Research & reports

Pepijn Schreinemachers, Ray-Yu Yang, Dhruba Raj Bhattarai, Bal Bdr, Mamounata Sandaogo Ouedraogo · · Global

Three cluster randomized controlled trials in Bhutan, Nepal, and Burkina Faso evaluated school garden programs. The interventions significantly improved children's knowledge about food and agriculture in all three countries, and awareness and preferences for fruits and vegetables in Bhutan and Nepal. However, these improvements did not lead to an increase in the frequency or variety of fruit and vegetable consumption in any of the countries.

Lexi Earl, Pat Thomson · · Global

This scholarship reviews current research on the history of school gardens, examining their purposes and practices through a discourse lens. It analyzes school garden movements in the US, Australia, and England, identifying a range of benefits and challenges. The study combines analyses to offer an analytic framework for case study materials.

Lexi Earl, Pat Thomson · · Global

This chapter considers the challenges faced by school gardens. School gardens often have tenuous links with subjects other than health, nutrition, geography, or science, and practical challenges exist in their establishment and maintenance. Key issues of teacher learning, management of resources, and school identity and ethos are also highlighted regarding school change. The chapter concludes with unanswered questions about the prospects for school gardening, particularly whether and how school gardens might be part of an educational solution to the questions posed by the pandemic and climate collapse.

Jana Walsh · · Global

In this chapter, Jana Walsh recounts her experience implementing nature journaling in her school garden with kindergarten students over a school year. Her research examined children's and her own sense of place and belonging, sense of story, and use of authentic literacy. The account indicates that children engaged in powerful learning with the assistance of the journals and the setting, and experienced a sense of peace and calmness as they built connections with the natural world.

Karácsony Zoltán · · Global

This paper presents three examples of urban plant cultivation directions. One of these,

S. Serra, P. Afonso, Tereza Cristina Lopes Duarte · Open Schools Journal for Open Science · Global

In a school in Portugal, an interdisciplinary "Green School" project, encompassing Natural Sciences, Mathematics, ICT, and other subjects, was implemented based on student interest. For this project, students were involved in planning, partnership building, execution, and maintenance of a school garden to improve school green spaces. As a result, throughout the school year, changes in behavior regarding the garden and care for green spaces were observed among participating students and the wider school community.

Lenka Dubová, Jan Macháč, Alena Vacková · Sustainability · Czechia

To understand the drivers for inhabitants of Czech cities joining community gardens, data was obtained through an online survey from 28 community gardens across Czechia. The importance of different drivers was examined using statistical analysis and logit models. The research showed that the main motivation for members is not crop production itself, but rather the spending of leisure time, social contact, and relaxation.

Nick Roskruge · · New Zealand

In New Zealand, the resurgence of Māori school gardens (māra) reflects a broader trend of intergenerational activities introducing younger generations to food cultivation. Māori mara, historically used for food production (mara kai) to support families and communities, are seen as contributing to the well-being of participants beyond just growing food. Tahuri Whenua initiated its first project, "Spud-in-a-bucket," in 2008, promoting it to all schools, especially Māori immersion schools.

Iván Dario Gómez Raigozo, Jaime Andres Chico Prada · · Colombia (Bogotá)

This abstract describes support provided to the environmental education program of the Bogotá Botanical Garden "Jose Celestino Mutis". The program targets various interest groups in the Suba, Engativá, and Usaquén localities, addressing themes such as environmental interpretation, urban agriculture, and silviculture. The aim is to foster knowledge for sustainable development and a lifestyle aligned with environmental and climatic realities.

Leonie K. Fischer, Jonah L. Landor-Yamagata, Ingo Kowarik · · Global

This paper illustrates the benefits of urban foraging, the practice of collecting wild-growing edible plants in urban green spaces worldwide. It describes how ecological and cultural knowledge intertwine in this practice and elucidates approaches used in urban foraging studies globally, including an example from Berlin, Germany. The paper also highlights challenges and opportunities for urban greenspace planning and management related to foraging.

Cynthia Ellis Topsey, Anabel Ford, Sherman Horn · Heritage · Global

This narrative describes an education outreach project in archaeology that incorporates local collaboration, focusing on ancient Maya heritage and the Maya forest garden. The project is centered on the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna, with activities at the Cayo Welcome Center, Chak Ha Col forest garden, and Känan K’aax School Garden. It highlights that community partnerships require acknowledging tangible heritage, formal information outlets, education links, and cultural traditions.

