Besiders

Water Protectors

For the Grassroots Grandmothers, protecting the Sipekne’katik River in Nova Scotia is a seven-generation calling.

A conversation with culture writer Jenna Wortham

Cook It Forward

When Francesca Hong's livelihood was threatened by the COVID-19 crisis, she found an opportunity to build community through food.

A Short History of BESIDE

Five years of doubts and joyous bonfires. Five years of passionate humans and projects that were a little (very) crazy. Five years of imperfect paths, which we wouldn't trade for the world.

Harvesting Hope

To combat declining ocean health in the Gulf of California, Brandon Rus is creating a sustainable industry out of invasive algae.

A conversation with fermentation luminary Sandor Ellix Katz

Alive and Well in Anacostia Park

Amid the pandemic, the social fabric remains strong in one of the U.S. capital’s most vital public spaces.

Through the Lens of Johnny C. Y. Lam

Seeing connection beyond distance.

One quiet afternoon in Vienna, with Katharina Unger

The Great Work

On a small farm in Ontario, two old friends reimagine farm work as a sacred art form.

Through the Lens of Letizia Le Fur

Turning reality into a dream.

At the kitchen table on a windy night in LA, with Sophia Moreno-Bunge.

Weird Wonder

Floral designer Sophia Moreno-Bunge’s wild-foraged arrangements celebrate the magnificent strangeness of plants.

Beautiful Dirt

By embracing the imperfections in her work, potter Janaki Larsen taps into a more resonant beauty.

Off the Beaten Tracks

Meet three Yukoners forging their own paths in a land of ice and snow.

In a vintage travel trailer on a warm February day, with Shelma Jun.

Shelma Jun answered our questionnaire from her 1980 Automate travel trailer outside Bishop, CA.

Shaped by the High Seas

Sisters Emma Teal Laukitis and Claire Neaton live with the seasons in Alaska. They shift from sea to land, fishing northern seas and running their business, Salmon Sisters, from shore or—network permitting—their boat.

On an Island in the Middle of the St. Lawrence, with Marc Séguin

Marc Séguin responded to our Questionnaire one late afternoon last summer, with the sound of waves coming in through the open windows.

Through the Lens of Céline Clanet

Her main material: the unexpected.

If Rivers Could Talk

Colleen Cooley is part of a growing number of Indigenous river guides who bring a vital understanding of the importance of water to their work in the outdoor recreation industry.

In Praise of Doing the Bare Minimum

For 30 years, Christian Barthomeuf has been refining the art of making ice cider with neither additives nor overtime.

Through the lens of Ash Adams

Finding depth and complexity in the Alaskan landscape and its people.

Peak Blush

The mountaineering community is rallying around a citizen-science initiative to track the growing phenomenon of “pink snow.”

The Mountain Smoother

Taming the trails of Medicine Bow National Forest, the work of the snow groomers often goes unnoticed. We shed light on the nocturnal labours of Tim Bishop.

At home on a mild December afternoon, with Dax Dasilva

Through the Lens of Guillaume Beaudoin

Travelling the world to find beauty in difference and strength in change

The Salt Maker’s Journey

Ben Jacobsen tested sea water up and down the Pacific Northwest coast in order to find the perfect salt. He discovered it in the waters of Netarts Bay.

Forging a Fireplace Tool Set with Thomas Lefebvre

In a smithy in Québec City’s Lower Town, blacksmith Thomas Lefebvre uses traditional craftsmanship and his creativity to make objects that defy planned obsolescence. In collaboration with BESIDE, he gives us durable fireplace tools with a minimalist design.

Growing Home

Common Roots Urban Farm in Halifax provides a place for immigrants and refugees to plant cultural seeds and cultivate community.

Gaëlle Elma

Rooted in the Intimacy of Bodies

Climbing Together

A meeting at the summit with the Chèvres de montagne.

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.

Environmentalism Won’t Work Without Everyone

The environmental movement has an inclusion problem. Leah Thomas is a leading voice to make sure that caring for the planet is inseparable from caring for the people who live on it. All of them.

Naima Green

Brooklyn photographer Naima Green creates portraits of people of colour—artists, activists, community builders—in urban oases of greenery of cities which bear significant histories of Black migration to the United States.

Inked by a Legend

Whang-od Oggay is the last traditional tattoo artist from the old generation in the Kalinga region in the northern Philippines. This internationally acclaimed tattooist has single-handedly ensured the survival of this traditional art for the next generation.

Making Waves

When Jane-Anne Cormier returned to Le Havre to start Les Vagues after 10 years in the city, she had a goal—to combine her two great passions: the river and SUP.

Life on the Mountain

Parc national du Mont-Tremblant is celebrating its 125th birthday. Behind the lush scenery, people are passionately working to preserve the land.

Through the lens of Chiara Zonca

Seeking connections and feelings in isolated spaces

Wine, Deconfined

Vignoble Les Pervenches on winemaking in Quebec and rediscovering centre in uncertain times.

A Difficult Beauty

Richard Misrach finds the sublime in the desert’s harshness.

Under a warm Montana sun, with Charles Post

Agnes Denes

The wild origins of land art.

Through the lens of Sam Raetz

Breathtaking images inspired by nature’s great works of art.

Like Honey in the Comb

At Candide, Chef John Winter Russell is concocting a blueprint for a hyperlocal, hypersocial gastronomy.

