GAIA MARTINO – The core characteristics of XR are all part of a strategy of political prefiguration. As a young female foreigner, Gaia Martino witnessed first-hand XR’s efforts to be as inclusive as possible and to adopt a care culture coherent with the group’s vision for change. As a participant of many organizational meetings, Marino also witnessed first-hand XR’s successful efforts to grant organizing autonomy to local chapters. Nonviolent action, inclusivity, autonomy and care culture are all coherent with XR’s design to create a paradigm shift in how people organize for environmental justice. To obtain a culture that will heal the planet as well as society, we must rise above the paradox that climate action must simultaneously be local and transcend the local. And for this, everyone must believe they can play a small part in shaping, setting up and enacting change.