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
- Flip of the Coin Photovoice Dissemination
In February 2026, team members attended the Flip of the Coin and REALITIES Conference, Alness, Scottish Highlands to share findings from a photovoice study of Flip of the Coin, a women-led and lived experience driven community organisation in Scotland. Founded and led by a woman who wanted to create the community she herself had lacked… Read more: Flip of the Coin Photovoice Dissemination - Credible Messengers Compassionate Curriculum
Between 12-15 January 2026, the team, advisory board and stakeholders from university and charity sites worked together to co-test and develop a Compassionate Curriculum. This curriculum has a simple aim: to make universities and workplaces more accessible, humane and less excluding for people with convictions as they enter education and employment. Huge thanks to Dominique,… Read more: Credible Messengers Compassionate Curriculum - Training to be Imagination Activists
At the start of December, Emma, Paula and Gill attended the very first “Becoming an Imagination Activist” weekend training at Hawkwood College, Stroud. Led by Phoebe Tickell, they embarked on an immersive journey of the imagination, learning new techniques for imagining different futures. Together we imagined a future world where prisons had been closed and… Read more: Training to be Imagination Activists - Community Led Research: Co-producing a Shared Research Agenda
Members of the Experience for Justice Collective (E4J), a key partner in Imagining Possible Futures, gathered at the University of Liverpool for a two-day workshop to shape a shared research agenda and spark momentum for a major community-led research proposal. 4–5 November 2025 Building on earlier gatherings, including the inaugural Sheffield symposium (2023) and E4J… Read more: Community Led Research: Co-producing a Shared Research Agenda