Schumacher Magazine is a publication of stories, poetry, art, social justice and ecological research inspired by the land and people of Schumacher College and the broader network which makes up our community. We feature pieces that reflect the Schumacher ethos of learning through head, hands and heart. Issuing both as both a printed and digital magazine, our work aims at facilitating a holistic approach to learning and being and as such, functions as a seed bank of inspiring content and ideas to aid the ‘great turning’ underway in our society. 

The Magazine was founded in the spring of 2024 by a handful of the College’s MA students as a celebration of our community. We recognised that a publication platform was needed to share, as well as protect, the fruits of the College’s creative learning and pioneering research about Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and decolonized ways of learning. 

Our first print edition was dedicated to the Old Postern as a container of community-focused learning in the natural world and the secular spirituality of radical love. The publication was released in 2024, with a physical magazine of 100+ pages that was sold in local bookshops and Schumacher events, with a circulation of over 500 readers.

Schumacher College, a progressive college for ecological studies with a thirty year history on the Dartington Hall estate, was the birthplace of this magazine. It offered a variety of accredited postgraduate courses, a bachelors, various short courses and a growing course, as well as functioning as a space that welcomed a regular influx of volunteers, local friends and supporters. 

The College, which adopted its name from E.F. Schumacher, the economist best known for his book Small is Beautiful, has a “sustained history as a trailblazer in ecological learning founded on the principles of our need to find new ways of living that put people and the planet first”. Its pedagogy was focused on interactive and interdisciplinary education methods to help its students and community members develop practical skills and strategic thinking required to face 21st century challenges, often working in small teams. 

The college exists within a clear lineage of world-renowned thinkers, activists and practitioners such as James Lovelock, Vandana Shiva, Iain Mcgilchrist, Joanna Macy, Fritjof Capra, Andy Letcher, Alice Oswald, David Orr, Helena Norberg Hodge and many more. Since its establishment, many students that have passed through its programs have set up their own projects, such as the Escola Schumacher Brasil, Sprouts Learning Community, Siendo Naturaleza, among others.