Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
724 results(19 / 29)
Fortalecer los programas de orientación ambiental del Jardín Botánico de Bogotá en comunidades educativas de Bogotá
2018José Darío Barragán Romero, Johana Andrea Gutiérrez Rivera · · Colombia (Bogotá)
This document illustrates how urban agriculture is being applied in Bogotá, with the assistance of the Bogotá Botanical Garden (JBB), particularly in educational institutions. The objective is for young people to understand the benefits of urban agriculture through educational processes and replicate this information in their homes. The work consists of three parts: a photographic record of the gardens in educational institutions assisted by the JBB, the creation of a list of plant species suitable for cultivation in Bogotá, and a compilation of research related to the JBB on urban agriculture.
Food educationCommunityBiodiversityThe Smallest Sprouts
2018Katrina Hoch · · Global
Involving children in decisions and preparations for activities, particularly in natural settings, increases their enthusiasm and understanding of the food system. A 2015 systematic review of 13 studies found that participation in school garden programs led to an increased preference for vegetables. School gardens provide individual, interpersonal, and social benefits, engaging children in broader themes such as protecting biodiversity.
Food educationHealthBiodiversityAprovechamiento de los residuos sólidos a través del compostaje en la Escuela Tecnológica ITC
2018Fabiola Mejía, Clara Liliana Montero, Lina Marcela Arango, Emily Johanna Bermúdez · Letras ConCiencia TecnoLógica · Colombia (Bogotá)
At the Escuela Tecnológica Instituto Técnico Central (ETITC) in Bogotá, Colombia, a process for utilizing organic waste through composting was implemented. Following an "Urban Agriculture" workshop, organic waste from the ETITC cafeteria was collected and identified. Different mixtures were created to produce compost, which was then used in seedbeds and for transplanting seedlings. This research aimed to demonstrate the potential of using organic waste for compost production.
CompostFood educationOrganic cycleJames Greenlees’ school garden and the suburban dream in colonial Australia
2018Kay Whitehead · Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes · Australia (Adelaide)
The public school at Plympton, although one of the smallest in the suburbs of Adelaide, has a reputation of its own. The headmaster, Mr. J. Greenlees, is an enthusiast in manual training.
Food educationCommunityKnowledge and Experience Related to Community Supported Agriculture and Local Foods among Nutrition Educators
2018Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler, Jared T. McGuirt, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Jennifer Garner, Karla L. Hanson, Jane Kolodinsky, Marilyn Sitaker · Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · Global
This qualitative study examined nutrition educators' (n=20 in telephone interviews, n=17 in focus groups) experiences, knowledge, and beliefs about local foods. Most educators identified as local food advocates, but few had direct experience with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Variability across seasons, financial issues, and risk of spoilage were identified as challenges of using seasonal, local foods within programming.
CSA & TeikeiFood educationCommunityHealthGreen Green: a Community Gardening Story
2018Cynthia Frazier · ScholarsArchive (Brigham Young University) · Global
This story describes the transformation of a garbage-filled empty lot into a beautiful green space through community effort. It illustrates how community gardens and green spaces can spread throughout a neighborhood, from parks to rooftops. The narrative inspires people to create community gardens and highlights the importance of bees and butterflies.
CommunityBiodiversityDIYFood educationTrends of Garden Based Learning Approach: Example of School Garden Applications (2000-2015)
2018Mustafa Ürey · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · Global
A descriptive content analysis of 162 articles published between 2000 and 2015 in 21 journals examined trends in school gardening practices. The analysis found that school garden practices aim to develop academic performance and healthy living skills, primarily involving pre-school and primary school students. These practices were found to positively affect academic performance, healthy living skills, and individual and social skills development.
Food educationCommunityHealthRecherche, sélection et valorisation pédagogique de documents audiovisuels portant des thématiques de développement durable : Agriculture urbaine et Alimentation.
2018Rachelle Toinette · · Global
This paper describes an internship experience at the FReDD association, which works on disseminating and valorizing audiovisual materials as a means of raising awareness and educating the public on sustainable development and environmental issues. The internship involved tasks such as video transcription, audiovisual research, participation in various events, and notably the creation of educational sheets for a young audience on the themes of food and urban agriculture, addressing sustainable development challenges.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeForest School is for everyone
2018Hannah Powell · Educating Young Children: Learning and Teaching in the Early Childhood Years · Australia
Kurilpa Community Child Care in West End operates a multi-age forest school program weekly at a local community garden's wild-space native plants area. This initiative enables children from a highly urbanized area to develop meaningful relationships with the environment and benefit from ongoing exposure to local green spaces.
