Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
479 results(10 / 20)
Working With Nature to Solve Societal Problems
2022Barbara Schröter, Mario Brillinger, Sarah Gottwald, Paulina Guerrero, Jennifer Henze, Edward Ott, Stefan Schmidt, Christian Albert · Frontiers for Young Minds · Global
This article introduces the concept of nature-based solutions as a way to address societal problems such as climate and biodiversity crises. It explains how reconnecting floodplains can reduce flood risks, protecting wetlands or mangroves can store carbon, and planting trees or installing rooftop gardens can cool cities. The article emphasizes understanding how to work with nature and the practical steps for implementing these solutions.
Climate changeBiodiversityThe 3-H social and emotional learning cycle and the three sisters garden
2022Kathy Cabe Trundle, Rita Hagevik, Laura Wheeler, Katherine Vela, Michelle Parslow, David N. Joy · Science Activities · Global
This study introduces the Three Sisters Garden activity within a 3-H Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Cycle for secondary school students. This activity teaches biodiversity and sustainability, encouraging students to connect their own need for social connections with plant growth. Students enhance their sense of participation in the scientific process by analyzing gardens from a systems perspective.
Food educationCommunityBiodiversityThe Value of Urban Farming in Oslo, Norway: Community Gardens, Aquaponics and Vertical Farming
2022Geir Wæhler Gustavsen, Helge Berglann, Elisabeth Jenssen, Signe Kårstad, Divina Gracia P. Rodriguez · International journal on food system dynamics · Norway (Oslo)
This study conducted a contingent valuation survey in Oslo, Norway, to assess citizens' attitudes and willingness to pay for non-commercial (community gardens, educational gardens) and commercial (aquaponics, vertical farming) urban agriculture. The results indicate that Oslo citizens are willing to increase their tax payments to support the further development of urban farming in the city.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsHealthClimate changeBiodiversityThe Role of Allotment Gardens for Connecting Nature and People
2022Petra Schneider, Tino Fauk · · Global
A study based on a literature review and field survey conducted from 2017 to 2020 in Ecuador, Germany, Sweden, Uganda, and Vietnam, examined the role of allotment gardens (AGs) in connecting nature and people. Allotment gardens provide substantial urban ecosystem services, contribute to habitat connectivity, and significantly impact human health. Beyond food production and recreation, they offer crucial benefits for public health, wellbeing, social inclusion, the environment, and serve as cultural archives, with their intrinsic purpose being connectivity for habitats, people, ecosystem services, and circular flux management.
CommunityBiodiversityHealthOrganic cycleEcological Prototypes for Green Construction
2022Defne Sunguroğlu Hensel · · Global
This work, "Ecological Prototypes for Green Construction - 1", focuses on linking architecture and ecological engineering. Its purpose is to achieve integrated urban, agricultural, and ecological land use.
Urban–rural linkageBiodiversityThe Search for a New Theory of Sustainable Architectural Design: Breathing Architecture
2022Tamer El Gabaly, Rasha Abd el-Lateef · Journal of Engineering Research - Egypt/Journal of Engineering Research · Global
This paper explores a new theory of sustainable architectural design, termed "Breathing Architecture," in the context of reducing fuel consumption and adapting to climate change. It uses a qualitative research methodology, including data collection, data analysis, theoretical analysis, and analytical case studies, integrating green technologies and sustainability. The aim is to develop a new architectural language based on dynamic relationships among materials, structures, and spatial ideas, with empirical application and study.
CommunityClimate changeBiodiversityAGRICULTURA URBANA E PERIFÉRICA: CAMINHOS PARA ESTIMULAR NOVAS ATITUDES E TRANSFORMAR REALIDADES
2022Ananere da Silva Crüz, Márcia Maria Rodrigues Sá, Tarcísio Dorn de Oliveira, Daniel Knebel Baggio, Nelson José Thesing, Sandra Beatriz Vicenci Fernandes · Revista GESTO Revista de Gestão Estratégica de Organizações · Global
This literature review highlights the importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUPs) for food security, household economy, and biodiversity. It concludes that AUPs contribute to job creation, alternative income, supplying small markets, valuing local cultures, community empowerment, and expanding gender participation opportunities. AUPs also improve climate and biodiversity, enhance urban productivity, foster cooperation among residents, reduce temperatures, improve air quality, preserve natural resources, and mitigate food scarcity.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsBiodiversityCommunityMetagenomics: A Tool for Exploring Key Microbiome With the Potentials for Improving Sustainable Agriculture
2022Blessing Chidinma Nwachukwu, Olubukola Oluranti Babalola · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global
This review explores metagenomic techniques for studying plant root-associated microbiota and microbial ecology, highlighting their role in understanding and improving crop yields in rural and urban agriculture. Metagenomics, a non-culture approach, enables the identification of unculturable microorganisms and their functional traits. A detailed understanding of these organisms and their interactions can facilitate improved plant growth and sustainable crop production.
