Catalyst for Progress: Connect and Shape Your Future
2026-07-02 10:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | Riverside Innovation Centre, Castle Drive, Chester, CH1 1SL
Join us for a lively set of talks, panels, speed networking and employer meet‑ups designed to help you explore future pathways, build social capital. Hear from industry experts, get a professional LinkedIn headshot, and build skills and connections to support your next steps. This event is ideal for students and employers, and open to alumni and the wider public.
For more information and to book, please follow this link:
https://sites.google.com/view/catalyst-progress-event

Postgraduate Research Exhibition
2026-07-02 10:00 - 16:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
The postgraduate research exhibition will feature current research being conducted at the University of Chester across a variety of disciplines. The research will be presented via posters, detailing what the researcher is doing, how they are doing it, and what impact this could have.

University of Chester Glenesk BioBlitz Event
2026-07-02 10:00 - 16:00 | Glenesk Farm, 93 Parkgate Rd, Chester, CH1 4AQ
Discover the Hidden Wildlife of Chester’s Glenesk and Help Shape the Future of Urban Nature
Join us at the University of Chester’s Glenesk site, a unique area of native shrubland just down the road from the main Exton Park campus, for an exciting community BioBlitz event as part of the Festival of Ideas, led by the School of Natural Sciences.
This event marks the beginning of an ambitious biodiversity restoration project aimed at enhancing the ecological value of the site. Through habitat creation and restoration, we hope to increase biodiversity, develop a rich habitat matrix, and support a wide range of species, with particular emphasis on key ecosystem engineers such as earthworms and pollinators.
The BioBlitz will provide an opportunity to collect important baseline ecological data before restoration work begins, while showcasing the fascinating wildlife already present on the site. Despite its current appearance, Glenesk supports a surprising diversity of plants, insects, birds, and other wildlife, including several notable and potentially rare species that are thriving right on our doorstep.
So please do come drop by, learn more about the Glenesk restoration project and future plans and take part, we will have a variety of stands with activities including:

Self-guided wildlife surveys and species spotting
“Ask an Entomologist” sessions
Discover how scientists work with insects responsibly, with demonstrations and activities exploring insect welfare, behaviour, and ethical handling techniques
Insect identification and sampling
Earthworm searches and soil ecology activities
Plant and bird recording
Arts and crafts activities for younger visitors

Whether you’re an experienced naturalist, a curious beginner, a family looking for an outdoor activity, or simply interested in learning more about local wildlife, there will be something for everyone. We are also hoping to welcome local schools and community groups throughout the event.
Come and help us uncover the hidden biodiversity of Glenesk, contribute to real ecological research, and play a part in shaping the future of this exciting urban nature restoration project.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Nourish to Flourish (Photo Exhibition)
2026-07-02 10:00 - 16:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Nourish to Flourish is a school-based project led by Kate and Ellie, helping children feel confident about healthy eating through creativity. Supported by the Bluecoat Charity, the Westminster Foundation and Crossing Borders, with evaluation support from RECAP (University of Chester). This year children explored artists from around the world and created artwork using food as material. The event includes a photo exhibition.

Retracing Footsteps: The Past, Present and Future of Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon
2026-07-02 10:00 - 17:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon is Wales’s most iconic mountain, attracting over 650,000 visitors each year. This exhibition takes us on a journey that considers the past, present, and sustainable future of the mountain. Contemporary photographs are juxtaposed with extracts from 19th-century visitor books, inviting responses to the question: how can we make tomorrow better than yesterday on Yr Wyddfa? The exhibition forms part of an ongoing, interdisciplinary project at the University of Chester, in collaboration with Bangor University and the Eryri National Park Authority.

The Peaces We Keep, Make, Transform
2026-07-02 10:00 - 17:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
This is a participatory art work inviting visitors to sit, pause, and write a promise of peace for themselves, someone they love, or the wider world. You may keep it, dissolve it in water, or place it in a box. Promises in the box are later transferred to the chair, allowing it to hold community voices. On the final day, staff and dance students from the University of Chester will present a live performance responding to the chair and its collected promises.

Team Falcons Powerful Learning Project: Enough for Everyone
2026-07-02 10:30 - 11:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
The TEAM Falcons Powerful Learning Project, Enough for Everyone, focuses on sustainability and the urgent issue of climate change. Through this project, pupils will present persuasive arguments to inspire others to take action and make positive changes in their daily lives. Climate change is having a significant impact on our planet, and we must act now to protect the Earth for future generations. Together, we can make a difference.

