society of Criminology
Visiting researcher Paula Harriott, along with some of our Experience for Justice collaborators hosted papers and panel sessions at the British Society of Criminology Conference, Nottingham, 2026. Paula critically and productively explored trauma informed practice in carceral contexts. Lucy introduced the work of Flip of the Coin, lived experience led community project, and Shadd and… Read more: British Society of Criminology