Linda Corkery, Sara Padgett Kjaersgaard, Lisa Thomson · · Australia

This case study describes the South Eveleigh Community Rooftop Garden, located on the unceded land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. Developed in collaboration with Indigenous practice partner Jiwah, the project is underpinned by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander principle of "give back," emphasizing the sharing of accumulated Indigenous knowledge with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Nunes Vital · Revista Meio Ambiente e Sustentabilidade · Global

This bibliographic research, conducted over four months, explored how school gardens can positively influence the development of a healthy food culture among children and adolescents. The study identified that school gardens, based on urban agriculture and agroecology principles, serve as an attractive tool for students, encouraging participation outside the classroom and offering benefits to all involved agents.

Peter Loxley · · Global

This chapter discusses "adaptation" as a scientific concept that helps children understand the diversity of wildlife they encounter in school gardens, local parks, and other outdoor learning areas. It also helps children understand why the destruction of green spaces can have devastating consequences for wildlife. The chapter includes three topics designed to guide teachers in helping children grasp the concept of adaptation.

Hussein Mukasa Kafeero, David Kavuma, Scovia Mbabazi · Advanced Journal of Graduate Research · Uganda

This cross-sectional study in Uganda investigated the relationship between school gardens and students' self-efficacy towards weekly fruit and vegetable intake, comparing two secondary schools (one with a garden, one without). Neither group met the WHO/FAO/USDA recommendation of ≥35 servings per week. However, students exposed to gardening activities consumed more weekly servings of fruits and vegetables (P>0.05) and showed higher self-efficacy towards their dietary intake (P=0.007).

Dhruba Raj Bhattarai, Pepijn Schreinemachers · · Nepal

A paper synthesising impact evaluations using cluster randomized controlled trials of school garden programmes in Nepal, described as the largest evaluation of school garden programmes to date. School garden interventions significantly improved children's knowledge of food and agriculture and their awareness of and stated preference for fruits and vegetables, but in none of the countries studied did these improvements translate into increased frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption or into eating a greater variety of fruits and vegetables. This null result on consumption matches findings from two major reviews of school garden programmes in developed countries; the paper suggests that a more holistic intervention design addressing household-level food supply and parents' food choices may be needed for such programmes to improve children's healthy eating.

Emilita Monville‐Oro, Imelda Angeles‐Agdeppa, Irish P. Baguilat, Julian Gonsalves, Mario V. Capanzana · · Philippines

A chapter examining how the evidence-based Integrated School Nutrition Model (ISNM) - combining bio-intensive gardens, supplementary feeding with iron-fortified rice and indigenous vegetables from school gardens, and nutrition education - was scaled up from one province (Cavite) to an entire region of five provinces in the Philippines. Fifty-eight "lighthouse schools" serving as hubs for research, learning, and scaling now influence 2,732 public elementary schools with a total student population of 1,839,445. Through capacity building and multi-stakeholder partnerships, the Department of Education pursued a programme to establish 221 lighthouse schools nationwide, with additional investment and adoption from the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the National Nutrition Council.

Fernanda Trientini, Paul R. Fisher · HortScience · Global

To simplify nutrient management in small-scale hydroponics, three experiments tested whether controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) could support basil (Ocimum basilicum) with a single application per crop cycle. All seven commercial CRF products tested (including Osmocote Bloom and others) showed an initial rapid nutrient release followed by a plateau, but release rates over 11 weeks varied from 60% (ammonium phosphate) to 100% (magnesium sulfate). Two commercial N-P-K CRF products supplied less calcium and magnesium than a typical water-soluble fertilizer (WSF) solution. In a growth-chamber experiment, plants grown for four weeks under CRF treatments yielded less than half the shoot fresh weight of WSF-grown plants and showed calcium-deficiency and micronutrient-toxicity symptoms confirmed by tissue analysis, with the CRF solution's electrical conductivity rising to a maximum of 5.4 dS/m. A custom "Blend" combining CRF macronutrients with WSF micronutrients was then tested: at double concentration, it produced shoot fresh weight (241 g per four plants) comparable to WSF (244 g) with healthy tissue nutrient levels, whereas commercial CRF products designed for soil or container production proved unsuitable for hydroponic use.