Cheshire as a Palatinate
2026-07-02 11:00 - 12:00 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
As Cheshire proceeds with plans for devolution as part of a Mayoral Combined Authority, this talk examines the county’s history of semi-independence from central government. Beeston castle (pictured),visible across Cheshire, was an assertion of the self-governing authority of the medieval earls of Chester, in relation to both England and Wales. The county’s relative autonomy continued after the earldom passed to the crown under Henry III but was curtailed in the sixteenth century and extinguished in 1830, only now to be revived in a modern context.

Sustainability Walk - Economy
2026-07-02 11:00 - 12:30 | Outside Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street Chester, Chester, CH1 2HQ, United Kingdom
This led walk, which is also “wheels accessible”, is one of four themed routes staged as part of the 2026 “Festival of ideas” that uses examples from the existing cityscape to demonstrate various aspects of the overall theme of Sustainability. This walk focuses on the Sustainability dimension of ‘Economy’ visiting various sites in and around Chester City Centre to illustrate live examples of what are examples of those elements of a viable and sustainable local economy, both economically and environmentally

University of Chester Riverside Museum object handling
2026-07-02 11:00 - 14:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
See objects from the Riverside Museum and meet its knowledgeable volunteers to find about more about this collection of curiosities from the worlds of medicine, nursing, midwifery and social work.

Let’s Talk History
2026-07-02 11:00 - 17:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Lace up your plimsoles and sprint through the last century of Cheshire’s sporting past with Let’s Talk, History. Using historic sound recordings from Cheshire Archives’ collections, this free audio trail tells 100 years of stories about the county’s competitive, recreational and, at times, amusing sports. From the football field to the polo field. George Best and his team cheating their way to victory against Chester FC to street-side boxing matches to win £5. Follow the trail map and scan the free QR code on the Let’s Talk, History posters at each location to hear the stories of our sporting stars from yesteryear. The ball’s in your court!
Pick up your trail map from the info point in Chester Town Hall to get started!

Voices, Evidence and Change: A Conversation about Rough Sleeping
2026-07-02 11:30 - 12:30 | Storyhouse Garret Theatre, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
Rough sleeping remains one of the most urgent and visible social challenges facing our communities today. Voices, Evidence and Change brings together academics, community partners, practitioners and people with lived experience, to explore how research and collaboration can contribute to meaningful responses to rough sleeping.
This public research event creates a shared space for dialogue between the University of Chester and the local community. Too often, discussions about rough sleeping happen without the direct involvement of those most affected. This event seeks to challenge that pattern by centring lived experience and critically considering how we can amplify diverse voices that are too often overlooked in policy and practice discussions. By bringing together different forms of knowledge, the event aims to foster a more holistic and compassionate understanding of the issue.

Finding the Battle of Brunanburh: Was This Definitive Battle of 973 Located at Bromborough in the Wirral?
2026-07-02 12:30 - 13:30 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
This illustrated talk by the authors of a new book will outline the case for Bromborough as the location of the ‘great war’, as it was known, of 937. King Athelstan of Wessex defeated a coalition of Irish, Norse, Scots and Cumbrians in a massive and deadly conflict. Many places have been suggested as the site of the battle. In this talk, the evidence from literature, history, geography and archaeology will be presented to show that it very likely happened on Wirral.

The Micro World and the Wood Wide Web
2026-07-02 12:30 - 13:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
When thinking of the natural world, everyone pictures badgers, foxes, wildflowers or maybe tall trees in a green woodland. However, none of this world would exist without the invisible micro world that ties the environment together. Dive into this world and learn how truly connected our precious biosphere truly is.

Sustainable (workplace) flexibility and how to achieve it
2026-07-02 12:30 - 13:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
This interactive session explores what sustainable workplace flexibility looks like and how it can be achieved in practice. A short mini lecture introduces key tensions in research and practice, highlighting why current approaches can feel fragmented. Participants will then take part in a workshop style group discussion, examining key stakeholders, potential solutions, and what makes workplace flexibility genuinely sustainable.

A Practitioner Panel on Trauma Informed Approaches to Support Expectant Families
2026-07-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Storyhouse Garret Theatre, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
Led by practitioners from Warrington Borough Council, this event convenes a panel of practitioners from Tameside Council and CWaC to discuss trauma-informed and relationship-based practice through the RESTORE programme. RESTORE is a Warrington-based five-year voluntary initiative supporting expectant families who have experienced, or are at risk of, having children removed from their care. The discussion will be relevant to those working in family and parenting support roles interested in trauma-informed practice.

