Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1022 results(13 / 41)
Opportunities and challenges of food policy councils in pursuit of food system sustainability and food democracy–a comparative case study from the Upper-Rhine region
2022· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Germany (Upper Rhine)
A comparative case study of food policy councils in the Upper-Rhine region (including Germany), examining opportunities and challenges for food system sustainability and food democracy.
PolicyCommunityPotentials and perspectives of food self-sufficiency in urban areas—a case study from Leipzig
2022Rüschhoff J., Hubatsch C., Priess J., Scholten T., Egli L. · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · Germany (Leipzig)
A Leipzig case study assessing food self-sufficiency potential, finding that combining organic agriculture, reduced food loss, and a more plant-based diet could reach a mean self-sufficiency level of about 95%.
Food lossOrganic cycleEconomicsVertical Greening Systems: A Critical Comparison of Do-It-Yourself Designs
2022Dominici L., Comino E., Torpy F., Irga P. · Plants · Italy / Australia
An exploratory review of vertical greening system designs from scientific literature and community/commercial solutions, defining eight design models via six structural criteria and interviewing seven community garden groups to guide low-cost, small-scale DIY systems.
DIYCommunityDevelopment of a Low-Cost Open-Source Platform for Smart Irrigation Systems
2022Puig F., Rodríguez Díaz J.A., Soriano M.A. · Agronomy · Spain
Develops a low-cost, open-source IoT platform for smart irrigation that supports many sensors and can be easily integrated with other platforms.
DIYEconomicsTherapeutic Community Gardening as a Green Social Prescription for Mental Ill-Health: Impact, Barriers, and Facilitators from the Perspective of Multiple Stakeholders
2022Wood C.J., Polley M., Barton J.L., Wicks C.L. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · United Kingdom
Interviews with 13 stakeholders (social prescribing link workers and garden staff) and focus groups with 20 garden members examined how therapeutic community gardening supports mental health through nature engagement, hope, and social support, and identified barriers to referral and attendance.
HealthWelfareCommunityExploring the perspectives of 'young adults' (18–24) who have been in formal care and their experiences of attending a socially prescribed community allotment gardening group
2022Moore E.J., Thew M. · British Journal of Occupational Therapy · United Kingdom
Semi-structured online interviews with six care leavers aged 18-24 explored their experiences of a socially prescribed community allotment gardening group, yielding themes of social belonging, a safe space, achievement, and the facilitatory aspects of nature.
WelfareHealthCommunityThe Development of Sustainable Social Farming in Italy: A Case Studies Analysis
2022· Sustainability · Italy
A case-studies analysis examining the development of sustainable social farming in Italy, addressing social inclusion and the training and employment of disadvantaged people.
WelfarePolicyChallenges and Perspectives of Social Farming in North-Eastern Italy: The Farmers' View
2022· Sustainability · Italy
A study of social farming in North-Eastern Italy from the farmers' perspective, examining challenges and prospects with a focus on the social and work inclusion of disadvantaged people.
WelfarePolicyVermicomposting of municipal solid waste as a possible lever for the development of sustainable agriculture. A review
2022Ducasse V., Capowiez Y., Peigne J. · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · France (review)
Reviews the suitability of vermicomposting the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, the quality of the resulting vermicompost, and its impact on crops and soil.
CompostOrganic cycleAir Mapping of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Their Uptake by Crops in the Urban Area of Nice, France
2022· ChemPlusChem · France (Nice)
Mapping airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban Nice, the study documented PAH uptake by crops grown in the city, showing urban air pollution can contaminate produce.
HealthNo statistical evidence that honey bees competitively reduced wild bee abundance in the Munich Botanic Garden—a comment on Renner et al. (2021)
2022Lawrence D. Harder, Ronald M. Miksha · Oecologia · Germany (Munich)
A re-analysis of the observations behind Renner et al. (2021), which had concluded that an increase in managed honey bee hives between 2019 and 2020 intensified competition with non-Apis bees in the Munich Botanic Garden, Germany. The comment shows that the change in hive numbers did not statistically alter honey bee visitation to 29 plant species either within or between years, so the shift in the proportion of non-Apis bees among visitors is better explained as a response to reduced overall floral resource availability in 2020. The claim that urban beekeeping suppresses native pollinators is therefore supported by some observational studies and contested by re-analyses that find the statistical basis insufficient.