Suzanne Mallick, Philip Marsh, Dave Kendal · Figshare · Australia

This report presents the first phase of a research project examining how a community garden project at the Melville St student accommodation could benefit the health and wellbeing of students and the broader community, as part of the University of Tasmania's shift in focus from Sandy Bay to the Hobart CBD. Before the garden was installed, the team collected qualitative, quantitative and observational data through interviews, focus groups, observational studies of public space use and an online survey, intended to inform future management of the site; a second phase collecting post-installation data was planned for late 2020, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

Leyna Karina Tovar-Seijas · Prohominum · Venezuela

A proposed action plan for using a school garden as a didactic strategy in agriculture education at Escuela Básica Bolivariana GC 8 "Piloncito" in Venezuela. A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive field study surveyed a population of 14 teachers, with a sample of 5, using direct observation and a questionnaire. Only 60% of teachers reported sometimes using didactic strategies that encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning, while 40% did not use such strategies.

Illana C. Livstrom, Gillian Roehrig, Amy Rex Smith · International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement · Global

A single-case study examined Grounding Roots, an urban agricultural internship program that brings together youth interns, undergraduates and community elder mentors in intergenerational garden groups, asking how community-based education through internships can support youth marginalized in traditional educational settings. The program was found to support youth in multidimensional learning and identity development within community-based spaces that connect learning to their communities and lives, particularly for youth with marginalized identities, through elements including recognizing and leveraging youths' existing assets, building confidence, leadership identities and diverse relationships, and connecting participants with the broader community, underscoring the value of intergenerational mentoring, diverse learning communities and work-based learning.

Blesilda M. Calub, Leila S. Africa, Bessie M. Burgos · · Global

A chapter on the School-Plus-Home Gardens Project (S+HGP) in the Philippines, which promotes greater parent engagement in home and school gardening to sustain nutritional gains under the Department of Education's nationwide School Garden Program and School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP). At the end of a 3-month feeding period, 62% of severely wasted and 70% of wasted child beneficiaries reached normal nutritional status; however, 9 of 14 surveyed schools had repeat beneficiaries from the previous year's SBFP (36–38%), and 14% had been repeat beneficiaries for three consecutive years, due to lack of food at home during the rest of the year, severe illness, and parents' attitudes and values. Factors contributing to successful parent engagement included regular parent-teacher consultations, a participatory development approach, training, parent-child cooking contests using garden produce, and collaboration with local government units.

Irmane Mze Ali, Mohd Wajdi Mohd Feham, Yahia Siddique, Abdul Rahman Ahmad Dahlan · · Malaysia

As part of Malaysia's "University-of-the-Future" (UotF) concept, this paper designs an approach to improving the wellbeing of low-income (B40) youth by normalizing an urban farming programme and expanding economic opportunity through digital entrepreneurship, using a literature review together with a Business Model Canvas (BMC), a Value Proposition Design Canvas (VPC), and surveys of participants for feedback. It reports using these tools to formulate both an initial and a validated version of the BMC and VPC.

Kim Viborg Andersen, Jakob Ohme, Camilla Bjarnøe, Mats Joe Bordacconi, Erik Albæk, Claes H. de Vreese · · Global

This book chapter examines how participation in local communities varies by generation, finding that local community participation is highest among older generations and lowest among the youngest. Political news exposure has a positive effect on this type of participation, particularly among Baby Boomers, mediated through political interest and efficacy. Citizens engage with their local communities in various ways, including through local organizations such as an urban gardening community or by attending local meetings. Using the authors' Engagement-Participation-Information-Generation (EPIG) model, the chapter tests whether the positive effect of political news exposure on local community political participation is mediated through three dimensions of political engagement — interest, knowledge and efficacy — and concludes that the EPIG model is useful for understanding local political participation.

Francesca Grazioli, Muhabbat Turdieva, Chris J. Kettle · · Global

A book chapter (2020) discusses how school gardens can engage children in documenting the diversity of socioeconomically important tree species around their school and community, and highlights the role schools can play in ex situ conservation of tree genetic resources through school arboreta, seed orchards, and nurseries. It presents case studies and a proposed framework for incorporating this into school curricula, without reporting quantitative outcomes.