Lasting Powers of Attorney: what are they, and how can our students help you complete them?
2026-07-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are hugely important documents that enable you to nominate trusted people to make decisions about your health, welfare, property and finances in the event you lose mental capacity. Join this event to hear about how LPAs work, the risks of not having one, and how our students at the University of Chester Law School can help you complete your LPAs free of charge.

Great Communities Photovoice Research: Capturing the Lived Experience of People with Learning Disabilities
2026-07-02 13:00 - 15:00 | Storyhouse Kitchen, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
A photograph can tell a thousand words! Come and see our exhibition and meet the artists with learning disabilities and/or autism who share their Lived Experience of being leaders in their community.
This diverse and dynamic group have developed ‘Great Communities’ (GC) in Warrington. It connects people over 16-yrs who are not eligible for social care services.
GC and the UoC co-produced a photovoice study to tell their stories about making the changes they wanted to see! Join us for a chat.
http://www.macintyrecharity.org/in-your-area/cheshire/
https://www.facebook.com/MacIntyreGreatCommunities

How old am I? Trying to date buildings in our rural and urban landscapes
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Our villages, towns and cities are full of buildings which date from many different periods. Many have a story to tell. This introductory talk will look at the buildings around us (both rural and urban) and offer some hints and pointers to dating houses, churches and civic buildings. Become aware of the distinctive features, and possible red herrings, which help when trying to date a building from visual clues. You too can become a building detective!

The Early Neston Collieries: Seven Reasons Why They Were Remarkable
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
The collieries at Neston on the Wirral were worked for hundreds of years but few people know much about them. The early mines were, however, remarkable for their industrial, social and commercial innovation. Among other things, we will hear about underground canals, blatant acts of sabotage and workers’ healthcare. Anthony has studied and written about the mines for years and will show why he believes they were where the Industrial Revolution started in west Cheshire.

Scriveners, Priests, Feasts...and Huge Quantities of Objects - Medieval and Later Finds from Chester Amphitheatre
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Grosvenor Museum, Chester, 27 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD, United Kingdom
Linked to the Grosvenor Museum’s exhibition ‘Chester Amphitheatre – an 8000 year story’, join the museum’s Archaeological Officer for a talk on medieval and later finds from the 2004-6 excavations at the Amphitheatre. The site of Chester Amphitheatre is well known for its Roman gladiators but who was using the site when the combats had ceased? This talk looks at some of the great variety of objects found in the excavations and the people who might have used them.

Why write a biography of Alfred Mond? The Many Lives of Chester's Forgotten MP
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Who today knows of Alfred Mond? Once one of the world’s greatest tycoons, Mond has largely vanished from British public memory. Yet, elsewhere in the world the picture is very different. In Israel, there are streets, statues and even a museum in honour of the former Chester MP. As Tim Grady will discuss, Mond lived many different lives: politician, industrialist, leading Zionist and architect of the Imperial War Museum. It’s 90 years since the last biography. Is the time ripe for a follow up?

On Holy Ground: Experiencing Life in Relationships
2026-07-02 14:30 - 15:30 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
This lecture explores the idea that life is all about relationships, and that the experiences that we have with ‘others’ are holy ground where we can develop in dialogue with those we are in relationship. This presentation will draw on James’ experiences in education and inter-faith to fully explore what it means to live life in relationship. It will contrast an approach to life that Martin Buber describes as ‘I-It’: where everything and everyone are things to be used. The argument of this lecture is that we should adopt an ‘I-Thou’ approach to life where we view others in a relationship of love.

Walking and Cycling to a Better Future?
2026-07-02 14:30 - 15:30 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Cycling is well known as an essential part of sustainable transport planning. This public lecture from Peter Cox, Emeritus Professor at the University of Chester and internationally acclaimed writer on cycling and sustainable travel, will explore the implications of taking walking and cycling as the starting point of thinking about movement; not just including them in travel plans.

From Representation to Action: Student Race Advocates Driving Equity in Chester Community
2026-07-02 14:30 - 15:30 | Storyhouse Garret Bar, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
This presentation highlights the work of Student Race Advocates (SRAs) at the University of Chester in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion both within the university and across the wider Cheshire community. The session will showcase a range of research-led and collaborative initiatives and how student-led advocacy can translate lived experience into informing institutional practices and strengthening community relationships. Attendees will be invited to reflect on their personal ability to drive equity and be a changemaker. As well as reflect on the University of Chester’s ongoing commitment to diversity and to consider how collaborative, community-based approaches can move beyond representation towards fostering genuine belonging and inclusive change.

