Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1022 results(22 / 41)
Food Policy Councils as Loci for Practising Food Democracy? Insights from the Case of Oldenburg, Germany
2019Sieveking A. · Politics and Governance · Germany (Oldenburg)
Studies the Oldenburg food policy council (2016–2018) to assess whether food policy councils can serve as loci for practising food democracy.
PolicyCommunityEffect of stocking density of fish on water quality and growth performance of European Carp and leafy vegetables in a low-tech aquaponic system
2019Maucieri C., Nicoletto C., Zanin G., Birolo M., Trocino A., Sambo P., Borin M., Xiccato G. · PLOS ONE · Italy
In a low-tech aquaponic system, two fish stocking densities were compared for their effects on water quality, European carp growth and leafy vegetable yield; the lower density (2.5 kg/m3) improved water quality and production.
DIYEffect and process evaluation of a real-world school garden program on vegetable consumption and its determinants in primary schoolchildren
2019· PLOS ONE · Netherlands
An effect and process evaluation of a nine-week school garden program (culminating in a harvest-and-cooking event) on primary schoolchildren's vegetable consumption; well received by teachers and pupils.
Food educationHealthSocial Farming: An Inclusive Environment Conducive to Participant Personal Growth
2019Moruzzo R., Di Iacovo F., Funghi A., Scarpellini P., Espinosa Diaz S., Riccioli F. · Social Sciences · Italy
A study exploring how care and social farms provide inclusive environments supporting the personal growth of participants, by researchers affiliated with universities in Italy.
WelfareCommunityWild pollinator activity negatively related to honey bee colony densities in urban context
2019Ropars L., Dajoz I., Fontaine C., Muratet A., Geslin B. · PLOS ONE · Paris, France
In Paris, wild pollinator visitation rates were negatively correlated with honey bee colony densities, suggesting high-density urban beekeeping may compete with wild pollinators for floral resources.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCreating urban green infrastructure where it is needed – A spatial ecosystem service-based decision analysis of green roofs in Barcelona
2019Johannes Langemeyer, Diego Wedgwood, Timon McPhearson, Francesc Baró, Anders L. Madsen, David N. Barton · The Science of The Total Environment · Spain (Barcelona)
This study developed a spatial multi-criteria screening tool in Barcelona, Spain, to prioritize green roof locations and designs for optimal ecosystem service provision. Fifteen spatial indicators and five green roof designs were analyzed and weighted by local experts. The assessment found high demand for green roof ecosystem services across Barcelona, especially in dense residential and industrial areas, with habitat, pollination, and thermal regulation being most needed, while runoff control and food production were least demanded. Naturalized roofs offered the highest potential for 87.5% of rooftop area.
CommunityBiodiversityClimate changePolicyOccurrence and human health implications of chemical contaminants in vegetables grown in peri-urban agriculture
2019Anna Margenat, Víctor Matamoros, Sergi Dı́ez, Núria Cañameras, Jordi Comas, Josep M. Bayona · Environment International · Spain (Barcelona)
A study assessed 16 trace elements and 33 organic microcontaminants in lettuce, tomato, cauliflower, and broad beans from peri-urban farms near Barcelona, Spain, and a rural site. Concentrations ranged from non-detectable to 17.4 mg/kg for trace elements and non-detectable to 256 μg/kg for organic microcontaminants, with tomatoes showing the highest levels. Risk assessment indicated a low human health risk from consuming these vegetables in the peri-urban area, comparable to the rural site.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPeri-urban agricultureUrban Agriculture as the Path to Sustainable City Development. Insights into Allotment Gardens in Andalusia
2019Barbara Maćkiewicz, Raúl Puente Asuero, Antonio Garrido Almonacid · Quaestiones Geographicae · Spain
This study investigated how urban allotment gardens in Baeza, Andalusia, Spain, affect the city’s sustainable development. The research showed that allotment gardens in Baeza endorsed all three pillars of sustainable city development: ecological, economic, and social. However, it was found that developing broader community relations on the city scale, reviving the declining local grocery market, and disseminating environmental initiatives that allotment gardens could promote and facilitate were missing.