Organic cycleBiodiversityDigital agricultureA review of diversity of bees, the attractiveness of host plants and the effects of landscape variables on bees in urban gardens
2022Ehsan Rahimi, Shahindokht Barghjelveh, Pinliang Dong · Agriculture & Food Security · Global
This study reviewed 87 articles on the presence of bees in urban gardens and urban farms, summarizing bee diversity, host plant attractiveness, and the effects of landscape variables. Urban environments, especially urban gardens, contained a high diversity of bees, with honeybees and bumblebees being the most dominant species. Native plants were more attractive to bees than non-native plants, and while urbanization negatively impacted bee presence, the presence of green spaces or other farms and gardens positively affected pollinators.
BiodiversityPollinatorsUrban–rural linkageEdible City—A New Approach for Upscaling Local Food Supply? The Case of Andernach, Germany
2021Artmann M., Sartison K. · Making Green Cities: Concepts, Challenges and Practice (Springer, Cities and Nature series), 173-194 · Global
A case study analyzing the 'Edible City' of Andernach, Germany, as a multifunctional productive green space where citizens can harvest freely in public areas. Drawing on interviews with key initiators, it shows that the project generates multifunctional social, ecological and economic benefits addressing urban challenges such as food security, biodiversity and social cohesion, and examines its potential for upscaling local food supply.
CommunityFood educationWelfareEconomicsBiodiversityEnvironmental impacts and resource use of urban agriculture: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2021Dorr, E., Goldstein, B., Horvath, A., Aubry, C., Gabrielle, B. · Environmental Research Letters 16, 093002 · Global
A systematic review and meta-analysis (53 studies) of urban agriculture's environmental impacts and resource use, quantitatively showing that effects vary widely by farm form, scale and technology, and evaluating life-cycle assessment against rural farming.
BiodiversityUrban agriculture — A necessary pathway towards urban resilience and global sustainability?
2021Langemeyer J., Madrid-López C., Mendoza Beltran A., Villalba Méndez G. · Landscape and Urban Planning 210, 104055 · Global
Critically examines whether urban agriculture is a 'necessary pathway' to urban resilience and global sustainability, evaluating its contributions and limits across five dimensions: food, water, energy, ecosystem services and social integration.
BiodiversityGardens’ contribution to people and urban green space
2021Helena I. Hanson, Emma Eckberg, Malin Widenberg, Johanna Alkan Olsson · Urban forestry & urban greening · Sweden (Lund)
This study explored private gardens' contribution to urban biodiversity and garden owners' wellbeing (in terms of cultural ecosystem services) in Lund, Sweden, through a garden land-use inventory and interviews with 35 garden owners. Results showed that urban development influences gardens' biodiversity potential by limiting available space or garden vegetation, with new properties having small gardens containing few biodiversity features and large trees. Important cultural ecosystem services included social bonds, recreation, nature experiences, and relaxation, which were influenced by age and gender.
BiodiversityHealthUrban–rural linkagePolicyEffectiveness of plants and green infrastructure utilization in ambient particulate matter removal
2021K. Wróblewska, Byoung Ryong Jeong · Environmental Sciences Europe · Global
This review presents the effectiveness of plants and green infrastructure in ambient particulate matter (PM) removal. It describes the mechanisms of PM capture by plants and factors influencing PM reduction in the atmosphere. The review refers to the effectiveness of plant utilization in various forms of green infrastructure, including trees, grasslands, green roofs, living walls, water reservoirs, and urban farming. Additionally, methods to increase PM removal by plants, such as species selection, biodiversity increase, PAH-degrading phyllospheric endophytes, transgenic plants, and microorganisms, are presented.
Climate changeBiodiversityUrban–rural linkageUrban Agriculture on the Rooftop
2021Sumita Ghosh · · Global
This research conducted a desktop review and analyzed six international case studies of rooftop urban farms, community gardens, and home gardens. The analysis found that productive landscapes already exist on city rooftops, contributing positively to community, environment, ecology, economy, and society. Planning and designing rooftop gardens in dense urban areas could foster place-making through urban agriculture.
DIYCommunityClimate changeEconomicsBiodiversityReasons and Remedies to the Dying Plant Walls
2021Hayley Q McGough · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · Global
This paper investigates why plant façades on buildings frequently die, preventing them from fully realizing benefits like urban heat island reduction and improved air quality. Through interviews with landscape architects, it examines factors for maintaining plant façades and assesses if new approaches, such as earlier integration of landscape architects or biocurtains, can address the high mortality rates. The study highlights that these plant façades often fail, leading to waste and unfulfilled potential.
