Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
9074 results(197 / 363)
Development of a Rooftop Collaborative Experimental Space through Experiential Learning Projects
2019Helen Mary Rose, Charles R. Upshaw, Joshua D. Rhodes, Yuval Edrey, Michael E. Webber · · United States (Austin)
This project describes the development of the Solar, Water, Energy, and Thermal Laboratory (SWEAT Lab), a rooftop experimental space at the University of Texas at Austin built by Cockrell School of Engineering students. The SWEAT Lab is an ongoing experiential learning facility that enables engineering education by deploying energy and water-related projects, and it contains a full weather station, a rainwater harvesting system, and a rooftop garden. The project provided students with opportunities to learn firsthand about unique engineering challenges, such as weight limitations and wind resistance, and gain experience working with building facilities management.
DIYFood educationExploring the Environmental Performance of Urban Symbiosis for Vertical Hydroponic Farming
2019Michael Martin, Sofia Poulikidou, Elvira Molin · Sustainability · Global
This study used life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental performance of using urban residual material flows in vertical hydroponic farming. It assessed replacing conventional growing media with paper, compost, and brewers’ spent grains, and conventional fertilizers with biogas digestate. The results indicate significant environmental performance benefits when conventional growing media are replaced, and substantial potential benefits, though less significant, when fertilizers from residual urban streams are used, suggesting potential for more circular hydroponic systems.
Organic cycleClimate changeEconomicsDigital agricultureAgricultural Productive Public Space: “An Alternative for Increasing Ecological Services, Social Development and Urban Sustainability”
2019Ignacio Carreño, Wenjun Ma · Current Urban Studies · Global
This multi-cluster quantitative and design research describes a methodology for establishing agricultural productive public spaces in cities, focusing on community participation. A case study in Shanghai, China, demonstrated how urban agriculture, in various modes, can address urban needs and improve environmental and urban conditions. The research provides a methodological approximation for formalizing local spatial development with a participatory approach, aiming to increase urban sustainability and meet the socioeconomic needs of communities.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsClimate changePolicyUrban agriculture and buddhist concepts for wellbeing: Anuradhapura sacred city, Sri lanka
2019Wasana De Silva · International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics · Sri Lanka (Anuradhapura)
This research examines urban agriculture in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, arguing it forms a 'performing system' that connects people with the city's topography and promotes wellbeing. It explores how daily life, intertwined with agriculture and irrigation around reservoirs and paddy fields, fosters spiritual experiences and contributes to a healthy and sustainable city, drawing on phenomenology, anthropology, and Buddhist philosophy.
HealthCommunityClimate changeSchool Gardening in Early Childhood Education in Oman: A pilot project with Grade 2 students
2019Abdulla Ambusaidi, Rashid Al‐Yahyai, Subhashni Taylor, Neil Taylor · Science education international · Oman
A pilot school gardening project involving Grade 2 students in Oman used a quasi-experimental mixed-method design. While findings were somewhat mixed and tentative, they suggest that school gardens in Oman could provide affective and possible health benefits for students. Given that the study was a pilot, these findings need to be treated tentatively.
Food educationHealthPeri-urban agricultural policies in Canada and France
2019Mikaël Akimowicz, Harry Cummings, Charilaos Képhaliacos, Karen Landman · · Canada
This chapter analyzes the impact of two peri-urban agricultural policies: Ontario’s Greenbelt in Canada and the InterSCoT in Toulouse, France, both aiming to regulate urban sprawl and preserve peri-urban agriculture. Ontario’s Greenbelt is a top-down zoning policy, while Toulouse’s InterSCoT results from municipal coordination. Based on farmer in-depth interviews, the study found that preserving farmland alone is insufficient to maintain a sustainable peri-urban farming sector, emphasizing the need for coordination spaces that include farmers' needs during policy design.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsA Framework for Integrating Agriculture in Urban Sustainability in Australia
2019A. J. Sarker, Janet F. Bornman, Дора Маринова · Urban Science · Australia
This study analyzes policy and planning practices for integrating urban agriculture into city land-use planning in Australia. It found that recent planning has overlooked and failed to realize the opportunity of urban agriculture, with regulatory and legal frameworks, including land access, being significant constraints. The study concludes that without direct public policy support and institutional recognition, integrating urban agriculture into Australian cities' development and planning goals is difficult.
