The bigger picture
Stroud CAN is the CAN for Stroud, but Stroud isn’t a cut-off island, it’s part of a connected landscape that doesn’t stop or start at some random border. The streams that join to make the rivers that dig out our Five Valleys begin miles away in the Cotswolds, and then more miles away they empty into the Severn, then flow into the ocean. The A46 that cuts the town in half begins in Bath, and ends at the North Sea. When we have a storm it starts with the sun boiling the Caribbean half a world away; the grapes we eat in December, they grew in South African soil.
We’re all part of something bigger.
The CAN community
CANs aren’t just a Stroud thing, there are climate action groups all over Britain, CANs are a world-wide phenomenon. You’ll get that if you read our origin story. Climate, nature, sustainability – these are global issues, needing a global response, and we’re making our contribution to it here.
Most of the communities around Stroud have started their own CAN, a CAN that’s part of and represents the uniqueness of the people living there, and the place in which they live. Around our Five Valleys, CANs come together in a District CAN Forum, which helps co-operate on the stuff we’re trying to do. If you’ve no special connection with Stroud, you might want to join one of these.
If you’re a bit further away, the Friends of the Earth will help you find your nearest group.
But what if, after all this, there’s still no CAN you can join?
Starting a CAN
Nobody belongs in just the one place. Our family, friends, work, passions and history connect us with places all over the country – places all around the world. Life takes us everywhere. Perhaps somewhere where there isn’t a CAN.
Think of all the other places you’re part of. Do they have people speaking up for the climate, for nature, for sustainability? Do they have a CAN? Join or support it! You can belong to more than one. Or if there’s not a CAN there, start one. It’s a lot like starting a project, and we’ll do our best to help if you can’t think how.
We may be Stroud’s local answer, but we all need to keep our eye on the bigger picture and get climate, nature, and sustainability action happening everywhere.