Limited or null effectUrban–rural linkageClimate changeEconomicsCommunityDrivers of on-farm diversification in the Italian peri-urban agriculture
2019Roberto Henke, Francesco Vanni · · Italy
This paper examines the multifunctional role of peri-urban agriculture in Italy through a comparative analysis of farms located within the main Italian urban poles. The analysis identifies both internal and external drivers influencing farmers' decisions to diversify income towards multifunctional activities. It shows that, within the post-productivist paradigm, peri-urban farms can play a pivotal role in sustainable land use and in enhancing entrepreneurs' provision of diverse social and economic services to the urban population.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsPolicyCommunityUrban agriculture and health: assessing risks and overseeing practices
2019Christine Aubry, Nastaran Manouchehri · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · France (Paris)
Urban and peri-urban agriculture is exposed to various forms of pollution related to cultivation methods and urban air and soil quality, with different crop types exhibiting varied reactions to pollutants. The T4P and REFUGE programs on urban farms in the Paris region, and the ADURAA and QUALISANN programs studying vegetable-growing in Antananarivo, Madagascar, aim to assess health risks and oversee practices using methodological frameworks.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPolicyClimate changeDoes participating in community gardens promote sustainable lifestyles in urban settings? Design and protocol of the JArDinS study
2019Marion Tharrey, Marlène Pérignon, Pascale Scheromm, Caroline Méjean, Nicole Darmon · BMC Public Health · France
The JArDinS study is a quasi-experimental protocol designed to assess the impact of community garden participation on the adoption of more sustainable lifestyles in Montpellier, France. It will recruit 80 new gardeners and 80 matched control volunteers, measuring lifestyle sustainability across social/health, environmental, and economic dimensions over one year using food supply diaries, accelerometers, and questionnaires. The study aims to compare outcome changes between the groups to evaluate causality.
CommunityHealthFood lossEconomicsGreen Line. Centro de Producción, Investigación y Desarrollo de Agricultura Urbana
2019Miguel A. Simón, Aída de · · Spain (Madrid)
The "Green Line" project in Chamartín, Madrid, Spain, aims to solve urban problems of a lack of transversal connections and green spaces. This project is configured as a network of architectural pieces that respond to existing urban situations in Chamartín, traversing the Castilla neighborhood from east to west and connecting it with adjacent neighborhoods. The main element of the network is a central urban agriculture production, research, and development center, carried out in two towers that form part of Madrid's urban garden network.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityNatural urban farming as a mean to connect community to sustainable food: the case of demonstration garden in Tor Mancina
2019Patrizia Papetti, Sara Spognardi, Enrica Iannucci, Ilenia Bravo, Claudio Beni · International Journal of Environmental Policy and Decision Making · Italy (Tor Mancina)
The demonstration garden of Tor Mancina, Italy, engages schools and local communities to test sustainable agricultural practices. It conducts experiments on the phytostimulant and pest repellent effects of plant extracts for crop protection. These activities aim to instill positive values regarding food, agriculture, and the environment in youth, while also seeking to improve crop performance and safeguard biodiversity.
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityOrganic cycleCommunity garden boost thanks to town grant
2019Claire Bustin · · United Kingdom (Sandwell)
A Sandwell church was awarded a £751 town grant by the council to provide equipment for young and elderly people to work in a community garden on their grounds.
CommunityPolicyWelfareNet Yield Efficiency: Comparing Salad and Vegetable Waste between Community Supported Agriculture and Supermarkets in the UK
2019N. R. Baker, Simon Popay, James Bennett, Moya Kneafsey · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United Kingdom
This paper introduced "net yield efficiency" (NYE) to compare food system performance by accounting for yields, loss, and waste. A UK case study compared fresh vegetable and salad waste between a community supported agriculture (CSA) scheme and the supermarket system. The study found that the CSA system wasted only 6.71% by weight across all stages, dramatically outperforming the supermarket system which wasted 40.7–47.7%. These findings highlight significant differences between the systems and suggest NYE offers a more accurate measure of food system performance.
CSA & TeikeiFood lossEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceSchreber’s gardens and Jordan’s gardens as elements of created nature: the example of Katowice
2019Ryszard Nakonieczny · Polish Journal of Landscape Studies · Poland (Katowice)
This study analyzes historical examples of allotment gardens and sports/recreational grounds in Katowice, Poland. It highlights the importance of Schreber’s and Jordan’s gardens for the city's appeal and ecology, representing the human-nature relationship in 20th-century cities. The author also describes personal urban activities aimed at raising awareness of green areas' benefits for city dwellers.
CommunityHealthBiodiversityUrban gardening and the quest for just uses of space in Europe
2019Chiara Certomà, Martin Sondermann, Susan Noori · Manchester University Press eBooks · Europe
This chapter critically analyzes the relationship between urban gardening and socio-spatial justice, exploring whether and how urban gardening practices can tackle social and spatial injustices. Urban gardening points out less visible sides of urban governance and planning, unveiling different forms of power, dominance, and resistance to the unequal distribution of benefits and burdens in space. The analysis questions the contradictions in the constitution of urban spaces and their capability to mitigate material, political, and social exclusions, unfairness, and inequalities.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyWelfareFood sovereignty & justicePocket parks for changing times and urban uncertainties
2019Dimitra Babalis · Florence Research (University of Florence) · Europe
This chapter uses a comparative analysis of European examples to define characteristics and typologies of pocket park design. It argues for establishing concrete concepts and guidelines for a new typology of pocket parks to improve spatial relationships and societal conditions.