Governance failurePolicyClimate changeEconomicsProduction and economic analysis of a pop-up farm in Mexico City
2019Paucar Guerrero, Laura Muñoz Mata, P.B. Madrigal, J.J.M. Criollo · International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics · Mexico (Mexico City)
This study proposes using pop-up farms with Mel Bartholomew's system for cultivating local vegetables in Mexico City, utilizing the subtropical highland climate and a rainwater harvesting system. Preliminary results indicate that a pop-up farm can supply a significant fraction of the average yearly family consumption for these vegetables. A cost-benefit analysis suggests that pop-up farms are a viable strategy for providing high-quality food at low costs, contributing to improved health and economic conditions in urban environments.
EconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeContemporary commons: Sharing and managing common-pool resources in the 21st century
2019Anna Šestáková, Jana Plichtová · Human Affairs · Global
This paper analyzes the relevance of Elinor Ostrom's design principles for managing common-pool resources to new forms of sharing in the 21st century, such as community gardens and car-sharing. The findings suggest that while Ostrom's framework requires adaptation for urban and digitalized environments, some of her original principles remain relevant.
CommunityPolicyGardening as More than Urban Agriculture: Perspectives from Smaller Midwestern Cities on Urban Gardening Policies and Practices
2019Christopher Strunk, Ursula Lang · Case Studies in the Environment · United States
This case study examines urban gardening policies and practices in two smaller Midwestern cities, arguing that green space management extends beyond narrow urban agriculture definitions. It highlights the significance of gardening on privately owned land, such as front and back yards, alongside public land. The study demonstrates that urban gardening occurs across public/private property distinctions, involves a broader range of actors, and fosters neighborhood connections for sustainability.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkage도시의 지속가능성을 위한 공원녹지 정책의 재정립 방안
2019최희선, 안소은, 이후승, 송슬기, 이길상 · 기본연구보고서 · South Korea
This study examined the limitations and problems of existing park and green space policies and explored directions for their reorganization to ensure urban sustainability. It proposes a paradigm shift for policy formulation that ensures diversity, efficiency, and equity, by expanding the concept of urban park and green spaces to "green infrastructure," defined as encompassing both natural-ecological elements and artificially created green spaces within cities. The study also presented policy alternatives to enhance the efficiency of policy implementation through inter-ministerial cooperation and integrated approaches.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeWassail! Reinventing ‘tradition’ in contemporary wassailing customs in southern England
2019Edward Wigley · Cultural Geographies · United Kingdom
This research investigated how the historic custom of orchard wassailing is reinvented in contemporary practices, including in community orchards, city farms, and public gardens, in southern England. Through in-depth interviews with organizers of local wassails, it was shown that wassailing, traditionally rural, is now popular in urban areas with little history of fruit farming. Organizers modify historical elements due to contemporary regulations or social attitudes, yet mobilize the notion of "tradition" to authenticate and reassert the local identity of the event, even when recently reinvented.
