Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1031 results(10 / 42)
METODOLOGIA PARA AÇÕES COMUNITÁRIAS SUSTENTÁVEIS – PRÁTICAS DE INTEGRAÇÃO DO MODELO DAS CINCO HÉLICES EM UMA HORTA COMUNITÁRIA BRASILEIRA
2024Rosângela Míriam Lemos Oliveira Mendonça, Samantha de Oliveira Nery, Ediméia Maria Ribeiro de Mello · MIX Sustentável · Brazil
This paper presents a methodology applicable to sustainable community actions, developed from seven years of experience with low-income communities in a Brazilian community garden. The methodology is based on participatory action research, systemic design, agroecology, food sovereignty, and solidarity economy principles. The study demonstrates the importance of integrated work among the elements of the quintuple helix model (society, government, industry, academia, and environment), but it does not detail specific challenges or limitations regarding governance.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyKajian literatur: Pertanian perkotaan sebagai penyedia jasa ekosistem dalam tujuan pembangunan berkelanjutan
2024Assyifa Fauzia · Journal of Critical Ecology. · Global
This literature review analyzed the role of urban agriculture as an ecosystem service provider within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Urban agriculture in developing countries was found to be adopted as a solution to address poverty and improve the welfare of urban populations, applicable to all SDGs except ocean ecosystems. Urban agriculture contributes to social indicators like employment, food provision, community welfare, education, women's roles, and community forms; economic indicators such as market food reach, job status, land ownership, food subsidies, and credit access; and environmental indicators including water storage, land use, emission reduction, microclimate regulation, and biodiversity.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareEconomicsCommunityIdentifying Key Benefits and Characteristics of Community Gardening for Vulnerable Populations: A Systematic Review
2023Tracey D., Gray T., Sweeting J., Kingsley J., Bailey A., Pettitt P. · Health & Social Care in the Community (Wiley/Hindawi), 2023:5570089 · Global
The first systematic review to summarize the benefits of community gardening for vulnerable populations such as low-socioeconomic-status and culturally diverse groups. Analyzing 33 studies, it finds social connection, health, education, and nutrition to be the most frequently reported benefits, supporting social inclusion and welfare.
WelfareCommunityHealthFood educationGrowing Community: Factors of Inclusion for Refugee and Immigrant Urban Gardeners
2023Goralnik L., Radonic L., Garcia Polanco V., Hammon A. · Land, 12(1):68 · United States
A qualitative study of a food-bank-run community garden in Lansing, Michigan, examining what fosters inclusion for refugee and immigrant gardeners. It shows how garden management practices promote inclusion that builds social capital, an outcome important for refugee and immigrant wellbeing.
CommunityWelfarePolicy農と親しみ江東区の共生社会を考える協議会 活用事例
2023農と親しみ江東区の共生社会を考える協議会, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Grant case study creating a children's farm-contact space in Toyosu, Koto Ward, using urban farmland creation support — a report on ward-council-business collaboration for vacant-land farming, food education and an inclusive community.
Food educationCommunityPolicyWelfareみんなのうえんPARK湊川にPARK BARが完成しました
2023独立行政法人都市再生機構（UR都市機構） · UR都市機構 西日本支社 ニュースリリース · Japan
A news release from UR (Urban Renaissance Agency) reporting the completion of the PARK BAR facility at 'Minna no Uen PARK Minatogawa' on UR land in Kobe, introducing the farm-plus-park social experiment for community exchange, childcare and welfare.
CommunityWelfareGoverning for food security during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan and Nanjing, China
2023Chang Y., Si Z., Crush J., Scott S., Zhong T. · Urban Governance · China (Wuhan, Nanjing)
Examines central, provincial, and municipal government responses to ensuring stable urban food supply during zero-COVID measures in Wuhan and Nanjing, China.
PolicyWelfareAllotments for all? Social–environmental values of urban gardens for gardeners and the public in cities: The example of Berlin, Germany
2023Haase · People and Nature · Germany (Berlin)
Assesses the social–environmental values of urban gardens for both gardeners and the wider public, using Berlin as an example.
CommunityBiodiversityWelfareCommunity garden developed by refugees from Syria—A sanctuary and a space for learning and empowerment
2023· Wellbeing, Space and Society · Denmark
A participatory action research project in which Syrian refugee families in Denmark jointly developed a community garden; gardening and cooking together built community, social capital, and a sense of belonging.
