For inspiration – A story from 2030 – Georgia Gould

Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council, describes what she finds in 2030:

Well, I’m in Kentish Town, which is my ward where I grew up in. I’ve gone on a walk around my community, and I’ve walked through a park that used to be a road and children are playing with the snow. There’s still snow in 2030 because we’ve taken drastic action on the climate crisis. And they’re enjoying this public space that belongs to them and I’ve gone to one of our council estates where signs that used to say no ball games have been replaced with art and messages of inspiration. And the budget for that estate is now managed by the community and I’m walking across to a community space where they are holding the daily community meal that people come together to cook together, there’s a sharing space where people are sharing skills, and we get into a conversation about how things have changed on the estate. And people are saying that they used to worry so much about paying their heating bills but now because there’s been wall insulation and window insulation the say that now they barely have to turn on their heating even in the dead of winter and how much that has changed their lives and we talk about the unused garages that used to be places where young people gathered and they didn’t have anything to do and how they’ve been turned into workshops where creatives are leading start-ups. There’s a studio that’s been set up and a group of young women doing a fashion shoot for a swap shop that they run.

There’s another repair start up that’s being funded by a community wealth fund that’s been investing in companies across Camden and people talk about how they feel safe and how they feel part of the community. And in some of the other garages that aren’t used are being turned into new social housing, and I meet an Afghan family who back in 2023 had spent a year in a hotel that are now living in and feel part of that community.