Research & reports

Sri Oetami Madyowati, Achmad Kusyairi, Sumaryam, Muhajir Muhajir, Indra Wirawan, Didik Trisbiantoro, Kejora Handarini, Retnani Rahmiati · indonesian journal of fisheries community empowerment · Indonesia (Surabaya)

This counseling and training activity in Bendul Merisi Village Hall, Wonocolo District, Surabaya, Indonesia, aimed to utilize backyards for Dumbo catfish cultivation in Kopral Bumilis (minimalist round tarpaulin ponds) using a biofloc system. Farmer groups were enthusiastic, particularly regarding high fingerling mortality. Solutions to reduce mortality included preparing biofloc pond water, using 7-9 cm fingerlings, and daily feed control, though open public backyards posed a constraint due to children fishing.

Rositayanti Hadisoebroto, Sheilla Megagupita Putri Marendra, Olivia Seanders, Ahmad Rheza, Kendrick Kevin Kabe, Salsabila Azzahra Anjani Indradini · JUARA Jurnal Wahana Abdimas Sejahtera · Indonesia (Jakarta)

In Angke Village, West Jakarta, chicken slaughterhouse wastewater had BOD, COD, and TSS levels exceeding environmental standards. A community service program by Universitas Trisakti aimed to manage this wastewater and empower PKK mothers. The program included training on urban farming using treated wastewater as fertilizer, making biocoagulants from moringa seeds, and using a stirred reactor with biocoagulants to treat wastewater. The stirred reactor, using 100 mL of moringa seed biocoagulant, reduced BOD to 0.34 mg/L and TSS to 0.557 mg/L, but COD remained above the standard at 640 mg/L. The resulting sludge, with COD 320 mg/L and turbidity 475 NTU, can be used as fertilizer for vegetables and ornamental plants.

Kamal Prasad Acharya, Kalpana Gyawali, Indra Raj Upadhyaya · Interdisciplinary Research in Education · Nepal

This article explores the contribution of garden-based activities to developing 21st-century skills in public schools in Nepal. Using participatory action research in three intervention schools, the study found that school gardening, involving flower and vegetable cultivation, enhances critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. Students also viewed gardening as a valuable learning platform that encourages creative thinking, environmental sustainability, and lifelong learning competence.

Pierric Calenge, Maie Gérardot · Métropolitiques · United States (Cleveland)

The work by Max Rousseau and Vincent Béal illuminates the ambiguities of a policy that organizes urban decline and racial segregation in Cleveland. This policy promotes urban degrowth and racial segregation, balancing algorithmic management and urban greening. The study focuses on the Rust Belt region, which experiences de-urbanization marked by the subprime crisis, racism, and segregation.

Lindsay K. Campbell, Chris Fremantle, David Maddox, Erika S. Svendsen, Sarah Hines, Mary Mattingly, Matthew López-Jensen, Nikki Lindt, Liza Paqueo, Michelle Johnson · Landscape Research · United States (New York City)

This paper explores four case studies from the Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program (UFS Arts) in New York City, United States, from 2016 to the present. It examines how artists collaborating with scientists and land managers foster new relationships with urban nature and inform landscape decisions. The examples include projects using image, sound, a floating food forest, and an exhibition mapping civic environmental practices, demonstrating how transdisciplinary approaches can transform management practices and landscape decisions.

Alejandro Carlos Campina López, Antonio Alejandro Lorca Marín, María Ángeles de las Heras Pérez, Emilio José Delgado Algarra · Advances in linguistics and communication studies · Spain

This chapter provides a comprehensive guide for setting up and programming sensors to monitor a school garden using Micro Bit boards. The project aims to meet the digital competence and computational thinking requirements specified in the Spanish curriculum (LOMLOE). By systematically monitoring parameters such as soil moisture, temperature, humidity, light intensity, and soil pH, students can make informed decisions about garden management.

Wiwit Estuti, Uun Kunaepah, Isnar Nurul Alfiyah · Jurnal Abdisci · Indonesia (Cirebon Regency)

This community service activity at SMAN 1 Beber in Cirebon Regency, Indonesia, aimed to accelerate and innovate food products made from local ingredients in school gardens. Building on 2022 education, the 2023 initiative focused on developing and packaging products made by school residents, with the goal of commercializing them under a special SMAN 1 Beber label.