CommunityFood educationHealthIn the Shadow of a Willow Tree: A Community Garden Experiment in Decolonising, Multispecies Research
2018Kate Wright · Cultural Studies Review · Australia (New South Wales)
A postdoctoral project involving collaboratively planting and maintaining a community garden on land that was once part of the East Armidale Aboriginal Reserve in New South Wales, Australia, began in 2014. This research offers a personal narrative of involvement in an anti-colonial multispecies research project within the confines of a neoliberal university, interrogating the potential and limitations of anti-colonial projects undertaken from colonial subject positions predicated on social and environmental privilege.
Governance failureCommunityFood educationPolicySustainability as a motive for leisure-time gardening: a view from the ‘veggie patch’
2018Shelley Burgin · International Journal of Environmental Studies · Global
This paper reports a desktop survey investigating the drivers of sustainability that motivate leisure-time gardening in private (backyard) and public (community) gardens, against a background of limited understanding of sustainability at the individual level. The survey found little mention of the "three pillars" of sustainability, and they were seldom interlinked. The study suggests the necessity to raise awareness of sustainability in an individual’s everyday leisure activities.
CommunityDIYClimate changeFood educationReviewing University Community Gardens for Sustainability: taking stock, comparisons with urban community gardens and mapping research opportunities
2018Rebecca Laycock Pedersen, Zoë Robinson · Local Environment · Global
This paper systematically reviewed literature on University Community Gardens for Sustainability (UCGS) to suggest directions for future research. UCGS face challenges with transient and inexperienced student gardeners but have the potential for a lasting impact on young people's food behaviors. The literature shows that UCGS have similar benefits to urban community gardens, with a greater emphasis on educational and environmental sustainability benefits.
CommunityFood educationClimate changeUrban Agriculture in Helsinki, Finland
2017Hagolani-Albov S.E. · Focus on Geography, Vol. 60, No. 1 · Finland (Helsinki)
This photographic study documents four forms of urban agriculture in Helsinki — colony allotments, market gardens, box gardening, and community-supported agriculture — tracing over a century of practice and illustrating how urban farming is spatially and institutionally embedded in the city.
CommunityBiodiversityFood educationInch by inch: Making our gardens grow
2017Rita Beck Neal, Nanci Weinberger · Bryant Digital Repository (Bryant University) · Global
School garden programs have a long history of success, primarily in elementary schools. Child care centers are well-suited for gardens due to year-round operation, but teachers often lack familiarity with gardening and plant science. Obstacles to implementing gardens in child care environments include teachers' unfamiliarity, concerns about messy outdoor settings, and strenuous labor.
Food educationCommunityCOMMUNITY GARDENS AND ECOLOGICAL CITIZENSHIP: THEIR POTENTIAL AND LIMITATIONS IN FOSTERING ENVIRONMENTALISM
2017Michael Kennedy · OpenSIUC (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) · Global
Community gardens can serve as important local greenspaces to address environmental degradation and educate individuals about the importance of food and the environment. However, certain barriers need to be overcome and addressed before community gardens are successfully implemented. Participation and interaction within community gardens may provide a pathway to long-term commitment to sustainability, encouraging individuals to adopt more environmentally supportive behaviors and a deeper commitment to environmentalism.
Governance failureCommunityFood educationBiodiversityClimate changeGrowing Green: Urban Gardening
2017Emilee Bell · ScholarsArchive (Brigham Young University) · Global
Carol Hand’s book "Growing Green: Urban Gardening" weaves a history of gardening with practical application, inviting readers of all ages to introduce gardens into their lifestyles. The book explains global gardening traditions and future trends, emphasizing the many benefits of gardening, new vocabulary, and do-it-yourself methods. It discusses community, school, home, and personal garden options, as well as strategies for combating challenges urban dwellers might face, such as pollution, space, and vandals.
DIYFood educationCommunityHealthExamining the Relationship Between Level of Participation in Community Gardens and their Multiple Functions
2017Jaime M. Booth, Darren Chapman, Mary L. Ohmer, Kai Wei · Journal of Community Practice · Global
This study surveyed 115 regular, occasional, and non-community garden participants in a disadvantaged neighborhood to examine the relationship between participation levels and health behaviors, psychological well-being, and community perceptions. Regular and occasional participants reported better mental health. Occasional participants reported higher vegetable intake, while regular participants reported a stronger sense of community.
