News & Events

We’re excited that the Migration Stories NW pop-up exhibition has started its tour of the region in Chester, where it was displayed during Refugee Week at the Unity Centre, home of Cheshire, Halton & Warrington Race and Equality Centre (CHAWREC), including a well-attended open day on 22 June. The exhibition then transferred to Chester Town Hall where it featured as part of the inaugural Festival of Ideas, coordinated by the University of Chester and other local partners. Local project partner, Heather Swainston, gave a talk about ‘Cheshire Journeys’ as part of the Festival, together with a representative from Cheshire Archives. They also did a presentation as part of the Cheshire Heritage Festival which was taking place at a similar time. Heather and a project volunteer were even interviewed for TV as part of the Festival of Ideas! Heather reports that the exhibition has received really positive feedback in Cheshire with people enjoying finding local connections on the project map. The project as a whole has also enabled Heather to develop new networks with people and organisations in Chester, including the Archives and the City of Sanctuary Group.      

We are proud to announce that we recently published an article in the journal Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review. ‘Migration Stories North West and Global Education: Perspectives from a Community Heritage Project’ explores how our approach to heritage can promote global learning by encouraging new perspectives on migration, both past and present. You can read the article here. Karen was also invited to speak about the article as part of an online seminar on development education and migration, run by the Centre for Global Education & Comhlámh.  

Alison had a busy couple of days at the start of May at the Historical Association conference in Birmingham, showcasing Migration Stories NW and the ways that teachers can use our project outputs. A keynote panel discussion at the conference explored ‘Historians study the past – what value can they add to contemporary and future issues?’ The approach to heritage that we have taken on our project highlights this value very well, as we discuss in our recently published article.    

The Migration Stories NW regional partners held a great meeting in sunny Lancaster last Friday, 24 November, reflecting on all we’ve achieved on the project over the past two years. A key focus of the meeting was a ‘data hack’ where we explored feedback from our adult and youth volunteers and set this data against the project evaluation plan we had devised at the start of the project. We also discussed our dissemination plans for the final year. Alongside our aim to develop films, a teacher pack and a touring exhibition, there is also a journal article in the pipeline and ideas for further events – so watch this space! Many thanks to the whole team and our amazing participants for everything they have achieved over the past two years.        

Alison and Corinna recently presented a paper at the international Academic Network on Global Education and Learning (ANGEL) conference at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, discussing the role community heritage can play in global education and how stories from the past can inspire learning for the future. Migration Stories NW project historian, Professor Corinna Peniston-Bird, at the ANGEL Conference in Paris, June 2023