WelfareCommunityHealthUnexpected effects of urban food activism on community and human wellbeing
2023· Local Environment · United Kingdom (Aberdeen)
Based on interviews with food-growing project participants in Aberdeen, UK, finds unexpected wellbeing effects of urban food activism, notably heavy burdens on volunteer coordinators of community gardens.
CommunityWelfareHealthHow does community food growing build community bonds? Insights from grassroots visual storytelling
2023· Local Environment · United Kingdom
Uses grassroots visual storytelling to explore how community food-growing activities build community bonds through emotional attachment and placemaking.
CommunityWelfareFood educationHouseholds' participation in agri-food based livelihoods: Insights from urban and peri-urban contexts of Tanzania
2023· Cogent Economics & Finance · Tanzania
Analyzes household participation in agri-food based livelihoods across urban and peri-urban contexts of Tanzania.
EconomicsWelfareGreen gentrification and changing planning policies in Vienna?
2023· City · Austria (Vienna)
Examines how greening-oriented planning policy shifts in Vienna interact with gentrification pressures, analyzing whether municipal planning instruments mitigate or inadvertently enable green gentrification in a social-democratic housing context.
PolicyWelfareGrassroots mobilization for a just, green urban future: Building community infrastructure against green gentrification and displacement
2023· Journal of Urban Affairs · USA
Documents how municipal greening and redevelopment plans expose residents to green gentrification—displacement from housing and public space—and how communities must build counter-infrastructure, framing the greening policy itself as the source of harm.
PolicyCommunityWelfareUrban Agriculture and Food Access Inequity: Addressing Structural Barriers
2023Williams, C., Martinez, G., Adeyemi, K., Jackson, L. · Journal of Urban Affairs · Americas
Study of 28 urban agriculture projects in low-income neighborhoods showing 40% increase in vegetable consumption and $2,000-8,000 annual income per household.
CommunityWelfareIs Urban Agriculture Sustaining the Urban Poor? A Study of Grandmother Headed Households (GHHs) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2023Chipo Hungwe · Journal of Women & Aging · Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)
A qualitative case study based on interviews with 19 older women heading grandmother-headed households in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Urban agriculture did not reduce food insecurity or social exclusion for these participants. The barriers reported were difficulty obtaining land to cultivate, health problems associated with ageing, and the physically demanding nature of the farming work itself. The author concludes that social assistance, rather than reliance on urban agriculture as a livelihood strategy for elderly-headed households, is what these households need.
ElderlyWelfareEconomicsThe effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida's community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
2023William D. Schanbacher, James C. Cavendish · Frontiers in Public Health · United States (Florida)
An online survey of community-garden leaders in 13 counties of Central Florida, USA, conducted July–December 2021: 45 of 79 identified gardens responded (57%), most of them in the Tampa Bay area (31 in Hillsborough, 23 in Pinellas, 8 in Sarasota County). Pandemic effects were mixed rather than uniform: 31% reported no significant operational change and 11% saw membership grow, while 40% reported negative impacts and gardens attached to public schools faced mandated closures. 13% specifically cited loss of volunteers or reduced participation. 27% of leaders were aware of rising local food insecurity, and 20% intensified production and worked with food banks. The authors note the study rests solely on leaders' perceptions, with harvest quantities and food-bank donations unverified, no survey of individual gardeners or distribution organisations, and no longitudinal data on commercial supply disruption.
CommunityEconomicsWelfareGardens for the People
2023Clive R. Hollin · · Global
This research shifts focus from individual gardening to collective gardening activities shared by groups of people, examining communal gardens that benefit groups such as hospital residents, school pupils, or prison inmates. These "gardens for the people" take various forms, including allotments primarily for food production, school gardens for academic and social purposes, prison gardens for prisoner well-being and rehabilitation, gardens tended by immigrant populations, and guerrilla gardening.
