A historic market town, Hitchin had a thriving town centre with a love of independent local
businesses, markets and secondhand shops. There was a thriving allotment community and a series of ‘make do and mend’ initiatives such as the ‘Hackspace’ repair café and a creator space offering a series of resources such as sewing and embroidery machines available from the local library. This only ever felt like a sub-culture however and back in 2020 it was hard to imagine that such initiatives would ever become widely adopted when competing against a consumer culture encouraged by businesses with unlimited marketing budgets.
Between then and 2024 however, a series of world events turned everything on its head. The pandemic, localised conflicts and widespread civil unrest lead to the worldwide financial collapse. The subsequent series of earthquakes and volcanoes resulted in ash clouds which halted air travel almost overnight and was responsible for the rapid changes in extreme weather events and natural disasters.
By the end of the year, global trade was almost non-existent.
In the UK, businesses closed and unemployment rose. The new government quickly implemented a range of major policies to help the situation. They brought in the four-day working week to address unemployment and local councils began to reorganise the transition town movement by Rob Hopkins and towns based on the ’15 Minute City’ principal. This encouraged people to think local and they started to come together and act in unison. Community spirit that had already seen a revival during the pandemic began to thrive. A universal understanding developed to keep things local and to prioritise local communities.
This movement became a ‘global phenomenon aimed at assisting towns and communities to envision sustainable and self-reliant futures post peak oil.’
Professor Pascalle Gatzen argued that choices were once ‘made because they yield the biggest profit margins.’ (2) but now actions began to start prioritising the greater good of the community. In 2026, Hertfordshire Collective formed, a functioning grass-root community that ensured everyone had everything they possibly needed without having to leave the county.
The goal for our community was to become self-sufficient and to form strong neighbourhood bonds. The community was run by the people for the people to reflect the wide range of voices. An insurgence of commons-based behaviour spread throughout Hertfordshire and across other areas in the UK. Each area ‘based on natural resources,’ ‘knowledge and ‘social process.’
In 2027, to address increasing levels of poverty, the Hertfordshire council introduced the Universal basic income which provided a real boost to the initiative. This was paid, in a regional currency, and was enough for people to live a basic life. There were additional credits available for voluntary work so almost everyone who was able, gravitated towards helping the community in their spare time. This enabled significant growth of initiatives from the Hertfordshire Collective which had become well established by 2030.
Through research found by WRAP, the proposal of the Wardrobe Collective was established. It spent 2 years planning, organising and gathering a wardrobe for anyone and everyone. The research found that around 26% of our wardrobes were not being worn every year, which was on average,118 items of clothing in everyones wardrobes in 2026. This meant that roughly 31 garments were not being used. In a time of resourcefulness, we could not allow ourselves to sit on such a declining resource.
We discovered in Hitchin alone, there was roughly 1 million items of clothing collecting dust at the back of people’s wardrobes. We didn’t see much point in creating new clothing again when we already have an abundance of it in our homes. The plan was to circulate these items of clothing back within the community. After all, our clothing waste was now our problem as we could no longer blindly ship it off to the global south for others to deal with.
In those 2 years, community members voluntarily gave up 10-25% of their wardrobes in exchange for swap coins. The former Churchgate arcade essentially became a giant walk-in-wardrobe for the whole community to share.
Nobel Peace winner, Elinor Ostrom proved through her research that “commoners’ can self-govern shared resources if they are empowered with the right tools to coordinate projects or specific needs, and the right to monitor each other.” The people of Hertfordshire quickly learnt to embrace the culture of collective ownership. We no longer desired the structural need to grow and commodify everything.
Other initiatives also unfolded over the years, from 2030 leading up to 2035. There was a growing enthusiasm for communal spaces and shared learning. In partnership with the community service project, individuals could boost their volunteering credits by offering skills workshops. A wide range of skills were taught and adopted within the community. It quickly became apparent that a designated space was needed for these popular workshops. What was left of the high-street was transformed in to Shared Studios.
The community yet again joined forces to fill them with tools and equipment, a new shared ownership of assets. The community could contribute freely as it ‘affirms the ethical norm of sharing, diving up, and freely cooperating.’
The community also embraced local farming initiatives. Since public transport was revolutionised, car parks and most roads were no longer of any use. The tarmac was ripped away and the soil beneath could breath again. Livestock such as sheep was brought in to fertilise and rejuvenate the land. We created the Communal Garden where we also learned the necessary skills to process wool. Since 2037, we have been stocking the Wardrobe with field to fashion clothing. This has allowed people to reconnect with clothing through nature as they’re able to appreciate it by simply walking through the fields on the outskirts of town and witness where it has come from.