CommunityHealthFood educationSchool gardening in Bhutan: Evaluating outcomes and impact
2017Pepijn Schreinemachers, Bal Bdr, Desang Dorji, Hsiao-pu Chen, Thinley Dukpa, Namgay Thinley, Passang Lhamo Sherpa, Ray-Yu Yang · Food Security · Bhutan
A study in Bhutan investigated the combined effect of school gardens, complementary lessons, and promotional activities on the eating behavior and nutritional status of 468 schoolchildren aged 9-15. Data from 9 control and 9 treatment schools using a randomized controlled trial design showed that the intervention significantly increased children's awareness of vegetables, knowledge of sustainable agriculture, and preferences for healthier foods. There was an 11.7-percentage point increase in the probability of children including vegetables in their meals, but no change in the number of different fruits or vegetables consumed.
Food educationHealthCommunityExploring potential community gardens in Thessaloniki
2017Rachel Lee Swanson · Digital WPI · Greece (Thessaloniki)
This project in Thessaloniki, Greece, aimed to understand the impact of community gardens and identify potential new sites, given the city's loss of green space due to urbanization and fiscal crisis. It found significant potential for community gardens but noted a lack of citizen awareness. The study suggests outreach campaigns could engage individuals with their communities by informing them about garden benefits.
CommunityPolicyFood educationSchool Gardens: A Qualitative Study on Implementation Practices
2017Nele Huys, Katrien De Cocker, Marieke De Craemer, Marleen Roesbeke, Greet Cardon, Sara De Lepeleere · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Belgium (Ghent)
In four primary schools in Ghent, Belgium, twelve interviews with 14 key members and five focus groups with 38 children (fifth to sixth grade, 10-13 years old) were conducted to investigate school garden implementation practices and perceptions. School gardens were primarily initiated to involve children in nature, not to improve vegetable consumption. Participants were positive about school gardens but also experienced various barriers, including difficulties with startup, maintenance during summer holidays, and integration into the school curriculum.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityHealthImportancia de los productos agrícolas del grupo hortofrutícola en la alimentación de poblaciones vulnerables
2017Blanca Rosa Restrepo de Peña, José Elvis Sierra Borras, Nubia Esperanza Suárez Suárez · CITAS · Colombia
This descriptive and interpretive study, using Participatory Action Research with 62 randomly sampled families in Loma Linda neighborhood, Soacha, Colombia, investigated urban agriculture's role in addressing food needs and improving family income. The study identified an extremely poor population with an average family income of 252,000 pesos, 49.9% aged 60+, 70% with primary education, and 30% illiteracy. Analysis showed that 50% of basic fruit and vegetable needs could be met through rudimentary but efficient community urban agriculture, leading to the production of family consumption products and commercializable surpluses.
WelfareEconomicsFood educationCommunityChanging children's eating behaviour - A review of experimental research
2017Patricia DeCosta, Per Møller, Michael Bom Frøst, Annemarie Olsen · Appetite · Global
This review of 120 experimental studies on children's eating behaviors found that controlling strategies for positive change appear counterproductive. Hands-on approaches like gardening and cooking programs may encourage greater vegetable consumption more effectively than nutrition education. Providing children with free, accessible fruits and vegetables was experimentally shown to positively affect long-term eating behavior.
Food educationHealthWhy forest gardening for children? Swedish forest garden educators' ideas, purposes, and experiences
2017Ellen Almers, Per Askerlund, Sofia Kjellström · The Journal of Environmental Education · Sweden
This qualitative study in Sweden explored forest garden educators' ideas and experiences in a three-year project with primary school children, using interviews and observations. It found that educators aimed to provide children with opportunities to feel belonging, experience self-regulation and systemic dependence, co-create with non-human organisms, and imagine place transformation. The study discusses four pedagogical features of forest gardens.
Food educationCommunityBiodiversityFarm to School Intensity Levels: A Systematic Review and Proposed Measurement Tool
2017Erin Vernoni, Jessica Price, Shoko Kumagai · · Global
A systematic review of quantitative peer-reviewed Farm to School (FTS) research found ambiguity and variability in FTS inputs. This makes it difficult to generalize outcomes for policymakers. The study proposes a pre-tested intensity measurement tool to standardize research in this area.
Methodological critiqueFood educationCommunityPolicyHealthProposition 12: Increase access to a variety of locally relevant recreational facilities and green spaces
2017Ann Forsyth, Emily Salomon, Laura Smead · · Global
Green spaces and recreational facilities offer various health benefits, including urban cooling, opportunities for physical fitness and ecological education, improved water and air quality, refuge from traffic and noise, and enhanced mental health. An analysis of 10 British studies on green exercise found that as little as five minutes of outdoor activity was sufficient for mental health improvements. While increased recreational activity is less consistently linked to the built environment, with other factors like cost and personal preferences being more significant, access to recreational facilities can still provide opportunities for recreation.
HealthFood educationCommunity