Civic Imaginaries of Chester: Chester's Creative Futures

Researchers from the national Civic Imaginary Partnership Project, in collaboration with Chester-based artist Tim Foxon, will facilitate an interactive focus group at the Storyhouse for planners, councillors, creatives, small business owners, educators – and anyone interested in the creative future of Chester. We will examine Chester’s creative histories, the current landscape, and prospective futures. The session will include artefacts and stories sourced from Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, alongside structured creative activities and discussions, offering participants an opportunity to collaboratively reflect on Chester’s creative trajectory within the context of the One City Plan.

The focus group will be held at the Storyhouse on Monday 10th November 6:30-8:30pm. Refreshments including tea, coffee and cake will be provided, and attendance is restricted to 30 participants.

This initiative is part of the Storyhouse Futures Festival and is a collaboration between the Storyhouse, Tim Foxon, Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, the Chester One City Plan, and the University of Glasgow’s Civic Imaginary Partnerships project. Drawing upon the concept of the civic imaginary—how communities think, feel and dream about their collective futures—this four-year programme brings together local residents, policymakers, researchers, and artists to explore contemporary civic identities across the United Kingdom and foster innovative approaches to reimagining place.

You can choose to remain anonymous or be named as part of the research. You can also choose whether your organisation is named or remains anonymous. You may need to seek permission from your organisation in order for you to take part. You will be asked to complete a consent form before taking part and are able to withdraw from participating at any point during or after participation up until 10th December 2025. We request that participants keep anything said by other participants as confidential. A consent form, information sheet and privacy notice will be sent to you closer to the event.

By signing up to the event, you will be asked for your name, organisation and email address. These details will only be used for the purpose of communicating information about the event to you and will be stored until the end of the project (November 2028) for purposes of tracking research engagement. By signing up, you are consenting to your data being processed by the Civic Imaginary Partnerships team from University of Glasgow in the way outlined here. You can later decide that you do not consent to taking part in the research and/or ask for your data to be erased up until 10th December 2025.