CommunityUrban–rural linkageAgricultura urbana: Creación de un Restaurante Gourmet
2019Romero López, Iván Fernando · · Colombia (Bogotá)
This article proposes creating a gourmet restaurant in Bogotá, Colombia, to address food security and generate income for urban farmers in low-resource communities like Comuna 4 of Altos de Cazuca. The restaurant would purchase fresh produce weekly from local cultivators, supporting employment, innovation in cultivation infrastructure, and providing organic, quality products to customers. This initiative aims to improve commercialization for urban farmers who currently only support children's nutrition programs.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePeri-urban agricultureDevelopment policies and urban agriculture policies
2019Isabela Laís Tavares, Gisela da Cunha Viana Leonelli · Revista dos Trabalhos de Iniciação Científica da UNICAMP · Global
This study investigated the position of urban agriculture within development policies and legislation for urban and regional planning. Through legal analysis of legislation from supranational to municipal levels, it was shown that urban agriculture can be a tool in city planning to reduce vacant lots and buildings not fulfilling their social function. However, the research revealed that despite a diverse range of legislation for urban agriculture development, these laws are not fully interconnected and often operate as parallel initiatives.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityNative and non-native plants attract diverse bees to urban gardens in California
2019Gordon W. Frankie, Ingrid Feng, Robbin W. Thorp, Jaime C. Pawelek, Marissa H. Chase, Christopher C. Jadallah, Mark Rizzardi · Journal of Pollination Ecology · United States (California)
An extensive survey of bee-flower collection records from 10 California cities between 2005 and 2011 examined diverse bee species visiting native and non-native ornamental plants. A total of 7,659 bees were examined, identifying 229 bee species visiting both native and non-native plant types. Native bee species were common on both plant types, but substantially more non-native bee species visited non-native plants compared to native plants.
BiodiversityPollinatorsUrban Agriculture as Livelihood Strategy
2019Ashenafi Tilahun Hailie · IGI Global eBooks · Global
This chapter assessed the benefits of urban agriculture in a study area, using qualitative and quantitative analysis aligned with a sustainable livelihood framework. Findings indicated that urban agriculture is sustained by sex indiscrimination, migrant dominancy, poor educational status, and agricultural background. While assets like land access and fertile soil were promising, skills, knowledge transfer, labor ability, and good health were found insufficient. Identified vulnerabilities included population explosion, absence of good governance, frequent natural calamities, land tenure insecurity, and seasonality of prices.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyPráticas de agricultura urbana: uma análise do cultivo de hortaliças em telhados verdes
2019Adriane Cordoni Savi, Ormy Leocádio Hutner Júnior, Fernanda Cardoso Faria, Isaura Marques Souza Uhmann · Brazilian Journal of Development · Brazil
This article demonstrates urban and peri-urban agricultural practices in small backyards, remnant residential garden areas, and green roofs. These practices aim to produce food for self-consumption and to foster farming among neighbors for subsistence or as a source of supplementary family income.
DIYCommunityPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceThe experience of natural insecticide in the school garden as a contribution to the teaching of geography
2019Cristiane e Castro Feitosa Melo · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Fortaleza)
This qualitative ethnographic case study in a public school in Fortaleza, Brazil, analyzed the contribution of producing and using natural insecticide in a school garden to geography learning for 8th-9th graders. The experiment focused on fighting leafy ants (Saúvas) and linked environmentalism, geography, and societal comparisons. The study concluded that this educational experiment enhanced training and human actions related to geography and environmental education.
Food educationCommunityAgricultura urbana e as Iniciativas de Resistência Popular
2019José Luiz Lourenço Ribeiro, Liz Cristiane Dias · RELACult - Revista Latino-Americana de Estudos em Cultura e Sociedade · Global
This paper examined the contribution of urban agriculture to creating alternative territories built from a non-hegemonic and popular perspective. Based on a theoretical literature search, it was revealed that when urban agriculture is organized by excluded individuals or those not integrated into the normalized urban lifestyle, these initiatives transform into territories of resistance whose primary function is to escape social vulnerability and protect marginalized popular culture.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityWelfareEspacios socioculturales y mecanismos de comunicación para el aprendizaje y apropiación de conocimientos sobre el uso de plantas medicinales y gastronómicas en San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
2019Cinthia Asunción Peralta-González, Rodolfo Mondragón-Ríos, Eduardo Bello Baltazar · Estudios Sociales Revista de Alimentación Contemporánea y Desarrollo Regional · Mexico (San Cristóbal de Las Casas)
This qualitative study analyzed sociocultural spaces and communication mechanisms used for collective learning and knowledge appropriation regarding medicinal and gastronomic plant use among residents of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Ethnographic techniques were employed with members of the urban agriculture network Sembrando Jovel, citizens from the Santa Lucía neighborhood, and various city markets. Results identified formal, non-formal, and informal spaces linked by communication mechanisms such as intergenerational coexistence, daily practices, experimentation, knowledge exchange, classes, courses, workshops, diplomas, and mass media. The study was limited to a small number of families (four cases) in the Santa Lucía neighborhood regarding the domestic sphere. As a result of appropriation processes, knowledge about medicinal and gastronomic plant uses has been re-signified, adopting critical stances against food industries and in favor of personal, social, and cultural well-being.
CommunityFood educationHeirloom & landraceAgriculture urbaine : jardiner hors de chez soi
2019Yvon Le, Paula Nahmías, Giulia Giacchè · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France (Rennes)
This paper is a contribution to the inaugural issue of the journal "Palimpseste," which aims to highlight research conducted within the twenty-two research units of Rennes 2 University.
CommunityDIYFormative Evaluation of a Food Access Enhanced Nutrition Education Program
2019Jared T. McGuirt · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · United States
This mixed-methods formative evaluation, part of a larger randomized trial in four US states, assessed an affordable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program integrated into federal nutrition education. A survey of 262 low-income adults showed high interest (85%), with more interest if a CSA was included (84%). A choice experiment (n=42) indicated preferences for a large, mixed-variety CSA box, distributed twice monthly for under $15, and not significantly further than a supermarket.
CSA & TeikeiFood educationWelfareCommunityFood (in)security in urban peripheries: the case of Maré, Rio de Janeiro
2019Antonis Vradis, Timo Bartholl · Journal of the British Academy · Brazil (São Paulo)
This article discusses urban food insecurity and the right to the city in Brazil, specifically in the Maré complex of favelas in Rio de Janeiro. An action-research approach was deployed to study food insecurity, situated in the context of increasing securitization in Brazilian urban peripheries and the ensuing obstacles to populations' right to the city. The article proposes the agroecological approach as a potential avenue to achieve popular food sovereignty in these urban peripheries of the Global South.
Food sovereignty & justicePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsCommunityCharacteristics and Challenges for the Development of Nature-Based Adult Day Services in Urban Areas for People with Dementia and Their Family Caregivers
2019Jan Hassink, Lenneke Vaandrager, Yvette Buist, Simone R. de Bruin · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global
A global study characterized nature-based adult day services (ADSs) for people with dementia (PwD) in urban areas and identified challenges. Interviews with 17 ADS providers revealed five types of services: social entrepreneurs, nursing homes, social care organizations, community gardens by citizens, and hybrid initiatives. General challenges included the availability of green urban spaces and acquiring funding. Specific challenges varied by type, including a lack of commitment among nursing staff in nursing homes, difficulty finding knowledgeable volunteers for community gardens, and work culture differences in hybrid models.
Governance failureCommunityHealthWelfareComparison of metallic trace elements accumulation capacities in three market garden species, lettuce (Lactuva sativa L.), spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) and amaranth (Amaranthus paniculatus L.), grown on agricultural sites in the city of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
2019Kouassi Joseph Kouakou, Ahoua Edmond Sika, Seu Jonathan Gogbeu, Koffi Bertin Yao, M. Bounakhla, Denézon Odette Dogbo, Yves‐Alain Bekro · · Africa
This study compared the accumulation potential of five trace metals (cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, and nickel) in lettuce, spinach, and amaranth grown at market gardening sites in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Using principal components analysis, it was found that lettuce had a greater capacity for accumulating these metals compared to spinach and amaranth. Amaranth and spinach from the three sites showed nearly identical metal accumulation capacities.
Contamination & food safetyHealthFood sovereignty & justice