Important changes: This community is being integrated into Fashion Act Now. Action is need.
It's Time to Try Something Different. Here's Why...
Together with members of Fashion Act Now, we have been running OurCommon.Market for the last 2 years, receiving initial funding from the European Cultural Foundation and Nature Save Trust to build an online hub for community-based clothing and textile practices – a place for exchanging knowledge and building solidarity.
Like many initiatives driven by the urgent need for change, we aimed for the stars with funding only to reach the top of the first hill. OurCommon.Market is still a fledgling project, and for now, with a lack of funding and capacity, we need to streamline our activities. But in doing so, we are confident we can execute our vision more consistently, competently and with the level of care and passion it deserves. The dream remains unchanged.
We want to thank you for all your support, whether its though reading and sharing the stories on our journal or signing up to our community. We hope that you'll continue to support us through this change. More details below...
The OC.M Journal and Newsletter has Moved to Substack
OC.M Journal on the OC.M website is a place for stories on community-centred fashion, clothing and textile projects. It brings visibility to those marginalised by big fashion: fashion that isn't about selling clothes to fuel economic growth for growth's sake; that emerge from the ground up rather than dictated by industry. We write about pluriversal fashion initiatives, micro-enterprises and alternative systems that reflect a connection with nature and each other.
Instead of publishing stories on our website, we will now be on Substack and newsletter subscribers will receive emails from Substack rather than Wix. You should have already received your first newsletter.
Substack is an online platform for long-from written content used by journalists, subject-matter experts and writers. Similar to blogging, our articles are posted to our page on the Substack platfrom, ourcommonmarket.substack.com, and sent to subscribers via a Substack newsletter. You will not receive emails from any other Substack writers.
If you wish, on Substack, you can also create a profile (if you don't have one already), follow us, and choose to support us through a paid subscription but all articles will remain free for the foreseeable future. Many fashion, sustainability and degrowth experts already use Substack. By joining the party we hope to engage with you better and to reach a wider audience to spread our message.
This OC.M Community is being Integrated into Fashion Act Now.
THIS COMMUNITY PLATFORM WILL CLOSE DOWN ON THE 14TH SEPTEMBER. IF YOU'D LIKE TO CONTINUE TO BE PART OF THIS COMMUNITY, WE NEED YOU TO REJOIN.
Our Common Room is OC.M's community platform which includes member profiles and forums. OC.M's community features will be streamlined and integrated into Fashion Act Now as a sub-community where we aim for better engagement.
Thank you to all of you who have created profiles and joined the conversation. However, whilst we're proud of what we've built, we unfortunately haven't had the engagement we'd hoped for. Meanwhile, our time is split between managing two very similar communities: OC.M and Fashion Act Now. We believe bringing these communities under one roof makes a lot of sense for us, for you and for our mission.
Under this arrangement, there will no longer be an online community platform. For now, we feel there isn't enough appetite to justify it. However, as a member of the Fashion Act Now community, you can join our member Whatsapp groups and receive invites to bi-weekly community meetings, monthly forum discussions and more. Ultimately, we believe that community is about collaborating to reach shared goals and our purpose is to create the conditions for co-creation.
Action is needed: if you'd like to join or continue to be part of the community, you will need to join Fashion Act Now HERE.
As a community, we ask FAN members to make a small contribution towards our basic running costs.
To get you started, here is a discount code for two month free trial:
OURCOMMONROOM
We hope to see you there! We'll soon be announcing Fashion Act Now onboarding sessions where you can get a feel for what you'll be part of.
Any questions, please email me at hello@fashionactnow.org