About us
Who We Are
BESIDE aims to bridge the gap between humans and nature—with high-quality editorial content and immersive experiences. We uncover compelling stories, pursue untapped questions, foster impactful initiatives and deliver meaningful, practical knowledge that can inform and empower all of us with the tools to help build a more sustainable future.
What We Do
We publish a biannual print magazine in French and English, which is distributed around the world. We run a web platform for editorial features, exclusive video and audio content, and topical articles. We host events—ranging from workshops to talks and creative outdoor camps. All of our endeavours stem from one all-encompassing goal: to build and nurture closer ties between humans and nature.
Our Magazine
Our magazine aims to showcase the innovative curiosity, responsible resourcefulness, and adventurous triumphs of a diversity of people across North America empowered by nature, adventure, and sustainability, with whom we explore one thematic question per issue. BESIDE Magazine is free of traditional advertising, with the exception of a few select sponsored articles developed with carefully chosen partners whose values and vision we admire. We are distributed in more than 3000 independent retailers across Canada, the US, the UK, France, Belgium, Portugal, and Luxembourg. As a member of 1% for the Planet, we make a contribution to environmental charities with the sales of our magazine. In 2016, BESIDE was awarded a Grafika Award and was nominated for a Canadian National Magazine Award.
Our Team
Jean-Daniel
President and Co‑founder
Co-founder of BESIDE and abitibi&co., Jean-Daniel oversees the business and content opportunities within BESIDE's collaborators, partners and friends.
Eliane
Creative Director and Co‑founder
With more than 10 years of experience in Communications and Design, Eliane leads the creative direction of all consumer touchpoints of BESIDE.
Catherine
Editorial Director
With more than 14 years of experience in the publishing industry, Catherine is the Editor-in-Chief of BESIDE Magazine, and oversees the editorial direction and quality of every single word printed or published digitally by BESIDE.
Hélène
Strategic Planner
Hélène leads the strategic planning that goes into BESIDE content productions, with more than 35 years of experience as a strategy director and brand implementation expert.
Nicolas
Finance Director
A soon-to-be CPA with a wide-ranging start-up experience, Nicolas tightly manages all budgets and financial services at BESIDE, and helps craft our business strategies.
Justine
Production assistant
Justine is a master at multitasking: she curates the BESIDE Instagram account, and she also puts together research for many of our editorial projects. Her versatility and support make our day-to-day work so much easier.
Our Values
Be Credible
We aim to create high-quality, trustworthy, intelligent and responsible content and experiences. Our stakes are high, but we find that transparency and editorial independence, and daring to ask the difficult questions, help us navigate the path we have carved for ourselves. Credibility also means “walking our talk”—making sure our values, our business model and our actions all speak the same language.
Be Accessible
We take great pride in making complex ideas digestible and unique experiences accessible. We do not settle for purely digital experiences, but require participation and engagement within the real world. We also strive to include affordable options across our portfolio. Ultimately, we want people to take ownership of what we create for themselves, and feel a sense of belonging to the BESIDE community.
Be Human
At the end of the day, we are all human—with our hopes, our challenges, our strengths and our weaknesses. While we subscribe to a “nature first” perspective, it’s essential for us to place people at the very centre of everything we do—and to treat our subjects, our audience, our collaborators, our partners and our competitors with the empathy, respect, dignity and sincerity they deserve.
Be Inclusive
Nature is for everyone and everyone is part of nature. We refuse boundaries; we strive to include people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of fame. Creativity stems from bringing a diversity of people and ideas under the same roof, change cannot manifest in isolation.
Be Creative
We are forever curious about beautiful things: powerful stories, big projects, small initiatives, new perspectives, traditional knowledge, abstract concepts, practical ideas and hands-on experiences. We believe in the power of design, storytelling and human experiences. And we value creative work processes and resourceful solutions.
Be Positive
More than anything, our hope is to be able to appeal to the best in everyone. No matter how large or challenging the issue is, we feel there’s a unique spark in everybody that, when ignited, has the power to create meaningful, positive change, be it globally or locally. Our platform was built to amplify the voices of those who have followed that spark to uncover resourceful and sustainable ideas, solutions and initiatives, and share their stories.