Ayşe Kaplan Sarısaltık, Ufuk Sarısaltık · Cleaner and Responsible Consumption · Turkey

This qualitative study explored the role of ODTÜ Bostan, a community garden at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, in promoting sustainability education, ecology, and food consumption practices. Operating for ten years, the garden not only enhances participants' sustainability competencies but also serves as an educational laboratory, demonstrating the potential of community gardens to address global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss. The research employed autoethnography, thematic analysis of eight semi-structured interviews, and content analysis of archival data.

Rabinarayan Acharya · Journal of Drug Research in Ayurvedic Sciences · India

The Ministry of Ayush's Aushadha evam Poshana Vatika initiative integrates ancient Ayurvedic principles into contemporary nutrition and wellness practices in India. These "medicinal plants and nutrition gardens" cultivate diverse fruits, vegetables, herbs, and nutrient-rich plants on small plots of land. The initiative aligns with the Government of India’s Poshan 2.0 framework, launched in 2021, to address malnutrition and ensure nutritional security by promoting dietary diversity and access to fresh, locally sourced foods.

Elizângela dos Santos Oliveira Magerski, Felipe Fontana, Irene Yukiko Kimura · Seven Editora eBooks · Global

This qualitative research investigated the pedagogical potential of an educational product for constructing a sustainable vegetable garden with 5th-year elementary school students. Structured with a Science, Technology, and Society (STS) approach, the product aimed to develop students' understanding of science, technology, and their societal and environmental implications. Data from a field diary revealed that school garden activities, supported by an STS approach, foster students' critical thinking about food and healthy processes related to human health.

Aulia Zeta Andhani, Ria Khoirunnisa Apriyani, Abdul Royani · Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia (Bandung)

This urban farming initiative in RW 03, Cihaurgeulis Village, Bandung, Indonesia, aimed to provide understanding, enhance knowledge, and facilitate residents in implementing urban farming concepts. The program involved planting chili and red onion seedlings in limited spaces to address food insecurity in Bandung by enabling families to grow their own food. The method used was descriptive qualitative, comprising socialization and practical training on urban farming techniques and benefits.

Umi Kulsum Nur Qomariah, Rohmat Hidayat, Ambar Susanti, Silfi Alfi Ahmidah, Ulan Supartini Fatiha, Sri Wijayanti, Dziqi Jamaludin Ahmad · Jumat Pertanian Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community service program in Murukan Village, Indonesia, focused on optimizing dairy farm waste utilization to improve agricultural land quality in an urban farming context. The program provided training on making liquid organic fertilizer (POC) from dairy farm waste. The activity successfully increased the local community's understanding and skills in waste management.

Avisema Sigit Saputro, Efi Nikmatu Solihah · Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Darma Bakti Teuku Umar · Indonesia

A training session on making polybag planting media was held on June 3, 2023, in Sanggrahan, Central Java, for women from PKK RT 05 RW 18. The activity aimed to teach urban agriculture using polybags to address limited land, enabling residents to grow vegetables and reduce household expenses. Participants learned to create planting media from humus soil, compost, and husk charcoal (1:1:1 ratio) for optimal plant growth.

Edison Rafael Castro-Hernández, David Santiago Moreno-Castañeda, Mayeli Enríquez-Muñoz, David Alba-Sedano · Revista CS · Colombia (Bogotá)

This article explored reflections on and ways of appropriation of a critical intercultural process approaching the practices and knowledge of Afro-Colombian peoples through the virtual, narrative, and physical resignification of "zoteas" (ancestral community gardens) by Afro-Pacific populations at schools in Bogotá, Colombia. An emerging process was identified through ethnographic recording in an intensive diary and student audiovisual content production, where the articulation of ancestral practices with experimental artistic disciplines like performance shed light on other ancestral knowledge. This intervention connected the process with contemporary expressions of the Afro worldview and allowed for questioning and gradually transforming the organization of time, space, and roles in knowledge construction at school.

Sandra Cadore Peixoto, Suzane Dubou Serafim, Thaís Scotti do Canto-Dorow · Revista Eletrônica em Gestão Educação e Tecnologia Ambiental · Brazil (Santa Maria)

This study, conducted with fifth-grade students at an Elementary School in Santa Maria, Brazil, aimed to present the contributions of a school vegetable garden to interdisciplinary teaching. The garden, planned and built collaboratively by teachers and students, served as a practical environment, allowing students to connect theory and practice and approach concepts in an interdisciplinary manner across various subjects.

Teófilo Etelvino do Amaral, Carlitos Luí­s Sitoie · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Mozambique (Maxixe)

A school garden project was implemented at Escola Secundaria 29 de Setembro da Maxixe in Mozambique, integrating it into the geography curriculum. Research found that geography teachers only taught theoretical content, lacked practical understanding of the geographical relationship with local agricultural production, and did not value food from home gardens. Students and their parents also had no knowledge of vegetable gardens and preferred processed foods, which exacerbated hunger when they lacked money. The school garden was suggested as a means to produce healthy food and generate family income.

Heidi L. Hollingsworth, William D. Giblin · Journal of Research in Childhood Education · Global

This mixed methods study investigated the impact of a middle school garden project on 6th-graders’ school connectedness. Surveys of 46 middle school students indicated that most had home gardening experience and enjoyed the school garden activities. However, pre-post results did not show increased school connectedness following the garden unit, as ratings were moderately high both before and after. Interviews with 25 participants revealed that the garden project facilitated home-school, student-student, and student-teacher connections, serving as a context for engagement and enjoyment for students.

Gabriele Lauterbach, Mads Bølling, Ulrich Dettweiler · International Journal of Educational Research · Norway

A national survey was conducted in Norway on the prevalence, provision, and nature of "uteskole" (education outside the classroom). Out of 2671 schools contacted, a total of 869 schools (32.53%) provided valid data, including additional phone surveys. The results revealed that 87.6% of schools in Norway, from grades 1 to 10, practice uteskole, with 68.7% doing so for at least half a day every second week.

Andréa Nunes Moreira, Camila Torres Valgueiro Ferraz, Doyglas Rafael Sales Marques, Jarbas Florentino de Carvalho, Jane Oliveira Perez · Revista Semiárido De Visu · Brazil (Petrolina)

This study aimed to present efficient and low-cost methods for preserving ladybugs, excellent predators of agricultural pests, to horticulturists in Petrolina, Brazil. "Ladybug Preservation Kits" containing seed mixes and explanatory materials were distributed to 10 community gardens, and "Knowing Ladybugs Kits" with ladybug specimens were also distributed to 2 gardens. The survey identified 17 community gardens in Petrolina, and the activities received excellent receptivity, contributing to knowledge building about natural enemies.

Tomi Setiawan, Moch Farizy A. Pratama · Jurnal Pengabdian Sosial · Indonesia (Bandung)

This study implemented training and assistance activities for sustainable food supply through the utilization of home gardens as a new adaptation of urban farming in Bandung City. The results showed that community members were very enthusiastic about implementing sustainable food supply activities through garden utilization. Urban farming activities are accepted by the community due to increasing food demand in urban areas.

Benatti, Lia P. · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Global

This paper explores school gardens as pedagogical tools beyond food provision, noting that in visited schools, gardens do not meet dietary needs due to limited space. They offer opportunities for agroecology and environmental education, depending on educators' integration efforts. Despite logistical challenges, gardens promote healthy eating habits, though effective management often falls to individual teachers. The paper also proposes a framework for garden design to foster therapeutic, social, and knowledge-building experiences.

Deborah Dutta, Sanjay Chandrasekharan · Environmental Education Research · Global

This study, based on a year-long facilitation of a school terrace-garden in a metropolitan city, outlined how situated and embodied interactions can foster an understanding of diverse ecological practices. It indicated that multi-modal sensorimotor experiences and the possibility of sharing these with others motivate children to expand their sphere of environmental activities beyond the site of learning. Students extended their care-based interactions with the garden to their communities and broader ecological issues.

Kristen Speakman, Nicole Neault, Ventura Lovato, Katie Cueva, Ivanka Szabo, Rebecca Wallis, Jennifer Richards, Allison Barlow · Progress in community health partnerships · United States

Three tribal communities in the Southwestern United States partnered with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health to develop culturally relevant plans for the "Feast for the Future" program, addressing community concerns about obesity. Using a community visioning process, Community Advisory Boards from each community identified opportunities, challenges, goals, and visions, leading to the development of seven program components including Edible School Gardens and Community Gardens. A community-based participatory action research process was critical to this development.

Melis Temel Mumcu, Aykut Emre Bozdoğan · Gazi Journal of Education Sciences · Turkey

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of out-of-school learning activities, including a field trip and school garden activities, on 50 6th-grade students' science interest and motivation in Çorum during the 2022-2023 academic year. Findings showed a significant increase in science interest and motivation for the experimental group, while the control group showed no significant difference. Experimental group students also expressed positive views, stating the activities were enjoyable and boosted their interest.

Carina Rose Layfield · Teaching and Learning Anthropology · Global

This student essay examines a senior thesis project from Barnard College's urban studies program, advocating for the use of container farms to expand urban agricultural education in career and technical education settings. The author reviews their research process, results, and argument regarding the essential role of Perkins Act funding for such programs.