CommunityClimate changeBiodiversityCollaborative Planning for Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in Frankfurt am Main
2019Michael Peterek, Susana Restrepo Rico, Yaman Hebbo, Ulrike Reichhardt · Technical Transactions · Germany (Frankfurt am Main)
This paper showcases sectoral and trans-sectoral projects in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, focusing on sustainable urban infrastructure across energy, water, wastewater, solid waste, and urban agriculture. The city has developed a collaborative approach to infrastructure planning, increasing possibilities for trans-sectoral projects and reducing natural resource consumption. The showcased projects were selected from a study of 36 operational, programmatic, and educational initiatives implemented by the city.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeEcosocial Innovations and Their Capacity to Integrate Ecological, Economic and Social Sustainability Transition
2019Aila‐Leena Matthies, Ingo Stamm, Tuuli Hirvilammi, Kati Närhi · Sustainability · Europe
This article analyzed 50 examples of ecosocial innovations in Finland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the UK to investigate how they integrate ecological, economic, and social sustainability goals. Ecosocial innovations were shown to combine these goals through five integrative practices: diversity of activities, successful networking, addressing new livelihood, focus on food, and explicit conceptual work on sustainability. These practices often emerge as pragmatic solutions to local needs and are valuable as forerunners for sustainability transition.
CommunityClimate changeEconomicsPolicyEspacios hortícolas ciudadanos, redes e infraestructuras ambientales como factores de resiliencia urbana
2019Sonia Delgado Berrocal · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Spain (Madrid)
This research focuses on the experience of new green systems co-created through urban horticulture and ecological agriculture in Madrid, Spain, as factors for urban resilience. It examines projects on abandoned urban plots, such as Esta es una plaza de Lavapies (2008) and Huerto de la Tabacalera (2010), and educational community gardens like Huerto del Retiro (2011). The study also considers initiatives that educate urban horticulturists and local organic matter cycle actions within Madrid's urban garden network.
CommunityPolicyFood educationHealthAshley Vale, Bristol
2019Clare Nash · RIBA Publishing eBooks · United Kingdom (Bristol)
Ashley Vale in Bristol is a unique place featuring a city farm, allotments, a permaculture project, and a farm cafe selling locally sourced foods. The entire development is built on a concrete slab, formerly an industrial warehouse site. A "Homezone" scheme on the street improved its appearance by installing planters and organizing parking.
CommunityPeri-urban agricultureBiodiversityThe ‘fluid governance’ of urban public spaces. Insights from informal planning practices in Rome
2019Chiara Certomà, Lorenzo Chelleri, Bruno Notteboom · Urban Studies · Italy (Rome)
This paper investigates informal planning practices and "fluid governance" in urban public spaces, using the case of Parco delle Energie in Rome, Italy, and a comparative analysis of international cases. It found that politically progressive urban gardening challenges traditional governance networks and redefines public space functioning by transforming green spaces into food production and collaboratively managed areas through informal planning. This demonstrates that urban gardening worldwide challenges traditional planning perspectives and governance, turning citizens' dissensus into a productive force.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Agriculture in shared spaces: The difficulties with collaboration in an age of austerity
2019Rebecca St. Clair, Michael Hardman, Richard Armitage, Graeme Sherriff · Urban Studies · United Kingdom (Manchester)
This study, conducted in Wythenshawe, Manchester, UK, highlights the difficulties of collaboration among organizations in a lottery-funded urban agriculture project. Due to local authority cutbacks and a lack of funding, community groups and charitable organizations compete for space and resources, leading to a "siege mentality" where organizational self-preservation takes precedence over cooperation. This paradoxically results in groups with similar goals working against each other instead of collaborating.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsCities: incorporating natural capital into urban planning
2019Perrine Hamel, François Mancebo, Clément Feger, Stéphanie Hamel · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France
This chapter presented three case studies illustrating how nature's benefits have been incorporated into urban planning decisions, specifically urban agriculture policy in Nantes and Bordeaux, France, and an integrated urban water management strategy in Melbourne, Australia. The cases demonstrated that urban green space provides multiple benefits, including efficient water management, food production, recreation opportunities, and biodiversity protection. Key opportunities and barriers for incorporating urban nature into planning were identified.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityClimate change