Imagination as Policy Infrastructure: CERG Researcher Takes Policy Framework to House of Commons
CERG co-founder, Dr Tony D. Sampson, Reader in Digital Communications at the University of Essex Business School, will present a new policy framework at the House of Commons on 29 April, arguing that imagination must be treated as essential infrastructure in tackling the ecological crisis.
Dr Sampson joins the Key Cities Innovation Network’s parliamentary launch of the i-Place Compendium on Innovation Ecosystems, hosted by Rebecca Long-Bailey MP. The event will bring together leaders from government, parliament, and industry, alongside representatives from universities and cities across the network, to discuss innovation-led approaches to local and regional development.
The peer-reviewed article, “Mezzo-level: Imagination as Policy Infrastructure,” draws on the Cultural Engine Research Group’s (CERG) Imaginarium project in Essex, a co-creative platform uniting local authorities, ecologists, artists, and local communities. The Imaginarium launched with over 100 participants at the Wild Essex Imaginarium at Essex Business School in September 2025, followed by a sold-out Urban Wild Imaginarium in Colchester in February 2026. A third Imaginarium, supported by the Innovation Fund, will feature at Uttlesford’s Big Green Festival in Saffron Walden on 12 June.
Dr Sampson argues that effective environmental governance requires a deliberate “mezzo-level” of local, cross-sector collaboration. With local authorities being reshaped by Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), imagination is no longer a cultural add-on but a crucial governance capacity – one that must be resourced like other infrastructure.
“Policy frequently fails not in its conception but in its translation. When local imagination flourishes, policy innovation follows.”
Dr Sampson’s research for KCIN is supported by the University of Essex’s Centre for Coastal Communities and the Engagement and Impact Fund.
Event: Key Cities Innovation Network Parliamentary Dinner Date: 29 April 2026, 6.30pm–9.30pm
Venue: Thames Pavilion, House of Commons
Host: Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Chair, Key Cities APPG.
Funding: Engagement & Impact Fund and Centre for Coastal Communities