Where the Leaves Fall is a magazine exploring humankind’s connection with nature through the intersection between social justice and the environment, art, science, culture, philosophy and food.
Increasingly we are finding ourselves divorced from the natural world, the old ways of being with the earth, the rituals and traditions that bind us to the soil and the cycle of the seasons, even knowing the names of the flora and fauna that surround us. We are a part of nature, existing in reciprocity with the Earth, but as many of us are born into an environment that is mainly brick and concrete (the UN predicts that 68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050), it only becomes harder to reconnect with the sense of awe and wonder that the natural world presents to us.
Too often, we try to extract, commodify and manage nature. As a consequence, the world is burning, hurricanes have left a path of destruction, and floods have destroyed homes, crops and livelihoods. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that: “Unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5C or even 2C will be beyond reach.” Over 1.5C, the climate-related risks to human health, livelihoods, food security, human security, water supply and economic growth will affect us all. When you add to that the effects of the pandemic, conflict, corruption, and the various social and environmental injustices we are living through, it can all feel very overwhelming. As individuals, how should we navigate the need for change and reconnection?
The two editors of Where the Leaves Fall come from the global south and the global north respectively, and look to understand the root causes of the historical power imbalance between those regions and how to heal that in a constructive way - slowly untangling ourselves from the things that have defined us as we step forward on the path of unlearning, learning and relearning.
Where the Leaves Fall is a magazine that considers local and global experiences and knowledge as a pathway to healing our relationship with nature, with culture, with community and with our home, the Earth. We present voices that are often marginalised - such as Indigenous leaders, environmentalists and scientists - who can help us understand how to relocate ourselves in the natural world and ensure a future on Earth.
You can subscribe to the print and online magazine, and purchase back issues from the shop - this is where our journey started and has taken us so far.
If you’re interested in being a part of that conversation and contributing as a writer, illustrator, photographer or in any other way, please visit the Contribute page.
If you'd like to stay in touch about any opportunities then please sign up to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
We also welcome thoughts and feedback on the magazine and the issues that are raised in our features, dialogues and photographic essays. If you are not a contributor, but would like to get in touch with us, please visit the Contact page.
If you are an advertiser or an organisation interested in partnering with the magazine, please email [email protected].
Printing is traditionally one of the most wasteful industries, and we’ve taken great care to make sure that the print edition of Where the Leaves Fall is produced in the most sustainable way possible.
The size and page count of the magazine are designed to maximise the use of the paper sheets the magazine is produced from. The magazine is printed in the UK by Seacourt, which uses 100% renewable energy and creates zero waste to landfill. Its waterless printing technology has saved millions of litres of water and reduced volatile organic compounds by 98%. A wormery happily munches through staff food waste, while paper waste and print plates are recycled. In 2017, the European Commission awarded the company an EMAS - Europe’s most prestigious environmental award and they are the highest scoring B Corp printing company on the planet.
It is our mission, as we publish the magazine, for the design and production techniques to be refined and improved as we progress, asking questions of ourselves.
Where the Leaves Fall is born out of and informed by a series of conversations held at and with OmVed Gardens, in London, UK.
Until recently a wounded and tarmacked wasteland, OmVed has been transformed into a diverse ecohabitat with a wildflower meadow, an orchard and a vegetable garden. Through collaboration with artists, architects, chefs, musicians and horticulturalists, it is exploring the nature of the relationship between people and our connection to the environment. It facilitates exhibitions, workshops, concerts, dinners and discussions, creating collaborations around the topics of food, creativity and ecological transformation.
Physicist and ecologist Fritjof Capra said: “It is only by connecting to nature that we can know who we are.” Maybe it is also true to say that it is only by connecting to ourselves that we can know what nature is. Knowing more about ourselves and knowing more about nature are one and the same thing. OmVed has partnered with the UN World Food Program on events to highlight worldwide disparities and to speak about the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Seed Saving Network is an initiative to share seed among a biodiverse community of seed savers in London and across the United Kingdom. OmVed and The Seed Saving Network are building a living seed bank, growing, storing and collecting data on organic seed at their kitchen garden in Highgate, north London. You can find out more on the SSN Instagram.
