5th anniversary

BESIDE

5 Years of BESIDE

Nature isn’t only forests and coastlines. It’s on our dinner plates and balconies, in our backyards and alleyways. It’s what we wear, how we work, and where we live.

Over five years of creating BESIDE, we’ve learned that nature and humans aren’t separate: we are all environments for each other, and for the world we inhabit. That’s why we’re so committed to sharing stories, ideas and know-how for living in a more grounded and connected way. Our goal is simple: to nourish greater solidarity with all living beings. To do that, we are cultivating deep appreciation for nuance, an openness to paradox, and a willingness to learn.

We invite you to take this journey with us. It’s not a pathway to perfection but a process of discovery.

We don’t have the answers.
But we are living the questions.

  • Five years of creating bridges between humans and nature
  • Five years of embracing nuance, diversity and learning
  • Five years of seeing an ever-curious community flourish
  • And this is only the beginning.

Our first 10 issues

Our Transformations
How do we embody our nordicity?
What communities do we belong to?
What risks are we willing to bear?
How do we preserve our traditions?
What does our future with nature hold?
What can nature's trajectories teach us?
What's the value of nature?
How do we keep the outdoors wild?
What's at the heart of our connection with nature?

The latest one

ISSUE 10Our Transformations

In this anniversary issue, we present the stories of people who have decided to transform themselves—and the world around them—by drawing on ideas that are sometimes age-old. Because although the past year has revealed our vulnerabilities, it has also showed us that, in critical moments, we are capable of taking action.

FEATURING

  • Matty Matheson
  • Jenna Wortham
  • Alexis Pauline Gumbs
  • Lambert et Fils
  • Sandor Ellix Katz
  • Grassroots Grandmothers
  • David Zilber
  • Franco Égalité (Guest Illustrator)
  • and many more.

The BESIDE Subscription

When you subscribe, you are supporting an independent magazine that features nuanced journalism, a plurality of voices, and stories from all over North America.

And you are also contributing to the sustainability of free online media without ads.

Two print issues per year

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25% off back issues

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Free delivery (Canada and the United States)

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Automatic renewals (so you never miss an issue)

Our most popular articles from the past 5 years

The Music of Spaces

A walk with architect Brian MacKay-Lyons in Shobac, Nova Scotia: a place where history and modernity exist in harmony.

A Heiltsuk Guide to Authentic Wellness

When the Heiltsuk people had the opportunity to build a wellness centre in their territory, they turned to their own people and their own culture to define what the word means for them. Launched this summer, the Kunsoot Wellness Centre offers a lesson in how to take a more rooted and honest approach to well-being.

Grizzlies at the Table

When the wild salmon runs around Wuikinuxv, BC, were depleted, the local grizzly bears grew hungry — and dangerous. Now, as the salmon are returning, the community is asking a challenging new question: can we include the bears in the management of the fishery?

A Farm in Central Park

Following her mother’s murder, Amber Tamm Canty found healing and purpose through farming. Now, with thousands flocking to her cause, she’s aiming to change the landscape of food security in New York, starting with Central Park.

Spoils of #nature on Instagram

Natural sites are being overrun by a new wave of tourists just "doin' it for the 'Gram." And the consequences are far from harmless.

Consuming less and doing more

Yvon Chouinard has been wearing the same flannel shirt for 20 years. The 81-year-old conservationist, outside-the-box thinker, athlete and craftsman is also an outspoken anti-consumerist and always pushing Patagonia, the company he founded, to find solutions to the global environmental crisis.

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