PollinatorsBiodiversityMapping direct N2O emissions from peri-urban agriculture: The case of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
2022Angelica Mendoza Beltrán, Kelzy Jepsen, Martí Rufí-Salís, Sergi Ventura, Cristina Madrid‐López, Gara Villalba · The Science of The Total Environment · Spain (Barcelona)
This study mapped N2O emissions from peri-urban agriculture in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), Spain. Researchers spatially distributed factors like crop type, fertilizer use, and irrigation, creating N2O emission maps using crop-specific and Tier 1 IPCC emission factors (EFs). The study found that Tier 1 IPCC EFs estimated 15% more emissions (7718 kg N2O-N year−1) than crop-specific EFs (6533 kg N2O-N year−1) for the entire AMB, indicating higher emissions for rainfed crops with Tier 1 EFs and for irrigated horticultural crops with crop-specific EFs. The mapping helps evaluate spatial variability of key factors but carries uncertainties due to downscaling regional data.
Environmental trade-offsPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeOrganic cycleExploring the need for innovation in greening urban environments: Reflecting on radical practice in Greater Manchester, UK
2022Adelina Court, Aileen Kelly, Michael Hardman · Cogent Social Sciences · United Kingdom (Greater Manchester)
This paper explores the need for innovation in urban green infrastructure, focusing on enabling urban food growing in cities. It reviews current policy tools and presents a case study of a multifunctional forest school in Salford, UK, which enables larger-scale farming in a deprived area. The study, conducted by a multidisciplinary team, also proposes a visual methodology framework for future replication.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceChapter 8: Regional resourcefulness for food systems: the case of phosphorus in the metropolitan region of Amsterdam
2022Wim van Dijk, J.E. Jansma, J. Broeze, J.J.R. Groot · · Netherlands (Amsterdam)
This chapter focuses on regional resourcefulness for food systems, arguing that urban areas are vital for closing nutrient loops to prevent resource depletion. Two case studies in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam (MRA) discuss phosphorus (P) flows, exploring the potential of a circular food system in Almere and quantifying actual P-flows across the MRA. The chapter concludes that a circular City Region Food System is technically feasible but requires a fundamental shift in the organization of food and waste systems.
Organic cycleUrban–rural linkageEconomicsClimate changeHydrologic and Water Quality Performance of Two Bioswales at an Urban Farm
2022Elizabeth Regier, Walter McDonald · Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment · United States (Milwaukee)
This study monitored two bioswales treating runoff from an urban farm in Milwaukee, WI, United States, to assess their hydrologic and water quality performance. The bioswales effectively reduced runoff volume, peak flows, total phosphorus, and high concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS >25 mg/L), achieving a median 98% load reduction across all pollutants. However, they showed mixed results in reducing total nitrogen concentrations and TSS at low influent concentrations (≤25 mg/L).
Limited or null effectClimate changeOrganic cycleHow do attitudes shape protective practices against the Asian tiger mosquito in community gardens in a nonendemic country?
2022Pénélope Duval, Claire Valiente Moro, Christina Aschan-Leygonie · Parasites & Vectors · France
A KAP survey conducted in community gardens in France showed that attitudes, more than knowledge, influence community gardeners' protective practices against the Asian tiger mosquito. All participating gardeners were concerned about the Asian tiger mosquito and motivated to incorporate control methods, but perceived mosquitoes as nuisances rather than disease vector species. This survey reveals a lack of knowledge and awareness of good practices for efficient control of the Asian tiger mosquito in green urban areas.
HealthCommunityAn Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of a Year’s Allotment Gardening for People Living in Low-Income Areas of Nottingham, UK
2022Rhys Furlong, Caroline Harvey, Fiona Holland, Jenny Hallam · NECTAR - Northampton Electronic Collection of Thesis and Research (University of Northampton) · United Kingdom (Nottingham)
Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with allotment gardeners from low-income areas of Nottingham, UK, 12 months after they began their tenancy at St Ann's allotments. This interview data was used for an interpretative phenomenological analysis published in "Cities and Health." Due to ethical and commercial issues, the data underpinning this publication is not openly available.
