Research & reports

Beverly Christian, Karyn A. Cameron, Robyn Pearce · Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education · Australia

This qualitative case study explored how an established environmentally friendly garden program at one Australian primary school contributed to the development of core competencies. The study revealed that gardening, as part of the school program, provided opportunities for students to develop the general capabilities outlined in the Australian Curriculum. This research addresses a gap in the literature regarding how primary schools embed competencies into their learning programs.

Byoung-Kwon Lee, Hyung-Kwon Yun, In-Kyoung Hong, Young-Bin Jung, Sangmi Lee, Sang-Deok Lee · Journal of people, plants, and environment · Global

This study investigated the effects of French marigold, zinnia, spearmint, and basil as companion plants at 10, 20, and 40 cm spacing on cherry tomato growth and fruit quality. Statistical differences were found in stem thickness and total number of fruits per plant, but not in plant height, total fresh weight of fruits, sugar content, fruit hardness, or vitamin C. Stem thickness decreased when spearmint and basil were planted at 20 cm or 40 cm compared to the control, and only zinnia at 40 cm increased the total number of fruits per plant.

Caputo Silvio, Dorr Erica, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Hawes Jason K., Lelièvre Agnes, Newell Josh, Poniży Lidia, Schoen Victoria, Jean-Soro Liliane, Specht Kathrin, Yaman Rokiah · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

The three-year FEW-meter project, funded by the Sustainable Urbanization Global Initiative, was developed by an international consortium from France, Germany, Poland, the UK, and the US. It investigated the Food-Water-Energy (FEW) nexus in urban agriculture through collaboration between researchers, farmers, gardeners, and various associations. This report presents the main outcomes of the project, which involved co-production of knowledge and feedback on methodology and data analysis.

Ramon Majé Floriano · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia (Pitalito Huila)

The STEM community gardens project aims to contribute to food security in the San Francisco, Santa Inés, and Holland villages of the Pitalito Huila municipality in Colombia. This report describes the project's development through three phases: immersion, transfer, and communication.

Anna Grichting · · Qatar

This teaching experience, conducted over seven years at Qatar University, addressed the challenge of food production in desert regions within graduate and undergraduate architecture and urbanism courses. Students designed productive architectural and urban landscapes through vertical farming, community gardening, and urban farms, among other methods. Outcomes included an increase in the integration of food production systems into student projects and a vision for Qatar University as an "edible campus."

Nam-Gyeong Gim, Nam-gyeong Gim · The Jounal of Cultural Exchange · Cuba

This study explored strategic methods for effective school garden operation in elementary schools, focusing on Cuba's organopónico system. It conducted a PEST analysis of organopónico to extract technological strengths relevant to school garden education and a SWOT analysis of domestic elementary school gardens from an operational perspective. Findings suggest organopónico offers solutions for limited space through cantero farming and highlights organic farming using living organisms as a key method for strategic linkage in school gardens.

Beverly Christian, Jason Morton · TEACH Journal of Christian Education · Australia

A case study in one Australian primary school used focus groups to gather children's perceptions of how a school garden program impacted their actualisation of values. The study found that the garden program's organizational elements positively impacted the actualisation of intrapersonal and interpersonal values among children.

Lorena Suárez Peña, Romina Alejandra Robles Calderón, José María Jiménez Carillo, Luis René Justiniano Lujan, Leevan Salvatierra Burgos, Aharon Jazielt Andrade Sandy · Revista 3i Ingeniería Innovación Investigación · Bolivia

This quantitative study diagnosed the viability of implementing urban gardens in El Torno Municipality, Bolivia, by identifying residents' knowledge and perceived barriers. Findings indicate that despite a lack of knowledge, the population is willing to implement urban gardens, considering school gardens an optimal option. The study concludes that implementing urban gardens in El Torno Municipality is viable, with a genuine interest in promoting urban agriculture as a sustainable and beneficial solution for the community.

Junce Zhou, Taoze Sun, Xiaohua Guo, Wei Wang, Hongna Mu · Horticulture International Journal · Global

This study introduced the concept of Edible Landscape into university campus planning and design under COVID-19 pandemic circumstances. Construction principles of healing, practicality, ecology, economy, and adaptation to local conditions were illustrated, and a construction strategy was proposed to assist teaching and research activities, alleviate negative emotions, and produce fresh fruits and vegetables. This strategy aims to offset the shortcoming of traditional ornamental-value-centered landscapes.