Frog taxi

From November to March, volunteers run a daily shuttle to save northern red-legged frogs.

Signs of Life

In a time of social distancing, Toronto’s Winter Stations exhibit provides an opportunity to reflect on how we gather around art and nature.

Cloud Appreciation Society

We all wish for blue skies. They love cloudy days.

The Refettorios

From Milano to Montréal, Italian chef Massimo Bottura is creating social tables that combine art, food, design, and charity.

From Neon to Lilac

After 12 years of hard work and sacrifice, Josiane Lanthier is just starting to make a living off her paintings. We offer a portrait of a sparkling artist who’s more and more at ease.

Through the lens of Christina Holmes

Breathtaking images inspired by nature’s great works of art.

Ben Swims Oceans

A modern-day explorer travels to the frontiers of human endurance to raise awareness about plastics in our oceans.

Kalaallisuut

Weaving Greenlandic identity.

Diamonds in the Rough

The best community in Yellowknife, NWT, doesn’t come with running water.

Through the lens of UN CERCLE

Breathtaking images inspired by nature’s great works of art.

Depth of Field

Hidden away on an Oregon farm, Sophia Weiss is raising a herd of Tibetan yak on her own. Influenced by her Buddhist upbringing, she’s developed a special bond with her animals, who are a source of both love and sustenance.

Through the lens of Nicolas Gouin

De contrastes, de franchise et d’espoir.

Through the lens of Angela Gzowski

Pour celui qui voulait devenir photographe de guerre, la photo est une porte d'entrée privilégiée vers des histoires, des gens, des lieux.

Dark into Light

Crows and ravens don’t deserve our dread. In Murder, photographer Guillaume Simoneau offers a surprising new vision of black birds.

Through the lens of Ana Paula Alvarez

On family, emotional landscapes, and the art of photography

Through the lens Yan Kaczynski

On the realness and raw beauty of nature.

City Fisher

Most people associate salmon fishing with expensive trips to remote rivers. But in Toronto, the salmon are just a subway ride away.

Learning Grounds

What nature has to teach us, in the workplace and beyond.

In Bloom

Portrait of the woman who inspired an entirely new generation of floral designers.

Through the lens of Graeme Owsianski

Outdoor lifestyle photographer based in Ucluelet, British Columbia.

Through the lens of Camrin Dengel

On self-sufficiency, heritage and returning to our roots.

Back to the Future

For the Incas time had a circular structure: The past, present, and future influenced each other continuously. This idea became the foundation for Mater Iniciativa, the agricultural and culinary laboratory headed by Malena Martinez and her brother Virgilio, the internationally renowned Peruvian chef.

Through the lens of Tom Hegen

Looking at the Anthropocene from above.

The Shearer’s Dance

How a Montana rancher is giving life to a lost art.

Through the lens of Jo Savage

Her photography focuses on uncovering the layers of untold stories within surf, skate, and mountain communities around the world.

Through the lens of Pat Kane

Capturing the people and relationships at the heart northern Canada.

Inner Landscapes

Architect Pierre Thibault makes nature his laboratory, and beauty his philosophy.

Trekking for Change in the High Arctic

French polar explorer Vincent Colliard on his quest to cross the 20 largest ice caps on the planet to help document melting ice fields.

The Quieter Side of the Mountain

Canadian skier and photographer Kari Medig travels the globe in search of an alternate and unsung view of the ski world — and the force that binds it all together.

In the Backcountry There Is Freedom

For this pair of Canadian snowboarders, their love of the sport reached new heights once they left the chairlifts, the competitions, and the rules behind.

Running by Nature

More and more runners prefer braving wilderness trails rather than roads. A mere whim? No. It’s an impulse written into our DNA, according to scientists.

A Horse’s Worth

Mustangs are deeply woven into America’s historical fabric, but the ongoing debates over public land are putting them at risk. Mustangs to the Rescue strives to elevate the public’s view of wild horses to protect the iconic breed.

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.

Ascent to the Top

With her all-women climbing festival and community of climbers, Shelma Jun is reaching territory—on and off the rocks—that has never been reached before.

Through the lens of Alex Strohl

Alex Strohl is one of today’s most inspiring, talented, and authentic outdoor photographers.

Hooked on Fishing

Fred Campbell reels in new followers by sharing his love for fishing with Hooké.

Riding the Moment

Chas Christiansen is a charismatic artist, entrepreneur, and bike racer with an instinctive style and outlook on the world—all this from his years working as a bike messenger in San Francisco. From street racing to jungle excursions, he’s become a true ambassador of fixed gear cycling as a simple yet empowering way of life. And to this day, he still embraces every moment with wits, authenticity, and pure adrenaline.

The great animal choir

His recordings capture powerful expressions of change and what it portends in localized wild habitats. When change happens in a landscape that resident animals have evolved to understand from an auditory perspective, they may never be able to readapt.

The future of food is in the sea

At his shellfish and seaweed ocean farm, and his non-profit, Greenwave, Bren Smith is creating a simple, replicable system of water-based farming that is regenerative, rehabilitates the oceans, creates jobs, and, likely, is the answer to growing food in the face of climate change.

Monsieur Pageau

The instant you step outside, the smell of conifers, prickly as their needles, sweet as their sap, is, if you pay close attention, always with you. Your first encounter with this expansive northern territory is through your nose. The Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Québec is half the size of Alabama and twice as big as Belgium.