What Am I Looking At? Following Chester’s Buildings Through Time
2026-07-02 15:30 - 16:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Chester is filled with beautiful and distinctive buildings, but in a place where people have lived for more than two thousand years, things are rarely as they seem. Combining an introduction to European architectural styles with a more detailed look at some of Chester’s most interesting architecture, this illustrated talk will explore the ways in which buildings survive and change through the centuries, and what they can tell us about their makers.

Hidden Histories Beneath Our Feet: How Digital Tools Reveal Local Stories
2026-07-02 16:00 - 17:00 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Discover how digital tools such as drones, 3D scanning, mapping, and creative storytelling are helping uncover hidden histories in our towns and landscapes. Through visual examples from local heritage sites, including castles and community spaces, this session explores how technology can reconnect people with the stories beneath their feet, and inspire new ways of seeing familiar places.
https://www.avimmerse.com/
https://warringtoncastle.co.uk/

Monika Haeger - Inside Stasi: The Art of Translation and Adaptation for the Stage
2026-07-02 16:00 - 17:30 | Storyhouse Garret Theatre, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
This event will be led by Dr Stef Kerrigan and Dr Richard Millington and will include an audience Q&A.
This presentation is the first public sharing of an ongoing collaborative project between staff and students at the University of Chester whilst working with Nicole Heinrich’s 2024 play, Monika Haeger – Inside Stasi. Heinrich’s original work is based on the life of Stasi agent Monika Haeger and is a dramatic account of her activities within the German Democratic Republic in the 1970s and 1980s. Featuring excerpts of performance, come and join us as we share our journey of translation, collaboration and performance. We consider the creative processes of adaptation and storytelling for the contemporary stage whilst addressing timely issues of extremism, unreliable narrators, absolutist ideologies and the state.

Can You Spot the Traitor? The Psychology Behind The Traitors
2026-07-02 17:30 - 18:30 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Missing The Traitors now the series has finished? Join this interactive session exploring the psychology behind the show. Why do the Faithful struggle to identify the Traitors, and why are humans so poor at spotting lies? Drawing on insights from our Psychology of the Traitors podcast, we’ll explore deception, trust, groupthink and social influence. Along the way, you’ll analyse real moments from the show and test whether you can spot the traitor.

Mobile phones in schools: Necessary tool or toxic distraction?
2026-07-02 17:30 - 18:45 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
With research indicating that 90% of children own a mobile phone by their eleventh birthday, but increasing concerns about their effect on mental health and online safety, how do we find the right balance, and how do we implement policies that are manageable for schools and supportive of both the education and wellbeing of children and young people? With increasing pressure on schools to act, what are the challenges they face and how might these be addressed?
Join us for a discussion about this crucial issue. The University of Chester’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eunice Simmons, will welcome: campaigner and founder of The Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, Esther Ghey; Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, Dan Price; and, headteacher at Queen’s Park High School, Tom Kearns, to explore this topic and possible safeguards that could be implemented.
More about our panel:
Professor Eunice Simmons has been VC at Chester since January 2020. Her priorities include modernising the University’s courses and services through responsible use of new technologies, chairing TASO – the national charity supporting access to HE – and promoting biodiversity and social justice projects in the UK and globally.
Esther Ghey is a campaigner and founder of The Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, which supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people and families across the UK, and she is a leading voice on online safety and Phone Free Education. She has taken her campaign to the House of Commons, appeared widely across national media, is the author of Under a Pink Sky, and was named The Independent’s Most Influential Woman in 2024 as well as one of GQ’s Heroes of the Year.
Dan Price was elected as Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2024. He has set out clear objectives for his term of office in his Police and Crime Plan. Its three pillars – listen to the public, modernise and reduce crime – focus on community-led policing, crime prevention and public engagement. It includes initiatives such as citizens’ assemblies, getting ex-offenders into meaningful employment and investment in community safety projects funded through recovered criminal assets.
Tom Kearns is the Headteacher of Handbridge Campus at QPHS & Chester International School (CIS). Tom has worked in education for over 22 years, with 18 of those spent in senior leadership roles. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive experience across a wide range of schools in the northwest of England, bringing a deep understanding of different contexts and communities.