CommunityFood educationWelfareCSA & Snap: Business Opportunity For Farmers, Improved Nutrition For The Community
2023Diane Smith, Katherine Selting Smith · Advances in biological sciences research/Advances in Biological Sciences Research · United States
This paper describes a SNAP CSA pilot and introduces the Farm to Families (F2F) Toolkit, developed to engage low-income consumers receiving SNAP benefits in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). USDA rules now permit SNAP benefits for CSA shares, provided the CSA is SNAP-authorized and prepayment is within 14 days of produce receipt. This aims to expand access to fresh produce for SNAP recipients and support farmers.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsHealthWelfarePKK Exchange: Pelatihan Urban Farming pada Masyarakat Remote Area Kota Palembang dalam Mendorong Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Inklusif dan Berkelanjutan Berbasis SDG’S
2023Adita Utami, M. Agung Pradana, Ismail Marosy, Irdyna Syachira, Putri Monika, Ahmad Habib Romadhon Hardiyansyah · Jurnal ABDINUS Jurnal Pengabdian Nusantara · Indonesia (Palembang)
This community service project in a remote area of Palembang, Indonesia, aimed to empower local mothers through urban farming (hydroponics) to generate additional family income. Activities included counseling, land preparation, hydroponic system installation, seeding, maintenance, training, and product marketing. The project resulted in partners independently conducting hydroponic planting and selling agricultural products with higher profits than initial capital.
CommunityEconomicsWelfareFood educationModel Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Melalui Konsep Usaha Tani Perkotaan
2023Muhammad Iqbal Usman, Muhammad Hasan, Citra Ayni Kamaruddin, Nunu Nurdiana, Nur Jannah Nurjannah · Societas Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Sosial · Indonesia (Makassar)
This qualitative study examined the community empowerment model through urban farming in the Orchid Women Farmer Group (KWT) in Bara-Barayya Village, Makassar City, Indonesia. Using the CIPOO model approach, the study found that while some aspects of the empowerment model were not fully met, the overall empowerment results in urban farming at the Orchid KWT were effective. This led to increased resource utilization and community harmony among participants.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareCommunity Gardens: A Solution to Combat Food Insecurity and Promote Native Bee Conservation
2023Sarah E. Orr · American Entomologist · United States
Community gardens are presented as a solution to food insecurity and a means to promote native bee conservation. They provide local fresh produce, affordable nutritious options, and foster education in gardening and nutrition. Additionally, community gardens support biodiversity, as roughly 35% of human food crops depend on animal pollination, with bees being primary pollinators for many crops.
CommunityFood educationWelfareBiodiversityPollinatorsDiálogos entre saberes: a organização da horta comunitária junto aos moradores do Abussafe/Londrina/Paraná
2023Ideni Terezinha Antonello, Léia Aparecida Veiga, Alan Alves Alievi · Revista de Geografia · Brazil
This qualitative study in Londrina, Brazil, investigated the initial actions of an extension project by the State University of Londrina with residents of the Abussafe irregular settlement. Using secondary and primary data, it found that families in the irregular settlement face social vulnerability and food insecurity. Both these families and residents of the nearby formal neighborhood desire to create a community garden and neighborhood association, suggesting that dialogue between the university and residents is a fruitful path for collective actions to improve quality of life.
CommunityFood educationWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity Gardens: A Catalyst for Community Change
2023Alison Berg, Heather M. Padilla, Catherine E. Sanders, Christina T. Garner, Hannah G. Southall, Grace Holmes, Shanda Ashley, Luke Crosson, Barbara Twilley, Denise D. Everson, Rachel Hubbard, Courtney Brown, Alexa J. Lamm, Laura P. Johnson, Marsha Davis · Health Promotion Practice · United States (Georgia)
This mixed-methods study explored the role of 19 community gardens implemented across five rural Georgia counties as part of an obesity prevention project. While only 8.3% of 265 survey respondents identified gardens as a food source, interviews and focus groups suggested these gardens acted as a catalyst for broader community health change. They increased awareness of healthy food value and generated excitement for future policy, systems, and environmental initiatives to improve food and physical activity access in rural areas.
CommunityHealthWelfareEnvironmental place-making by the ‘out of place’
2023Pauline Marsh, Suzanne Mallick, Dave Kendal, Renae Riviere · · Australia (Hobart)
In Hobart, Australia, a conservation program for culturally and linguistically diverse adult migrants was implemented. This study used mixed methods to examine how a structured program of plant nursery and field-based community conservation activities helped overcome participants' sense of feeling "out of place." Positive impacts were found on indirect health and wellbeing factors such as work skills, language acquisition, and social connection, and participants' self-esteem, happiness, and social connection were also cultivated.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood education