Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
7626 results(133 / 306)
Correlation between school gardens and nutrition education for middle school students
2021Loren Alcorn · Proceedings of Student Research and Creative Inquiry Day · United States
A student research presentation on middle school students in the United States (2021) discusses the correlation between school gardens and nutrition education, asking whether students relying on school lunches actually benefit from the nutrition standards those lunches must meet. It argues that a school garden would let students learn to grow their own food, encounter new foods, and interactively learn how different foods affect health, with garden produce potentially incorporated into cafeteria lunches. Citing existing evidence that greater access to fruits and vegetables increases consumption and that school lunches generate substantial food waste, it suggests that nutrition education and exposure to new foods through a school garden could reduce that waste; the presentation itself does not report original measured data directly testing the garden-nutrition education correlation.
Food educationHealthCommunityComposição química, fitoquímica e dosagem de metais pesados das cascas das folhas secas e do gel liofilizado de Aloe vera cultivadas em hortas comunitárias da cidade de Palmas, Tocantins
2021Gabriela Eustáquio Lacerda, Julliany Lopes Dias, Guilherme Nobre Lima do Nascimento, Ilsamar Mendes Soares · Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais · Brazil
Dried leaf bark and freeze-dried gel from Aloe vera grown in community gardens in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil were analyzed for chemical composition, phytochemistry, and heavy metals. Moisture content ranged from 7.06 to 10.62%, ash from 13.62 to 32.63%, crude protein from 5.58 to 7.47%, lipids from 0.58 to 2.04%, and crude fiber from 16.22 to 16.49%. Phytochemical analysis identified gallic acid, catechin, gallocatechin, ellagic acid, naringin, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol. No heavy metals were detected in the samples analyzed. The authors note further research is needed on how seasonality affects these compounds.
HealthCommunityOrganic cyclePolicy tools for preserving peri-urban agricultural landscape: from social justice to quality of life
2021Paola Branduini, Elena Colli · Landscape Research · Italy
A qualitative sociological analysis examined a policy tool used by public landowners in peri-urban Milan, Italy, who introduced new lease agreements transferring the maintenance costs of built rural heritage to tenants, aiming to avoid degradation and add value to unused buildings. Analyzing the tool through the lens of social justice and its impact on quality of life, the study found that the same policy tool produces very different outcomes for landscape preservation and quality of life depending on the implementation strategy used, and on the elements of social justice considered along with contextual and individual characteristics.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageCommunityV7/N1 Editorial
2021Peter Bengtsen · Street Art & Urban Creativity · Europe
This editorial for the journal Street Art and Urban Creativity reports that since 2015 the journal has published six issues comprising 84 research articles along with essays, working papers, and book reviews. It cites the journal, the annual Urban Creativity conference in Lisbon, and the Urban Creativity Lund research network as signs that the field of urban creativity studies is becoming increasingly established. The field is described as covering a broad range of interests including, but not limited to, street art, graffiti, urban foraging, parkour, skateboarding, and guerrilla gardening, with the editorial noting that as a field settles, a dominant paradigm tends to emerge. As part of the issue's call for submissions, it invites contributions reflecting on the current status and future of this transdisciplinary academic field, which has developed over the past two decades.
CommunityDIYLos huertos escolares y su potencial como innovación educativa
2021Tatiane de Jesus Marques Souza, Mamen Cuéllar Padilla · RACO (Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert) (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) · Spain
Food crises directly influence children's development across different social contexts, and school gardens are proposed as one response to this issue. This study presents an analysis tool for the innovative contributions a school garden can make by combining educational processes with social inclusion in impoverished contexts. Developed through a thorough review of the scientific literature, the tool was applied to a case study to demonstrate its usefulness. The main conclusion is that while school gardens per se have high innovative potential as an educational tool, whether that potential is realized depends on the garden's origin, its design, and the development process that accompanies it.
Food educationCommunityPolicyFrom global problems to the local action in the Community Garden “AUDZˮ
2021Nora Gavare · Landscape architecture and art · Europe
In Sigulda, Latvia, the community garden "AUDZ," open to everyone, was created as a local, small-scale response to 21st-century problems including the depletion of natural resources, air pollution, rising industrial production, waste and an aging society. Designer Nora Gavare took part in an ERASMUS+ international training mobility visit on "Development of urban environment" in Hong Kong, where she gained insight into overpopulation, rapid urban growth at the expense of natural habitat, and rising food product demand. Photo mapping of Sigulda's public environment across different periods led to the conclusion that, given the town's rapidly growing population, fostering a sense of community and education processes is needed because opportunities for interaction among different social groups are lacking.
CommunityClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceAz iskolakertek helyzete Magyarországon
2021András Halbritter · Évkönyv · Europe
Following its boom period in the 19th and 20th centuries, Hungary's school garden movement is described as undergoing a new phase tied to sustainability education, with the number of school and kindergarten gardens growing rapidly. Knowledge sharing takes place through the Hungarian School Garden Network across the Carpathian Basin, and in 2019 the Ministry of Agriculture launched a School Garden Development Programme; school-garden pedagogy has been added to teacher and vocational-teacher training curricula, with further support from international projects.
Food educationCommunityModelação Matemática em situação de construção de uma horta geométrica: possibilidades e desafios
2021Elisângela Brauner, Maria Cecília Pereira Santarosa, Cecília Elenir dos Santos Rocha · Revista Eletrônica de Educação Matemática · Brazil
This article analyzes a teaching intervention within Brazil's Residência Pedagógica pedagogical residency program, in the mathematics course, that used a community garden in basic education to investigate and teach the mathematical concepts of angles and polygons. Instruction proceeded through mathematical-modeling stages of gradually increasing complexity, and the intervention surfaced challenges including finding a site for the garden, students' prior knowledge of measurement, and recognizing patterns to solve modeling problems. It concludes that developing varied practices in the school setting favors and broadens mathematics learning.
Food educationCommunityEspaços promotores de saúde na Atenção Básica: a experiência dos graduandos de Odontologia da Universidade Estadual da Paraíba
2021Lilian Nadja Silva Brito, Renally Cristine Cardoso Lucas, Fernanda Ferreira de Andrade, Ygor Alexandre Beserra Sousa, Rilva Suely de Castro Cardoso Lucas, Renata Rocha Cardoso Madruga, Gabriella Barreto Soares · Revista da ABENO · Brazil
This article reports the experience of a group of dentistry students at the State University of Paraíba, Brazil, who, in the second half of 2018, formed a "health-promoting space" bringing together culture and art with the Unified Health System (SUS) at the Argemiro de Figueiredo Family Health Unit (USF) in Campina Grande. The space was built through an experience titled "Graffiti that brings life" and through the process of building a community garden at the USF. The activities were marked by strong interaction among students, the community, the health team, and local social resources, and they strengthened the bond between the health team and the population. The presence of dentistry students in primary care was observed to be important, with students recognizing that the dentist's role in primary care extends beyond providing oral health assistance.
CommunityFood educationHealthEffect of Intercropping Ratio on the Cherry Tomato with Basil on the Growth, Physiological, and Productivity Parameters on theRooftop in Urban Agriculture
2021Jin-Hee Ju, Hee-Yeon Song, Deuk-Kyun Oh, Sun-Yeong Park, Yong-Han Yoon · Journal of Environmental Science International · South Korea
This study, conducted from April to September 2019 on the rooftop of Konkuk University's Glocal Campus in South Korea, evaluated growth, physiological responses, and productivity for different intercropping ratios of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) with basil (Ocimum basilicum) on rooftops. Five treatments -- single tomato (TC), 2:1 tomato-to-basil (T2B1), 1:1 (T1B1), 1:2 (T1B2), and single basil (BC) -- were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications (15 plots total), measuring plant height, leaf length and width, leaf number, root length, root collar caliper, chlorophyll content, fresh and dry weight, fruit number, fruit caliper, fruit weight, and sugar content. The comparative analysis found growth, physiological, and productivity responses to be efficient when the tomato-to-basil ratio was 2:1 or 1:1.
