Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
9 results
Biodiversity Monitoring in Food Forests
2026Jana Marion Böhme · PubData · Europe
This study investigated the current state and professionality of biodiversity monitoring in food forest projects and influencing social-ecological factors through an online survey and interviews with German and Dutch experts. It found heterogeneous characteristics and professionality levels in monitoring activities, primarily due to context factors like actors, governance systems, and socio-economic settings. The professionality of monitoring depended on volunteer and expert availability and funding, indicating a lack of integrated, standardized, and systematic monitoring concepts and institutionalization.
Governance failureBiodiversityCommunityPolicyEconomicsNBS for social innovation
2025Mais Jafari, Rolf Morgenstern, Jonas Runte · · Germany
This chapter analyzed the co-creation pathway of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in the Dortmund Living Lab, focusing on urban gardening, food forests, and biodiversity. It critically illustrated missing dimensions that hinder innovation, such as business opportunities, legal frameworks, and planning conditions. These identified gaps indicate challenges in governance and implementation for social innovation through NBS.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyBiodiversityClimate changeTHE WILD IN THE CITY: DIFFERENT CONCEPTS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF URBAN COMMUNITY GARDENS OF GOUTTE D'OR DISTRICT OF PARIS.
2025Marina Abrão Ballak Dias · Revista Andaluza de Antropología · France (Paris)
This article explored how different conceptions of human-nature relationships shaped practices in two community gardens in Paris's Goutte d’Or neighborhood. Conceptions grounded in a human–nature divide prevailed, leading to a conservationist approach. Practices stemming from this perspective were found to be in constant tension with garden goals like increasing urban biodiversity and human socialization.
Governance failureCommunityBiodiversityPolicyHow are allotment gardens managed? A comparative study of usage and development in contemporary urban space in Germany and Poland
2021Magdalena Szczepańska, Ewa Kacprzak, Barbara Maćkiewicz, Lidia Poniży · Moravian Geographical Reports · Germany; Poland
A comparative study analyzed the use and development of allotment gardens (AGs) in Westphalia and Lippe (Germany) and Wielkopolska (Poland). AGs in Westphalia and Lippe are accessible and harmoniously integrated into the landscape, while AGs in Wielkopolska are less accessible, prioritize internal users, and do not always blend with their surroundings. The considerable freedom enjoyed by Polish plot-holders leads to a gradual marginalization of edible-plant growing.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyBiodiversityUrban–rural linkageHet natuurlijk kapitaal van de Lutkemeerpolder
2020Jeroen Schütt, Bas Amelung · · Europe
This research, conducted by the Science Shop of Wageningen University and Research, estimated the monetary value of ecosystem services in the Lutkemeerpolder, Amsterdam, which is slated for conversion into a business park. The study identified food production, air purification, recreation, and the effect of greenery on housing prices as key services, valuing them at 1.5 to 8.6 million euros per year. These ecosystem service values were not considered in the original decision-making twenty years ago, leading to a recommendation to reconsider the development plan.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsBiodiversityNew School maintains an established garden
2020Lexi Earl, Pat Thomson · · United Kingdom (midlands in England)
This chapter examines a school garden with farm elements at a primary school in a deprived market town in the midlands of England, established as part of an 'eco-school' initiative driven by the former head teacher. The garden included various spaces like a farm, raised beds, a pond, and a herb garden, used for science learning and natural exploration. However, the study notes that the impetus for outdoor learning diminished after the initiating head teacher departed, as school priorities shifted due to other pressures.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityBiodiversityKent Hakkı ve Katılımcılık Bağlamında Kendin Yap Kentleşme: Roma Bostanı Örneği
2019gökçe öcal · Journal of Planning · Turkey (Istanbul)
This study focuses on the Roma Garden, one of Istanbul's last remaining urban gardens, within the context of "DIY urbanism." In Istanbul, historical gardens are threatened by municipal policies favoring urban development, leading to the formation of "DIY" urban gardens on public land since 2013. These gardens operate without legal ties to the local state, and the destruction of urban public space over the last decade is noted as having paved the way for DIY public gardens as spaces of solidarity and shared knowledge.
Governance failureDIYCommunityPolicyBiodiversityExplorando la relación ser humano-naturaleza: agricultura urbana, ciencias de la conservación y ciudad
2016Ana Cristina Torres, Anne Caroline Prévot, Sophie Nadot · Letras Verdes Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioambientales · France (Paris)
A study of 9 Parisian community gardens revealed the limitations of the dominant approach in conservation sciences and urban planning, which seeks to halt environmental deterioration by establishing an ethical basis of attitudes deemed appropriate for conserving a particular nature, by limiting human-nature interaction. Considering citizen subjectivities, the study offers perspectives to nourish conservation sciences and rethink cities.
Governance failureCommunityBiodiversityPolicyUrban Agricultures: Spatial, Social and Environmental Transformations in Rome
2013Giovanni Attili · IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) · Italy (Rome)
This study focused on community gardens in Rome, Italy, which largely result from informal appropriation practices. While these gardens can enhance environmental and social quality of life, they require institutional support and present a crucial challenge for urban planning. The study highlights the need to explore tensions between social practices and institutional powers, and questions how public policy can legitimize these self-guiding societal expressions.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyBiodiversityHealth