From Student Ideas to a Real-World Event at Chester Town Hall

Helen Tandy, Founding Director

On Friday thanks to Colin Potts, I had the privilege of working with students from the University of Chester to co-design a community sustainability event planned for Chester Town Hall in June. I provided an insight into how we manage events to ensure they are as sustainable as possible. Then instead of just talk at them about sustainability in theory, we asked students to think practically: what would actually make people stop, come inside, take part, and leave feeling empowered to reduce waste and plastic in everyday life?

The energy in the room was incredible. Ideas came thick and fast, and the students quickly moved from big-picture thinking to practical solutions about footfall, family engagement, learning design and community partnerships. What emerged was a clear vision for an event that feels welcoming, hands-on and relevant to everyday life in Chester.

Making Chester Town Hall Feel Welcoming

One of the first challenges the students identified was the physical layout of Chester Town Hall. With its raised entrance and steps, people don’t tend to wander in by accident. The group’s response was to design the event so that the outside space becomes part of the experience.

They proposed creating visible, lively activity outside the building to spark curiosity and draw people in. This includes interactive stalls, simple games and eye-catching signage so passers-by immediately understand that something is happening. The idea is to turn the area outside the Town Hall into an inviting gateway, rather than a barrier.

This approach reflects what we’ve seen work in community engagement time and time again: people are far more likely to engage when they can see, hear and experience something before they commit to walking through the door.

Learning Through Play: Families at the Heart of the Event

Once inside, the students designed the event around fun, interactive learning rather than formal talks. Their focus was on families and children as the starting point for wider behaviour change.

Plans included:

• Child-friendly craft activities using reused and recycled materials

• Simple games that introduce ideas about plastic waste and sustainability

• Dedicated play zones to allow parents time to engage with workshops and displays

• Visual learning through posters and short films

The inspiration here was subtle, everyday learning – similar to the approach used by Chester Zoo, where environmental messages are woven into the visitor experience without feeling overwhelming or preachy. When children get involved, parents naturally stay longer, ask questions, and engage more deeply with the issues.

Clear, Practical Sustainability Messages

Another strong theme was the importance of clear, relatable messaging. The students were keen that this event should avoid guilt-based messaging and instead focus on practical, achievable actions.

Ideas included:

• Showing how plastic production has grown over time

• Highlighting the contrast between plastic’s long lifespan and its short, disposable use

• Encouraging simple actions such as walking or cycling short journeys, using refill systems, and choosing reusables

• Using QR codes to link to deeper information online for those who want to explore further

By combining visual storytelling with hands-on activities, the aim is to help people understand the scale of the issue while also feeling that change is possible at an individual and community level.

Connecting People to Local Solutions

Crucially, this event is not just about raising awareness – it’s about connecting people to real, local solutions. During the session, students were particularly interested in how community refill schemes and sharing initiatives can make low-waste living more accessible and affordable.

By showcasing local refill models, food sharing projects and book swaps, the event becomes a gateway to ongoing action. Visitors won’t just leave with information; they’ll leave knowing where they can go in Chester to make small, practical changes in their everyday lives.

Watch the video of my presentation which led onto these fantastic ideas. 

From Fast Ideas to Real Impact

What stood out most from the session was how quickly ideas turned into a workable plan. Students considered footfall challenges, layout, accessibility, messaging, incentives and impact measurement. This wasn’t just brainstorming for the sake of it – it was collaborative problem-solving rooted in real-world constraints.

Right now, the ideas and community enthusiasm are there. What’s missing is the funding to turn this vision into reality. To move from flip charts and conversations to a live, welcoming event at Chester Town Hall, we need support for equipment, materials, signage, facilitators and interactive activities that make the day engaging for families and accessible to all.

If you’d like to support bringing this student-designed event to life, you can find out more about our current crowdfunder via Spacehive. With the right backing, we can turn this burst of creativity into a meaningful community event – and create a model we can replicate across Cheshire.

As you will see we are back in June  – 7th June and 14th June — so not a weekend.