Limited or null effectClimate changeBiodiversityEconomicsDIYVariation in Temperature, Precipitation, and Vegetation Greenness Drive Changes in Seasonal Variation of Avian Diversity in an Urban Desert Landscape
2021Fábio Suzart de Albuquerque, Heather L. Bateman, Cameron Scott Boehme, Daniel C. Allen, Luis Cayuela · Land · Global
This study investigated the effects of land-use and land-cover (LULC) types, vegetation greenness, and climate on avian seasonal variation abundance and richness in urban desert ecosystems, using avian community data collected seasonally (winter and spring) from 2001 to 2016. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) indicated that LULC was the most important predictor of avian abundance and richness. Avian abundance was highest in urban riparian and urban LULC types, followed by agriculture. Avian richness was highest in riparian environments (urban and desert), followed by agriculture, urban, and desert.
BiodiversityClimate changeFood
2021Margaret Robertson · · Global
Chapter 13 examines how food is grown, from smallholders and pastoralists to small farmers and industrialized agriculture, addressing issues of ecosystem health, human health, food waste, and the impact of meat diets. It also discusses the importance of pollinators. The chapter then explores finding space for food in cities, including in schools, yards, urban farms, community gardens, and on public lands.
CommunityBiodiversityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceS7ílhen tl’a Swa7ám (Food of the Ancestors)
2021T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss · Public · Global
T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss has dedicated her life to Indigenous plant remediation and restoration projects supporting wetland ecosystems, food forests, and their wild inhabitants. This work aims to restore what was taken from the natural world over the past 150 years, ensuring the survival of future ancestors. Interdisciplinary documentation, including true plant names in Indigenous languages, ensures future generations remain connected to the natural world.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityBiodiversityOrganic cycleUrban agroforestry as a strategy for aligning agroecology with resilience planning initiatives
2021Sarah Taylor Lovell, John Taylor · · Global
This paper discusses urban agroforestry (UAF) as a strategy to integrate fruit and nut production into urban settings, emphasizing the inclusion of agroecological principles for improved design. It suggests that UAF can be intentionally integrated into urban landscapes, considering synergies with adjacent land uses. Guidelines for planting design can draw from multi-strata systems found in permaculture and food forest literature.
BiodiversityPollinatorsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyContainer gardens: Possibilities and challenges for environmental and social benefits in cities
2021Ayako Nagase, Jeremy Lundholm · Journal of Living Architecture · Global
This review elucidates potential ecosystem services provided by container gardening, which are used in cities globally where access to soil is limited. The services include food production, stormwater management, air quality improvement, energy savings, thermal comfort, plant biodiversity, creation of animal habitats, aesthetic value, communication, and environmental education. The review aims to recognize the value of container gardens to promote them as part of green infrastructure in urban areas.
DIYFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversityClimate changeFood educationPerspectiva agroecológica en el Antropoceno
2021Miguel A. Altieri, Clara I. Nicholls · Magna Scientia UCEVA · Global
This reflection explores agroecology as a sustainable development alternative for a post-COVID-19 agricultural system, revitalizing peasant agriculture and enhancing urban agriculture. An agroecology-based system can minimize future food supply disruptions by improving links between small-scale food production and local consumption. Agroecology is presented as a strategy for autonomy and resilience, addressing global challenges like climate change and food insecurity.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeBiodiversityHealthUrban–rural linkageA polinização por abelhas sob a perspectiva da Abordagem de Serviços Ecossistêmicos (ASE)
2021Fernanda Rodrigues Vieira, Daniel Caixeta Andrade, Francis Lee Ribeiro · Revista Ibero-Americana de Ciências Ambientais · Global
This systematic review analyzed 45 publications from Web of Science up to September 2020 to examine the benefits of bee pollination through the Ecosystem Services Approach. The review found a significant increase in publications over the last two decades, with 84.44% associating pollination with rural agricultural productivity, 8.88% with wild plant reproduction, and 6.66% with urban agriculture. Only 7 of the 45 studies conducted economic valuation of pollination.
PollinatorsBiodiversityOrganic cycleA risk management framework for Gentle Remediation Options (GRO)
2021Paul Drenning, Shaswati Chowdhury, Yevheniya Volchko, Lars Rosén, Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld, Jenny Norrman · The Science of The Total Environment · Sweden
This paper proposed a framework for risk management and communication of Gentle Remediation Options (GRO) to support phytomanagement strategies at contaminated sites. An extensive literature review mapped risk mitigation mechanisms, and the Swedish national soil guideline value model derived human health exposure pathways and ecological risks. Results indicated that most expected risk mitigation mechanisms are supported by literature, but knowledge gaps still exist. The framework was demonstrated to support the identification of GRO options for a case study site under two envisioned land uses: biofuel park and allotment garden.
Organic cycleBiodiversityClimate changeGround cover plants research for objects of landscape architecture
2021BMSTU (Mytishchi branch), I.Yu. Bochkova, Yu.A. Khokhlacheva · Лесной вестник / Forestry bulletin · Global
Research conducted in 2018 at the Main Botanical Garden (MBG RAS) identified promising groundcover plants for landscape architecture. From 225 selected plants, field surveys and phenological observations were performed, including biometric measurements and color refinement. The study resulted in a list of 40 highly promising species recommended for urban gardening.
BiodiversityDIY