2025 Festival Programme

The Forgiveness Café offers a safe, discussion-led space to explore forgiveness and unresolved conflict in working life. Grounded in research and supported by The Forgiveness Project, these in-person sessions invite participants to reflect on workplace hurts such as bullying, exclusion, and betrayal and consider restorative approaches through shared dialogue.

Each session is guided by experienced facilitators and open to all seeking meaningful conversation around healing and work.

The event is led by Dr Owen Abbott (Lecturer in Social Science, Cardiff University).

This curated exhibition explores the changing nature of workplace design developed by staff and students from Cardiff University’s Master in Architecture design studio, led by Dr Yasser Megahed and Dr Hiral Patel (Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University). Drawing on extensive research in workplace design, the exhibition features insights from the DEGW archive—a globally influential workplace design consultancy—housed at the University of Reading.

The exhibition will be enriched by collaboration with Dr Florence Phua (University of Reading), whose expertise in human resources brings a socio-psychological lens to the discussion of work environments, bridging design and lived experience.

This event will bring together leading voices from industry, academia, and policy to explore the evolving nature of workplace design. Building on the exhibition, the session will feature reflections from former members of DEGW who will share insights from their pioneering work and offer future-facing perspectives on the design of work environments.

The event will also invite participants to co-curate a virtual exhibition using platforms such as Padlet. Attendees and speakers will contribute images and ideas that envision the future of the workplace, fostering a collaborative dialogue across disciplines.

Participants will engage in research talks, facilitated discussions, and creative group activities to unpack what authenticity and representation mean in the future of work. They will take place in an interactive workshop discussing the use of AI-generated images and their unexpected impact on audiences' sense of well-being and inclusion. These discussions will open a wider conversation about the future of AI for authentic representation and inclusion in our working lives.

We’ll explore questions such as “Would you hire an AI model?” and “What makes inclusion feel real to you?” Special attention will be given to how AI affects opportunities for marginalised workers, particularly those with disabilities, in creative and tech-driven sectors.

This event is led by Dr Zoe Lee (Reader in Marketing, Cardiff University) and Dr Hannah Marriot (Lecturer in Marketing and Strategy, Cardiff University).

This event will explore the transnational impact of censorship on artistic freedom, focusing on Taiwanese musicians banned in China. It begins with a 30-minute screening of a documentary Silenced Sunrise, followed by a 90-minute workshop.

Led by Dr Chen-Yu Lin (Cardiff University), this session invites creatives to reflect on how political and commercial censorship affects their work. Through open dialogue and interactive methods, participants will share lived experiences and envision alternative futures for creative expression. Hosted in partnership with Creative Cardiff, the event positions the city as a champion of artistic innovation and freedom.

This event uncovers the environmental and human costs of product returns in fast fashion and e-commerce. While returning items may feel effortless to consumers, each return sets off a chain of hidden impacts, from increased CO₂ emissions to time lost navigating return processes, and added pressure on warehouse staff.

This modular, interactive experience invites visitors to reflect on how everyday habits like over-ordering shape our working lives and the planet’s future.

Join us in a dynamic session focused on tackling the real challenges of employment today especially for young people navigating low-quality jobs, unpaid internships, and limited career pathways.

Led by Joshua Ireland (Citizens UK), Ali Arshad (Ffair Jobs) and Nirushan Sudarsan (Cardiff University), this event offers a practical and empowering space to explore what fair, local, and good quality jobs really mean. Drawing inspiration from Cardiff’s Community Jobs Compact, participants will engage in campaign-building activities that challenge traditional recruitment norms and advocate for meaningful change.

Join us for a hands-on, drop-in event that brings together insights from cutting-edge research on low carbon buildings, circular economy principles, and workplace wellbeing. Hosted in SPARK, this event invites you to rethink what makes a workspace truly work.

This event will involve mix of interactive activities alongside a scheduled session of short talks from researchers and building designers. Together, we’ll explore themes such as access to workspace, material reuse, transport, gentrification, and home working.

We offer a creative and thought-provoking space to imagine more inclusive, sustainable workplaces.

This event led by Dr Fiona Shirani (Research Fellow, Cardiff University).

This event invites participants to critically examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping multilingual communication and the implications for the future of translation work and employment more broadly.

Led by Dr Joseph Lambert (Cardiff University), you will engage directly with machine translation (MT) technologies, using camera-based apps to translate curated foreign-language texts into English. These texts will include linguistic complexities such as humour, cultural references, and technical terminology, highlighting common limitations of automated translation. You will assess the quality of the machine-generated outputs and compare them with professional translations, fostering discussion around the value of human expertise in language work.