By asking an obvious yet provocative question, Graham Saul’s Metcalf Fellowship paper challenges us in many ways. It challenges us to identify what connects the disparate struggles that constitute today’s environmental movement. And it challenges us to articulate how to move forward in a hopeful and inspiring way.

Based on Graham’s 25+ years of working on the front lines of social justice and environmental issues, coupled with individual interviews he conducted with 116 of Canada’s leading environmentalists, his paper explores the power of words in mobilizing and inspiring social movements of the past, and puts forward ideas for how the environmental community might organize around a common goal.

Designed to spark debate, this paper blends the personal and professional, weaving Graham’s and other sector leaders’ reflections on what they are fighting for, with a critical analysis of how social movements are built, flourish, and upend the status quo in pursuit of a better world. Over the coming months, Graham will host a series of gatherings in cities across the country to dig deeper into the issues and ideas outlined in his Metcalf paper.