CommunityWelfareHealthDURKHEIM’IN TOPLUMSAL DAYANIŞMA TEORİSİ İLE GÜNÜMÜZ SOSYAL İNOVASYON GİRİŞİMLERİ ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİ: TOPLULUK DESTEKLİ TARIMSAL KOOPERATİFLER ÖRNEĞİ
2022Yunus KÖLEOĞLU, Ali SEYYAR, Mehmet AYSOY · Hak İş Uluslararası Emek ve Toplum Dergisi · Europe
This paper discusses the meaning and role of social solidarity in modern societies, based on Emile Durkheim's theory of social solidarity, focusing on solidarity-based agricultural cooperatives as alternative economic models against capitalist/liberal systems. The paper demonstrates that modern societies can successfully present solidarity-based alternative economic models, aligned with the spirit of social innovation, as a reaction to traditional capitalist production systems amidst eroding solidarity norms. Characteristics of solidarity agricultural cooperatives operating in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) are introduced, confirming Durkheim's thesis that social solidarity can emerge through collective movements even within a capitalist-liberal system.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCSA & TeikeiTrace Elements in Soil and Urban Groundwater in an Area Impacted by Metallurgical Activity: Health Risk Assessment in the Historical Barga Municipality (Tuscany, Italy)
2022Riccardο Petrini, Lisa Ghezzi, Simone Arrighi, Lisa Genovesi, Chiara Frassi, Luca Pandolfi · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Italy (Tuscany)
Trace elements were measured in soil and groundwater in the Fornaci di Barga urban area, Tuscany, Italy. Results indicate that Cu, Zn, and Cd are the main contaminants in surface soil, likely originating from airborne particulate matter deposition from metallurgical activity. Risk assessment considering soil ingestion and dermal contact exposure routes revealed that the cadmium Hazard Quotient approaches unity for children, and the cadmium risk-based concentration is only slightly lower than the maximum concentration measured in soil.
Contamination & food safetyHealthFood aid and neoliberalism: an alliance built on shared interests?
2022Maddy Power · Policy Press eBooks · United Kingdom
In the UK, food banks and other food aid providers expanded significantly in parallel with welfare reforms and benefit cuts initiated after 2010. This contemporary phenomenon occurred within a historical context of long-standing community-based responses to poverty and hunger in the UK.
Equity & displacementWelfareCommunityPolicyEcophysiological Response of Vitis vinifera L. in an Urban Agrosystem: Preliminary Assessment of Genetic Variability
2022Elena Brunori, Alessandra Bernardini, Federico Valerio Moresi, Fabio Attorre, Rita Biasi · Plants · Italy (Rome)
A preliminary assessment of the adaptability of 15 Italian native and non-native Vitis vinifera L. cultivars to urban environmental stressors was conducted at the Botanical Garden of Rome during the 2021 growing season. Researchers evaluated leaf chlorophyll content, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll fluorescence, and spectral signatures. Native cultivars showed medium-high leaf chlorophyll content (>350 mol m−2), good photosynthetic efficiency (QY > 0.75), and optimal stomatal behavior under drought stress (200 > gs > 50 mmol H2O m−2 s−1), indicating site-specific resistance and resilience to urban conditions.
Climate changeEconomicsContinuity and Change: Socio-Spatial Practices in Bamberg's World Heritage Urban Horticulture
2022Heike Oevermann, Daniel Keech, Marc Redepenning, Li Fan, Patricia Alberth · Urban Planning · Germany (Bamberg)
The German city of Bamberg offers lessons on how continuity and change interact within the context of inner-urban commercial horticulture, informing sustainable urban transformations in historic cities. Urban food production in Bamberg is not just well-established but a consistent, centuries-old cultural structure influencing the city's fabric. This study discusses what forms of urban horticulture were evident from Bamberg's past and which may prevail in the future.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceFeeding the City and Making the Revolution: Women and Urban Agriculture in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)
2022Marta Camps‐Calvet, Santiago Gorostiza, David Saurı́ · Antipode · Spain (Barcelona)
This study examined social reproduction practices surrounding food in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. Core findings informed the role of women in food provision and production through individual subsistence agriculture, involvement in Barcelona’s anarcho-syndicalist agricultural collective, and participation in agriculture education and training programs. The research was based on original archival data, historical press, and interviews with witnesses of the war.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationWelfareGuerrilla gardening as normalised law-breaking: Challenges to land ownership and aesthetic order
2022Andrew Millie · Crime Media Culture An International Journal · United Kingdom
This article considered guerrilla gardening, which involves taking on other people’s land without permission. A qualitative study of guerrilla gardeners from the North West of England found that guerrilla gardening is a normalised form of law-breaking. Despite not necessarily being to everyone’s taste and gardeners having an autocratic view of property, it is broadly accepted and welcomed, even by those who enforce the law.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyDIYVisionscapes: combining heritage and urban gardening to enhance areas requiring regeneration
2022Grete Swensen, Vebjørn Egner Stafseng, Véronique Karine Simon · International Journal of Heritage Studies · France (Bordeaux)
This comparative case study examines two regeneration projects, the Darwin Ecosystem Project in Bordeaux, France, and Dr. Dedichen’s Greenhouse in Oslo, Norway, to understand how heritage combined with urban gardening can enhance areas requiring regeneration. The study notes that conflicting economic, political, and cultural views are likely to affect the heritage discourse in marginalized urban areas. It describes how old buildings and historical fragments can be integrated into urban planning initiatives, with residents, artists, and citizen groups cooperating with planning authorities to transform neighborhoods.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsHealth