Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
9077 results(150 / 364)
Evaluation of green roof structures and substrates for Lactuca sativa L. in tropical conditions
2021A. Varela, Alexandra Sandoval-Albán, Marcela Muñoz, Alfonso Goméz Gómez, Manuel Bogoya, Germán Combariza · Urban forestry & urban greening · Global
This study evaluated the optimal combination of three different modular extensive green roof structures and two types of local substrates (compost and soil + biochar) for Lactuca sativa L. var. crispa (lettuce) growth under tropical climate conditions, measuring physicochemical and biological properties of substrates and plant growth variables over seven weeks under rainy and dry conditions. A monolithic multilayer structure, high Mg concentrations, elevated amounts of 600 μm aggregates, and lower substrate bulk density were linked with higher L. sativa yield, but the specific substrate used was not associated with this result. Some physicochemical and microbiological properties of substrates changed by the experiment's end, with these changes dependent on climatic conditions.
DIYCompostClimate changeStarting Community Non-profit Systems
2021Robert M Schulman · VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) · United States (Virginia)
This study provides guidance for other institutions to establish community gardens for providing fresh, local, and healthy food to those in need, based on the experiences of a community garden established at a religious congregation in Sterling, Virginia. Entering its fourth year of operation, this case study also addresses the expansion of its mission beyond food to include an educational outreach aspect. Two forms of outreach are envisioned: publishing a newsletter to the congregation to increase interest and volunteerism, and instituting on-site workshops to educate interested members on how to establish a food garden.
CommunityFood educationWelfareThe morphological impact of municipal planning instruments on urban agriculture
2021Ana Mélice Dias, Teresa Marat-Mendes · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Portugal (Lisbon)
This paper investigated the impact of municipal planning instruments on urban agriculture in Lisbon and its surrounding territory, Portugal. It concluded that current planning regulations in Lisbon’s Greater Area are specifically focused on morphological solutions that give preference to urban agriculture uses related to leisure and aesthetic solutions, to the detriment of design solutions that tackle economic growth or ecological diversity.
Economic viabilityPolicyEconomicsUrban agriparks of algiers: a sustainable modality of urban agriculture?
2021Sara Bouzekri, Saïd Madani, Christine AUBRY · Bulletin de la Société Géographique de Liège · Algeria (Algiers)
This paper diagnosed the sustainability of urban agriculture in agriparks within the Chéraga commune of Algiers, Algeria. Applying a double sustainability method (internal and external) proposed by Ba and Aubry (2011), the study identified several major challenges to optimize urban agriculture sustainability, reduce deficiencies, and remedy observed imbalances.
Climate changePolicyUrban–rural linkageA 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 changeEvaluating Subsurface Clay Pot Irrigation: Water Use Efficiency and Crop Yield in School-Managed Vegetable Gardens, Dodoma Region
2021Grace Mwajuma, Juma Kisimba, Neema Mwamakula · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Tanzania
This intervention study assessed subsurface clay pot irrigation versus traditional hand-watering basins in 12 primary school vegetable gardens in Tanzania's Dodoma Region. Clay pot irrigation significantly increased mean water use efficiency by 65% and marketable amaranth yield by 42%. Tomato yield showed a positive but non-significant trend, and qualitative feedback indicated reduced labor burden for students.
Food educationHealthDIYThe school garden in the primary school: meeting the challenges and reaping the benefits
2021Sandra Austin · Education 3-13 · Ireland
This qualitative study aimed to describe how school gardens are used and valued in Irish primary schools, using site visits and interviews with program drivers. Schools utilize gardens imaginatively for children's development, with key factors driving success. Teachers value gardens as learning arenas, spaces for pastoral care, and focal points for school and community involvement.
Food educationHealthCommunitySTEM learning spaces
2021Anne Forbes, Vinesh Chandra, Linda Pfeiffer, Rachel Sheffield · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Australia
This textbook introduces pre-service teachers to STEM education in primary schools, using a project-based learning approach. It integrates STEM elements with the Australian Curriculum through a school garden project case study. The text explores popular STEM topics with age-appropriate examples and connects current research to teaching practice, covering assessment, learning spaces, and community.
Food educationResources: Resource Conservation and Waste Management
2021David Satterthwaite · · Global
This chapter discusses innovations such as improvements in energy efficiency in housing, the trend of recognizing waste streams as resource streams, and innovations in urban agriculture and urban forestry that reduce cities' ecological footprints. A factor constraining government action on resource conservation and waste reduction is concern over employment costs. In most cities in the Global South, the potential for new employment in resource conservation is rather less due to lower resource use and higher levels of recycling, reclamation, and reuse.
Organic cycleClimate changeEconomicsRefugee Community Gardens and the Politics of Self-Help
2021Cecilia M. Tsu · Amerasia Journal · United States
This article examines community gardens established for refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in the United States during the 1980s. It argues that refugee gardeners perceived a significant disconnect between their rural lives in Southeast Asia and the role of vegetable growing in the U.S., despite advocates emphasizing continuity with their past. The gardens provided a measure of economic empowerment, but highlighted the disjuncture in their resettlement experience.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceResearch on the Development Status and Strategy of Productive Rooftop Gardens on Commercial Complexes
2021Jie Zheng, Lulu Sun · Journal of Resources and Ecology · China
This paper assessed the development status of productive rooftop gardens on urban commercial complexes in China using methods including ArcGIS, field research, and questionnaire interviews. Results indicated an uneven spatial distribution of productive rooftop gardens in mainland China, with 84.21% located in the southeast coast and Sichuan region. While the number of rooftop gardens has increased since 2013, operators still experience challenges in policies, funds, and planting knowledge.
CommunityEconomicsFood educationUrban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
2021Prem Nath · · Global
This paper discusses the challenges of urbanization and population growth and the potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) to address food demand, poverty, and unemployment. Various international conferences and initiatives have highlighted the importance of UPA and horticultural crops. However, it has been realized that very few countries have actually investigated the real opportunities and constraints linked to the urban agriculture sector.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justicePolicyLong term snow tracking data of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and martens (Martes sp.) indicates an increase in number of mesocarnivores in urban area of Warsaw
2021Mateusz Jackowiak, Jakub Gryz, Karolina Jasińska, Dagny Krauze‐Gryz · · Poland (Warsaw)
Density changes of red foxes and martens were investigated in the urban area of Warsaw from 2015-2021 using winter snow tracking. Results were compared with data from 1976-1978 and 2005-2008, showing a gradual increase in the average density of both mesocarnivores across all habitat types since the 1970s. A decrease in density for both species was observed in the 2017/2018 winter season, with the reasons for this decline remaining unclear.
BiodiversityPerspectivas de la agricultura urbana y periurbana para la seguridad alimentaria en Colombia
2021Sandra Patricia Montenegro Gómez, Yulian Adalberto Sepúlveda Casadiego · Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia eBooks · Colombia
This paper contextualizes relevant experiences and technical tools for implementing urban and peri-urban agroecological orchards in Colombia. It notes that urban and peri-urban agriculture can alleviate food insecurity and create jobs, but currently, Colombia lacks government policies to support these processes. The study aims to transfer knowledge on crops to communities to strengthen food security through vegetable production.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityEcology, landscape and urban agriculture. An innovative envelope for vertical farms
2021Valerio Morabito · TECHNE - Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment · Global
This text explores the relationship between ecology and landscape architecture, and urban agriculture and vertical farm experiments through the lens of circular economy and recycling. Urban agriculture plays ecological, social, cultural, and aesthetic roles, evolving into new architectural experiments with vertical farms. Finally, it describes a building envelope patent developed by APS spin-off UNIRC for organizing vertical farms in unfinished buildings.
Urban–rural linkageClimate changeDigital agricultureLandscape Design Project of Historical Yedikule Gardens (Istanbul)
2021Nurhan Koçan, Gökhan BALIK · Karadeniz Fen Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Istanbul)
This study focuses on a landscape design project for the Historical Yedikule Gardens in Istanbul, an urban agriculture area with 1500 years of history. The project aimed to reorganize the farmland to enhance its contribution to the urban green space system, provide economic gain and hobby areas for citizens, and preserve its cultural past. Conducted under historical environmental protection and urban agriculture area regulation principles, the renewed area, with its historical, cultural, and economic values, is shown to contribute to both users and the city.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityAlternativas económicas hacia la construcción de otros mundos posibles
2021Elizabeth Chaparro y Peredo · Encartes · Mexico (Guadalajara)
This study investigates alternative economic practices that emerged in response to structural crises, aiming to satisfy needs outside conventional markets, using Guadalajara, Mexico, as an example. By mapping actors in the city's alternative economies, a network of spaces promoting practices such as alternative markets, consumption cooperatives, community gardens, and bartering clubs was identified. These practices aim to foster community and autonomy, recovering social relations, the environment, and public health.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceEngineering
2021Anne Forbes, Vinesh Chandra, Linda Pfeiffer, Rachel Sheffield · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Australia
'STEM Education in the Primary School' introduces pre-service teachers to the theory, skills, and practice of teaching STEM through a project-based learning approach. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics elements are integrated with the Australian Curriculum through a school garden project case study. This textbook connects current research in STEM education to teaching practice through detailed discussions of topics including assessment, learning spaces, community, and STEM futures.
Food educationCommunityBodemkwaliteitsindicatoren voor stadslandbouw en stedelijk groen : wetenschappelijke basis en praktijktoepassing
2021Erik van den Elsen, P.F.A.M. Römkens, S.J.E. Verzandvoort, G.W. Korthals, Dorothee Leenders -van Tol, J. Bloem · · Netherlands (Amsterdam)
This report selects relevant soil quality indicators for assessing soil quality in the Amsterdam metropolitan region, specifically for 'urban agriculture' and 'urban green' applications. It notes that while agricultural soil quality indicators exist, specific ones for urban environments were lacking. A case study in Amsterdam's 'Fruittuinen van West' area develops an example for using these indicators in urban agriculture.
Organic cycleCommunityBiodiversityIn Search of Maudell Sleet's Garden
2021Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore · Southern cultures · United States
This article examines urban gardening practices by women in the New South during the early 20th century, which provided self-sufficiency and profits. It chronicles how urban planners and zoning eliminated most of these urban gardening opportunities by the late 1930s. The study considers these practices through two collages by artist Romare Bearden, focusing on the gardener Maudell Sleet.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyBiophilic Design, Regenerative Design, and Equity: An Intersection
2021Anne Debertin · · United States
This research studied how equity can exist at the intersection of regenerative and biophilic design strategies within an affordable housing model. Three case studies from Minneapolis, Santa Monica, and El Paso were examined using Terrapin’s Fourteen Patterns of Biophilic Design and the Living Building Challenge design guide. The analysis revealed that equity can operate through "place" (a Living Building Challenge imperative) and "connection to natural systems" (a Terrapin pattern). The study concluded that place and connection to natural systems have the potential to act as conduits to human and planetary equity.
CommunityClimate changePolicyHealthSocio-Cultural Appropriateness of the Use of Historic Persian Gardens for Modern Urban Edible Gardens
2021Majid Amani-Beni, Gaodi Xie, Qingjuan Yang, Alessio Russo, Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad · Land · Iran
This qualitative field study investigated whether the spatial and structural layout of six historic Persian gardens in four Iranian provinces is suitable for modern urban food gardening. The research suggested that combining elements of formal landscape design, non-edible decorative plants, and traditional artwork would increase the Persian gardens' attractiveness. It was found that separating productive units containing edible plants from public units using a central meeting spot populated by aesthetic plants and items may attract ordinary visitors interested in gardening without disturbing anyone's activities. The Persian gardens' multifunctionality, aesthetic value, and health-promoting qualities constitute a considerable historic achievement in garden design, making them a suitable model for edible urban gardening.
CommunityDIYFood educationUsing Different Substrate Materials (Local and Imported) For Producing Eggplant on Rooftops
2021· Current Science International · Egypt (Giza)
An experiment conducted in a rooftop garden in Giza, Egypt, during the summer seasons of 2019 and 2020 investigated the effect of nine different substrate mixtures on eggplant growth and yield. Sand:rice husks (1:1) v/v (SR1) resulted in the highest plant growth and yield, followed by sand:rice husks (2:1) v/v (SR2). When considering cost-effectiveness, SR2 was the cheapest growing medium, followed by SR1, with initial costs of 10.75 E.P and 13.5 E.P respectively, and average yields of 10.96 kg/m² and 12.68 kg/m².
DIYFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPutting the Garden Back: Cultivating Life through Urban Gardening in India
2021Camille Frazier · Hong Kong University Press eBooks · India (Bengaluru)
This paper examines motivations for organic terrace gardening among middle-class individuals in Bengaluru, India, who grow food for home consumption. Gardeners respond to worsening health and environmental conditions, but class and caste inequalities limit their engagement with a broader community of urban food producers. These inequalities restrict the transformative potential of organic terrace gardening as an intervention, indicating a critical finding regarding equity.
Equity & displacementDIYCommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justicePenerapan Hidroponik Rakit Apung Memakai Dobel Pompa Venturi di Kalurahan Karangasem, Kecamatan Laweyan, Kota Surakarta
2021Bambang Pujiasmanto, Eddy Triharyanto, Sulandjari Sulandjari, Pardono Pardono, Puji Harsono, Hery Widijanto, Desy Setyaningrum · Prosiding Seminar Nasional Fakultas Pertanian UNS · Indonesia (Surakarta)
In Karangasem Village, Laweyan District, Surakarta City, Indonesia, a community service activity aimed to provide productive activities for urban communities through vegetable cultivation using a hydroponic system. The method involved training and implementing a floating raft hydroponic cultivation system. This activity benefited the community by increasing the competitiveness of vegetable products, especially pak choy.
CommunityDIYFood education