CommunityFood educationDIY(Un)expected Learning Outcomes of Virtual School Garden Exchanges in the Field of Education for Sustainable Development
2021Johanna Lochner, Marco Rieckmann, Marcel Robischon · Sustainability · Global
A study of Virtual School Garden Exchanges (VSGEs)—which link local gardening with global thinking by having elementary and secondary school students in different parts of the world exchange information about their school gardens and related topics via digital media—focused on educators' perspectives and the learning outcomes they observed, given ongoing controversy over whether VSGEs are suitable for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and whether they produce the learning outcomes educators expect. The researchers conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with VSGE educators, analyzed abductively and qualitatively. Results showed substantial overlap between observed and expected learning outcomes and ESD aims, but the data also revealed that learners engaging with international peers were affected by stereotypes and norms in varying ways: on one hand, VSGEs can lead to "Othering," which is not congruent with either ESD or the expected learning outcomes; on the other, they can inspire Transformative Learning that contributes to ESD aims. The study concludes that VSGEs hold potential for ESD depending on a complex interplay of factors, but are not guaranteed to constitute good ESD practice.
Methodological critiqueFood educationCommunityKEWIRAUSAHAAN DAN PEMBERDAYAAN KELOMPOK WANITA TANI - KWT DESA CINUNUK KABUPATEN BANDUNG
2021Teguh Husodo, Keukeu Kaniawati Rosada, Mia Miranti, Nining Ratningsih, Suryana Suryana · Kumawula Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia
Micro, small, and medium enterprises (UMKM) are described as a community effort at self-empowerment aimed at creating independent business opportunities that rely on the community's own abilities and creativity, an effort requiring entrepreneurship support to build understanding of production processes and product benefits. Seven of thirty UMKM in Desa Cinunuk, Bandung Regency, Indonesia (divided into six categories), were analyzed using nine indicators of the business model canvas method. One developed UMKM was additionally identified as potential not only from an economic standpoint but also for community empowerment: use of residents' narrow landholdings combined with the ease of production under the urban farming concept was seen as capable of becoming an iconic business for Desa Cinunuk. The Women Farmers Group (KWT) of Desa Cinunuk is described as having the potential to develop into an advanced UMKM through entrepreneurship support such as completing licensing, pharmacological testing, and certification.
CommunityEconomicsWelfareAGRICULTURA URBANA NA REGIÃO CENTRAL DE PALMAS, TOCANTINS: CONVENCIONAL OU AGROECOLÓGICA? Urban agriculture in the central region of Palmas, Tocantins: conventional or agroecological?
2021Alessandra Polastrini, Cláudia Regina de Sousa e Silva, João Aparecido Bazzoli · Informe GEPEC · Brazil
This study examined whether urban community gardens in the central region of Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil, fit a conventional or agroecological production model, surveying four gardens (in blocks 1006, 1106, 1206 and 1306 Sul) through questionnaires with 42 gardeners and interviews with two staff from the Urban Gardens program. Findings showed a mismatch between the number of registered gardeners and those actually working the plots; gardeners were mostly low-income, low-education women; use of products incompatible with agroecological production was documented, though a transition process was underway with gardeners adopting agroecology-based management techniques; and oversight and technical assistance existed but at levels insufficient to ensure adequate guidance for gardeners and product quality for consumers.
CommunityOrganic cyclePolicyPERMANÊNCIAS E TRANSFORMAÇÕES DAS PRÁTICAS RURAIS NOS ‘ESPAÇOS URBANOS’ DE JOÃO PESSOA E DE NATAL/BRASIL / PERMANENCIES AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE 'URBAN AREAS' OF JOÃO PESSOA AND NATAL/ BRAZIL
2021Doralice Sátyro Maia, Miriam Hermi Zaar · · Brazil
Drawing on field observation, photographic records, questionnaires and informal conversations, alongside prior research and government data, this study analyzes the persistence of rural practices — small-scale cattle dairying (vacarias) in João Pessoa and agricultural practices in Natal, both coastal cities in Brazil's Northeast — within areas classified as urban, describing these as "islands of rurality" that resist real-estate speculation and urbanization pressures, and calling for methodologies better able to distinguish urban from rural attributes in such hybrid spaces.