Caroline Burner, William R. Veal · Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education · Global

This case study evaluated The Green Thumb Project's eight-week Youth Internship Program in an urban community garden, assessing 12 participants' changes in career preparedness skills, healthy living attitudes, and content knowledge using mixed methods. Results indicated the program was effective in positively changing all interns' skills, attitudes, and knowledge. Significant positive relationships between these areas suggested that learning gains in one area contributed to gains in others, demonstrating the program's effectiveness in personal, professional, and academic growth.

Kathy 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.

Ranjan Datta, Jean Kayira, Prarthona Datta · · Global

This chapter explores how land-based environmental education fosters cross-cultural, community-led climate change resilience, especially for children and youth. Focusing on a relational approach in a cross-cultural community garden, the authors investigated how land-based learning builds community connectedness and revitalizes knowledge, languages, and practices. The study found that this approach creates an intercultural and intergenerational space to address climate change challenges and celebrate successes.

Brandon Edwards-Schuth, Marco Cerqueira · Northwest Journal of Teacher Education · Global

This paper suggests that an anti-fascist guerrilla gardening (Plantifa) curriculum provides educational opportunities for community activism. It utilizes anti-fascist, decolonizing, and eco-justice frameworks to connect learners with their communities, local ecosystems, history, and permaculture. The curriculum involves mapping local terrain, identifying plants, and considering food-bearing plants for community needs.

Dongqing Wang, Leonard K. Katalambula, Andrea R Modest, Tara A. Young, Abbas Ismail, Mary Mwanyika‐Sando, Amani Tinkasimile, Dominic Mosha, Augustine Malero, Said Vuai, Wafaie Fawzi · BMJ Open · Tanzania

This study is a protocol for the Meals, Education, and Gardens for In-School Adolescents (MEGA) project, a cluster-randomized controlled trial aiming to implement and evaluate an integrated, school-based nutrition intervention package among secondary schools in the Chamwino District of Dodoma, Tanzania. Six public secondary schools will be assigned to three different arms, receiving either the full intervention, a partial intervention, or serving as controls. The intervention will be implemented for one academic year, with baseline and end-line quantitative data collected from 750 adolescents and 750 parents.

Jennifer D. Paño, Jeralden Jumao-as, Marchee T. Picardal · Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal · Global

This meta-synthesis of 22 published articles examined the impact of garden-based education (GBE) on the cognitive domain of learning. Five themes emerged: experiential learning, meaningful learning, explicit and implicit learning, discovery learning, and transmissible learning. GBE is a successful program contributing to the improvement of academic performance, although there is no standard template for its implementation.

Theodore Ngoufo Sogang, Youssouf Monkouop · Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment · Cameroon

This article proposes a framework for understanding the past, present, and future of urban agriculture in Cameroon, focusing on the period from 1993 to 2017. It examines the subject through five fundamental notions: International Relations and Geopolitical Agriculture, Urban Economic Agriculture, Environmental and Food Climate Stakes, and Science and Culture adapted to agricultural and food mutations. The study aims to provide a comparative review of agriculture in transition by integrating historical, social, economic, and diplomatic perspectives.

Ramon Majé Floriano · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Colombia

The STEM community gardens project aims to contribute to food security in the San Francisco, Santa Inés, and Holland villages of the Pitalito Huila municipality in Colombia. This report outlines the project's development through three phases: immersion, transfer, and communication.

Shahin Keynoush, Ehsan Daneshyar · Sustainability · Global

This research defines a pedagogical framework for an architecture Graduate Design Studio, pursuing three objectives: connecting buildings and landscapes to facilitate walkability, incorporating green elements into buildings and landscapes to increase available green space in cities, and envisioning built environments where fresh local food can be cultivated, processed, and distributed by incorporating urban agriculture into buildings and landscapes. These objectives align with the core concept of social sustainability, including improving residents' well-being and quality of life. The framework was implemented in the Graduate Studio, with four design project samples presented as outcomes.

Lalehan DOĞAN, Akın Efendioğlu · Çukurova Araştırmaları Dergisi · Global

A study observed the outdoor play areas of 40 primary schools across four central districts of Adana Province, Turkey, selected by quota sampling during the 2021–2022 school year, using a primary school garden play area observation form. Play area per student was found to be insufficient. Hopscotch was the most commonly present game. Swings, slides and seesaws belonged to the preschool classes attached to the primary schools and were used by preschool children. Painted line games had faded in most schools. Football goalposts, basketball hoops and volleyball posts needed repainting in some schools, and basketball hoops were found to be too high for students' developmental stage. Most sports areas were shared with ceremonies and other play uses. Primary school garden play areas were generally clean but dominated by hard surfaces such as concrete, stone and asphalt, with insufficient provision of natural areas.

Hongya Tang · Journal of Architectural Research and Development · Global

A conceptual paper examining the aesthetic education function of urban agricultural landscape. It argues that urban agricultural landscape carries a distinct local aesthetic value expressed mainly through the beauty of traditional agricultural skills, agricultural landscapes, and agricultural activities, and classifies its vernacular aesthetic education development into three modes based on differing ways people interact with the environment: a viewing mode, short-time contact, and long-time immersion.

Luz Andrea Táutiva-Merchán, Tomás Enrique León-Sicard, María Fernanda Garrido Rubiano · Agricultura Sociedad y Desarrollo · Colombia

A study of three existing urban agriculture demonstration spaces run by the Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research (AGROSAVIA) in the departments of Córdoba, Cundinamarca and Nariño, Colombia, characterized their economic, social, institutional and technological features and analyzed participants' perceptions of training workshops held between 2015 and 2016. Based on 17 semi-structured interviews, 64 online surveys and the systematization of two collaborative-construction workshops with external actors, the study developed a proposal centered on experience exchange directed mainly at women (66%) and students aged 18-28 (30%), and suggested community activities in "satellite" spaces focused on recovering knowledge and collaborative research, supported by four lines of action: knowledge exchange, co-innovation, dissemination, and training.

María Martíncrespo-Blanco, David Varillas‐Delgado, Saray Blanco-Abril, María‐Gema Cid‐Expósito, Juana Robledo‐Martín · Nutrients · Global

In a randomised, parallel-group controlled trial of children aged 3–5, this study evaluated the medium-term effect of an intervention programme on adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The experimental group took part in a school garden, while the control group received the usual lessons on the human body and health; adherence was assessed with the KIDMED questionnaire, controlling for weight, height, BMI, and socio-demographic variables. BMI was reduced in the experimental group after one year and at the end of follow-up. For the overall KIDMED score, a statistical trend between the two groups was observed but did not reach significance (p = 0.076). In multivariate analysis, eating pulses more than once a week predicted improved diet quality, with an odds ratio of 1.382 in the experimental group (95% CI 1.126–1.695; p = 0.009). The study concludes that the intervention improved participants' diet quality via increased consumption of plant-based protein.

Nur Bahiah Mohamed Haris, Nur Amanina Yunus, Jasmin Arif Shah · International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · Malaysia

A structured questionnaire (via Google Form) using simple random sampling surveyed 353 participants across Peninsular Malaysia, applying the Community Readiness Model (CRM) framework and analyzing the data in IBM SPSS (version 26) to assess levels of the independent variables knowledge, attitude, and leadership alongside community readiness for urban farming practices. Levels of all three independent variables and of community readiness were high, and knowledge, attitude, and leadership each contributed significantly to community readiness.

Sarvenaz Pakravan, Shahin Keynoush, Ehsan Daneshyar · Sustainability · Global

An essay noting the global population is increasing while agricultural land per capita is declining, and that feeding a projected 9.1 billion people by 2050 would require global agricultural output to grow by roughly 60% to 110%, positioning urban agriculture as an alternative that could reduce this future burden. In response, interior architecture design studio-V (INT 401) proposes a futuristic vision built on urban agriculture and defines a pedagogical framework around three notions: (1) residential urban agriculture, (2) a context- and culture-based design approach, and (3) social sustainability, itself structured as development, bridge and maintenance sustainability. This is a proposed teaching framework rather than an empirical study.

Gabriel Elías Chanchí Golondrino, Manuel Alejandro Ospina Alarcón, Manuel Saba · Revista Científica · Global

Motivated by the growing trend of urban agriculture, this study built an IoT system for monitoring and analyzing climatological variables relevant to urban agriculture crops. Development followed four phases: selection of tools and technologies, IoT system architecture design, prototype construction, and a case study on a lettuce crop. The resulting system used open-source hardware and software tools within the conventional four-layer IoT architecture (capture, storage, analysis, visualization). Its stated advantage over existing solutions is the use of portable single-board-computer (SBC) platforms and the inclusion of machine-learning models in the analysis layer. The case study, carried out on a home lettuce crop, concluded that the chosen tools adequately captured, monitored, and analyzed climatological variables of interest, and that the analysis models can be customized to a crop's agroclimatic characteristics, making them useful for decisions related to crop physiology.