Urban–rural linkageCommunityPolicySchool and Community Garden Pollinator Census: A Pilot Project in Georgia
2021Becky Griffin, S. K. Braman · Journal of Entomological Science · United States
In 2017 and 2018, gardeners at 36 locations across 21 Georgia counties, United States, volunteered for the Georgia Pollinator Census pilot project, counting insects in September and October on an aster species and one other participant-chosen plant species (28 plant taxa were selected in total) while also receiving training in insect identification. Bumble bees, honey bees and wasps were sighted more often in rural areas, while carpenter bees, flies and other insects were sighted more often in urban areas; participants also showed increased entomological interest and insect knowledge, and the pilot's results were used to refine criteria for a larger, state-wide census.
Food educationPollinatorsCommunityBiodiversityA Photovoice Inquiry Into the Impacts of a Subsidized CSA Program on Participants’ Health
2021Allea Martin, Amy Coplen, Lauren Lubowicki, Betty T. Izumi · Health Education & Behavior · United States
A Photovoice study of the CSA Partnerships for Health program in the United States, a subsidized community-supported-agriculture scheme designed to lower the cost barrier to fresh produce for low-income households. Twenty-eight participants photographed aspects of the program over 2 to 4 weeks and discussed selected images in focus groups; they reported that the program supported positive changes in their physical and social health and helped them learn about new foods, cooking and agriculture. Based on these self-reported, qualitative accounts, the authors suggest that a reduced-cost CSA membership combined with cooking education can support participants' ability to try new foods, build skills and improve health outcomes.
CommunityCSA & TeikeiHealthWelfareUrban Commons and Collective Action to Address Climate Change
2021Johan Colding, Stephan Barthel, Robert Ljung, Felix Eriksson, Stefan Sjöberg · Social Inclusion · Global
A conceptual paper drawing on the authors' prior research on urban commons to examine their role in climate-proofing activities. It distinguishes three types of environmentally oriented urban commons: "urban green commons" such as allotment and community gardens, which the authors say contribute to environmental learning that supports climate-change mitigation and adaptation; "coworking spaces," framed as reducing commuting and domestic transportation through a sharing economy; and "community climate commons," where local communities pool resources to create shared low-carbon assets. The paper closes by identifying determinants for scaling up such commons, without presenting original empirical data.
CommunityClimate changePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceAgricultura Urbana e a transformação da vida e da paisagem no Tatuquara, Curitiba-PR
2021Valéria Borges Yonegura, Henrique Manoel da Silva · Confins · Brazil
A study of the Tatuquara neighbourhood and surrounding areas of Curitiba, Brazil, combining bibliographic review, historical-geographic analysis, and interviews with community gardeners (horteiros) conducted over 2017-2018, found that urban gardens improved local life, landscape and community safety and fostered topophilia and place attachment. Despite being used in city marketing, the practice's continuity is threatened by the possible end of a partnership with the electric utility and by pressure from the real-estate market.
Economic viabilityCommunityPolicyEconomicsThe Social Organization of Community-Run Place: An Analysis of Community Gardens and Crime in Vancouver (2005–2015)
2021Yasmin Koop‐Monteiro · Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice/La Revue canadienne de criminologie et de justice pénale · Canada
Using neighbourhood census data from 2005 to 2015 in Vancouver, Canada, multilevel modeling assessed the effects of new community gardens along with median income, population size, homeownership and ethnic diversity on property crime. Median income, population size and new community gardens each showed significant negative effects on crime, with the addition of one community garden reducing neighbourhood crime by approximately 49 counts, a 1,000-person increase in population reducing it by 48 counts, and a CAD$1,000 increase in median income reducing it by 34 counts.
CommunityPolicyUrban gardening contributes to health and quality of life
2021Kristine Valle, Eli Mari Øverdahl, Stephanie Degenhardt, Kim Weger, Wendy Fjellstad, Sebastian Eiter · Duo Research Archive (University of Oslo) · Europe
Participating in a neighbourhood and community garden produces positive social and emotional effects along with satisfaction from growing food. Adults and teenagers participating in gardening activities at Linderud farm in Oslo, Norway, most commonly reported positive experiences related to social networks, growing food, feelings/emotions, and aesthetics.
HealthCommunityHur sår community gardens fröet för gemenskap
2021Lovisa Ekvall · · Europe
A study examines how social capital is generated within community gardens through semi-structured qualitative interviews with members holding board positions, drawing on the theoretical framework of prior studies by Firth et al. (2011) and Kingsley and Townsend (2006). The findings indicate that the professional roles and education of those in administrative positions are important for building social capital, and that good relations with municipal and public authority representatives strengthen it further. The study identifies the creation of a "third place" for unconstrained interaction among participants, and working in smaller groups, as factors that open opportunities for inclusion and new relationships.
CommunityBetween Village, Utopian Settlement, and Garden City
2021Ines Peper · University of Vienna · Europe
A paper on Eisenheim, a company housing settlement founded in 1844 near Oberhausen in Germany's Ruhr region by the mining company Gutehoffnungshütte, historically situates today's discourse on urban agriculture. It examines urban gardening and agricultural facilities at Eisenheim, then places the case within the broader development of urban agriculture from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, comparing it to four other "model villages" — including those of Krupp, BASF, and Farbwerke Höchst — with differing ideological and socio-economic backgrounds. The analysis centers on how access to land was organized and what property regimes affected long-term preservation of agricultural land use, how subsistence agriculture affected residents' food resilience, diet quality, and household income formation, and how subsistence gardening and settlements' green-space layout contributed to residents' community life.
CommunityUrban–rural linkagePolicyUrban Farming sebagai Solusi Ekonomis dimasa Pendemi Covid-19 (di Kelurahan Gilingan , Kecamatan Banjarsari, Surakarta)
2021Siti Hayati Efi Friantin, Ika Swasti Putri · TA AWUN · Indonesia
In the Cinderejo Kidul area of Gilingan Village, Banjarsari District, Surakarta, Indonesia, a community service program trained residents in urban farming—using narrow plots or house yards—as a way to reduce household expenses during the Covid-19 pandemic. The activity reported that participants were able to apply urban farming techniques in their surrounding environment following the training.
EconomicsCommunityRuralización revisitada para la gestión de recursos hídricos en zonas urbanas
2021Masato Kobiyama, Karla Campagnolo, Marina Refatti Fagundes · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Global
This literature review traces the institutional and scientific history of hydrology's growing focus on urban areas, where population density and socioeconomic and environmental problems concentrate. It argues urbanization has negative hydrological effects by removing natural vegetation, soil, and rainwater conditions, and revisits the concept of "ruralization"—proposed in 2000 as the reverse of urbanization—through hydrological, philosophical, and applied lenses, detailing measures such as urban rainwater storage, rainwater harvesting, and urban agriculture, while stating that all such practices should be grounded in data obtained from experimental watersheds (bacias-escola).
PolicyCommunityThe ‘food, senses, and the city’ nexus
2021Ferne Edwards, R Gerritsen, G Wesser · · Global
This chapter examines how food practices enter, move through, settle into, disrupt, and redesign cities—as community gardens and foraging sites, health food stores and farmers' markets, freegan and vegan forms of protest and dietary reform, shared tables, and food trucks and new forms of food delivery—arguing that people's engagement with food shapes the form and feel of the city through tactile, affective, and embodied relationships between people, place, and products. It reviews the "sensory turn" in the social sciences and research methodologies that go beyond the written word, and closes with a summary of the edited volume's sections addressing migration, memory, home, inclusion, politics, and care.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkage