Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
11393 results(255 / 456)
Towards Green Campus in BDCE
2019Prof. P. R. Khobragade · International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development · Global
This project implemented and analyzed a green-campus initiative at the BDCE engineering college in Sevagram, India, involving vermicomposting of paper waste and plant matter, reducing plastic use, using solar energy, harvesting rainwater, and introducing a community garden. Water quality testing on campus confirmed the water was potable, solid waste was shown to be reducible through composting methods, and applying the 3R principle (reduce, reuse, recycle) along with maintaining campus greenery through the project's techniques produced favorable results.
CompostCommunityDIYPOTENCIJALI RAVNIH KROVOVA ZA PRIMENU URBANE AGRIKULTURE
2019Ljiljana Vasilevska, Danijela Milanović, Magdalena Vasilevska · Zbornik radova Građevinskog fakulteta · Serbia
This paper analyzes the potential of flat roofs as a suitable form of built environment for urban agriculture, focusing on how different types of flat roofs could support different categories of urban agriculture and considering the ecological, economic, and social benefits of this approach; no specific site measurements or quantitative results are given in the available text.
PolicyCommunityParadise Museum of the Natural World
2019Emma Puryear · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · United States
This design thesis proposes Emma Puryear's "Museum of the Natural World," a project located between the East and West Villages intended to reconnect residents with the natural world both aesthetically and in content, functioning as a community cultural center that promotes environmentalism and revitalizes Paradise Park through an outdoor eco-exhibit and community garden. It is a design proposal rather than a report of built outcomes or measured data.
CommunityUrban Farming in Sustainable City Development
2019Magdalena Grochulska-Salak · Practice, progress, and proficiency in sustainability · Global
This book chapter, a conceptual rather than empirical piece, defines urban farming as building development for producing plants to meet local community needs and discusses shaping urban farms to preserve the environmental balance of urban spaces alongside the coexistence of architecture and greenery. It argues that technologies such as hydroponic and aeroponic production integrated into buildings can complement a city's functional and spatial structure in connection with public spaces and green systems, positioning the urban farm as an element of sustainable urban development.
Climate changePolicyFood sovereignty & justicePeri-urban agricultureIsolation, Characterization, and Inactivation of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia From Leafy Green Vegetables and Urban Agriculture Systems
2019Dan Li, Chun Hong Wong, Mei Fang Seet, Nicole Kuan · Frontiers in Microbiology · Singapore
This study conducted, for the first time to the authors' knowledge, an investigation of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia -- an emerging opportunistic pathogen capable of causing high-mortality nosocomial infections in immunocompromised patients while also being ubiquitous in the environment -- on leafy green vegetables and in a hydroponic farming facility in Singapore. Eleven isolates were recovered from three vegetable types (sweet basil, kale, parsley) and the nutrient solution, with high population levels reached in vegetables under abused storage temperatures (over 8-log CFU/ml in basil juice after six days at 20°C) and on hydroponic facilities through biofilm formation (8 to 9-log CFU/well), and UV treatment (over 4-log reduction at 250 mJ/cm²) was identified as an effective measure to reduce contamination in nutrient solutions and facilities.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPeri-urban agricultureDevelopment and adoption of wastewater treatment system for peri-urban agriculture in Multan, Pakistan
2019Rana Muhammad Asif Kanwar, Zahid Mahmood Khan, Hafiz Umar Farid · Water Science & Technology · Global
A study in Multan, Pakistan, assessed the feasibility of biological treatment for a typical wastewater stream using daily trends in wastewater characteristics and designed a wastewater treatment (WWT) system for it. Parameters including pH (5.8-6.2), temperature (24-30°C), and BOD5 (128-265 mg/L) supported biological treatment; including nitrogenous BOD indicated a need for nitrification-denitrification, and linear regression of volatile suspended solids against total suspended solids showed high organic solids content suited to biological treatment. A BOD/COD ratio below 0.8 indicated a need for biomass acclimation. The designed system's major units were a primary clarifier, cascade aeration, trickling filter, adsorption filter, and chlorination contact tank. Over a 15-week validation period of the secondary WWT system, removal reached 91% for TSS, 46% for TDS, 88% for BOD5, and 87% for COD. The developed system was concluded to be an appropriate sustainable WWT system, with lower energy consumption and operating costs.
Peri-urban agricultureHealthPolicyThe Master Gardener Programme working with urban communities: Garden Organic’s London Food Poverty Project Southwark, Report for Garden Organic: Southwark Food Poverty Project
2019Géraldine Brown, Nathan Kerrigan, Jana Fried · Pure (Coventry University) · United Kingdom
This report presents an evaluation, conducted by a team of Coventry University researchers, of Garden Organic's London Food Poverty Project (LFPP) in Southwark, London, UK, which adapts the organization's Master Gardener Programme. Prior independent evaluations of the Master Gardener Programme had identified positive outcomes for volunteers, communities, households, and substance-misusing prisoners across health and wellbeing, skills and employability, community life, food eating and buying, food recycling and composting, relationship building, and recovery support. Funded by the Hirschmann Foundation, the LFPP aimed to build resilience and knowledge in an urban locality identified as an area of deprivation, targeting individuals and families across Southwark communities at risk of or experiencing food poverty, using an approach that encourages participation in food growing and cooking on a low income. The report is organized into four sections: background context, the collaborative community research approach, key findings on community growing, cooking, and networks, and reflections and learning points.
CommunityWelfareFood educationPolicyRooftop urban agriculture for the small stakeholder
2019Jake Mowrer, Jeremy Merrill, Don Conlee, Joseph Marble, Bruce Dvorak · Journal of Living Architecture · Global
Against the backdrop of urban agriculture's potential to benefit inner-city communities by reducing food transport distance, raising awareness of food production, and improving nutrition, health, and economic status, this study grew green beans, cantaloupe, eggplant, squash, and tomatoes in a rooftop garden. The results indicate that water source quality and rooftop climatic conditions (solar-induced temperature rise) can limit the success of untrained rooftop gardeners. The study concludes that outreach and educational materials on overcoming these obstacles will be necessary to help untrained urban agriculture farmers establish productive gardens in rooftop environments.
CommunityFood educationPeri-urban agricultureFeasibility assessment of rooftop greenhouses in Latin America. The case study of a social neighborhood in Quito, Ecuador
2019Ana Nadal, Daniel Rodríguez-Cadena, Oriol Pons, Eva Cuerva, Alejandro Josa, Joan Rieradevall · Urban forestry & urban greening · Global
This study assessed the feasibility of implementing rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) in the social housing neighborhood "La Comuna Santa Clara de San Millán" in Quito, Ecuador. Standard assessment methods were adapted for a social neighborhood in three steps: characterization based on criteria, determination of available roof surface, and estimation of production, self-sufficiency, and self-supply. The results showed that 33.2% (7.70 ha) of the neighborhood's rooftops had short-term feasibility for installing rooftop greenhouses, with the potential to produce 1,579,140 kg of tomatoes and 56,720 kg of lettuce per year.
Peri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityClimate changeHorta escolar em um centro municipal de educação infantil de São José dos Pinhais / School garden in a municipal education center in São José dos Pinhais
2019Adriana Rodrigues Moreira, Rodrigues, Ana Beatriz Nizer, Poiani, Jaqueline Oliveira, Santos, Luciana Beatriz dos, França, Maria Gabriela de Lima · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil
This case study documents the introduction of a school garden at a municipal early childhood education center (CMEI) in São José dos Pinhais, Brazil, tracing the process from soil preparation and fertilizing, through measuring planting beds and selecting crops, to harvest by students and teachers. Data came from field research, literature review, interviews, photographic records, and site visits. The main result was construction of the garden, from site maintenance to seedling planting, carried out by staff with student help. The study concludes the garden raised environmental awareness and supplemented meals at the institution, but this is a descriptive case report without a comparison group or quantitative outcome measures.
Food educationHealthCommunitySTEA2M camp at the Orchard: A community cultural wealth approach
2019Laura Beth Kelly, Virginia Ángeles-Wann, John Wann-Ángeles, Margarita Jimenez‐Silva · NABE Journal of Research and Practice · United States
This article describes an out-of-school STEA2M (science, technology, engineering, arts, agriculture, and math) program at the Orchard Community Learning Center, an urban farm in south Phoenix, Arizona. Run as a bilingual, project-based program, it draws on the community cultural wealth framework (aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital) to integrate students' and families' backgrounds into the curriculum through culturally sustaining pedagogy. The article presents the urban-farm setting as a context for hands-on STEA2M learning tailored to student interests, but reports no quantitative measurement of learning outcomes.
Food educationCommunityRooftop Gardens Make Use of the Air We Breathe Below
2019Sofie Bates · Eos · Global
This short item reports that placing plants near building air vents may help them grow better by drawing on carbon dioxide exhaled by people indoors, while also reducing the carbon emissions released to the outside air. No experimental method or data are given.
Climate changeCommunityParticipatory by design
2019Alana Mann · · Global
This book chapter surveys urban planning initiatives from across the world that engage multiple stakeholders in co-creating diverse "foodscapes" to address food sovereignty, food justice, and food security, examining them as both political and strategic acts. Some of the examples draw on notions of the informal city, while others engage struggles for land justice that cross rural/urban boundaries. The survey of international food-policy instruments and practices is not exhaustive; the chapter's aim is instead to surface the tensions, contestations, and possible bridges involved in transforming urban food environments through voice, participation, and re-learning the city.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyCommunityTraining on utilization of planted containers from used goods in two of Primary Schools (SD model Al Azhar Medan and SD Namira Medan) in North of Sumatra
2019Haryati Haryati, Ameilia Zuliyanti Siregar, Suzanna Fitriany Sitepu, Jamilah Jamilah, Alida Lubis · ABDIMAS TALENTA Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia
A five-month training program (July–November 2019) at two elementary schools in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia—SD Model Al Azhar and SD Namira—taught students to convert used bottles, wood, cans, plastics, shoes, trousers, and oil packaging into vegetable-planting containers, run by the University of Sumatera Utara. The program covered problem identification, site preparation, training, hands-on practice, field guidance, and media dissemination. Reported outcomes were increased student knowledge and understanding of repurposing used materials into planting containers, which were then placed in a corner of the school garden.
Food educationCommunityDIYPerception and Adoption Level of Urban Horticulture Technologies, Nairobi County, Kenya
2019· International Journal of Forestry and Horticulture · Africa
An article on urban horticulture in Nairobi County, Kenya (International Journal of Forestry and Horticulture, 2019) describes urban horticulture as encompassing fruit, nut, vegetable, ornamental and flower production, citing that 65% of urban farmers are women (Orsini et al. 2013) and noting food insecurity and malnutrition remain problems in Kenyan urban areas despite population growth of 2.11%. The abstract text available presents background and policy context rather than the study's own methods or measured results.
Digital agricultureCommunityカナダ・ブリティッシュコロンビア州のバンクーバー大都市圏における都市農業の発展にともなう農村空間の商品化
2019トシオ キクチ, Toshio Kikuchi, 俊夫 菊地 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Canada
Focusing on community gardens in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, particularly in the city of Richmond, this study (2019) sought to clarify how urban agriculture's development is accompanied by the "commodification of rural space." It finds that Metro Vancouver's urban agriculture differs from suburban agriculture in that community gardens prioritize maintaining green and leisure space within the urban environment over agricultural production for food supply. The study concludes that community gardens function as a node connecting "urbanity" and "rurality," existing in the metropolitan periphery through a commodification of rural character for urban leisure use — that is, their role as green/leisure space for urban residents takes precedence over their function as actual food production.
Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkageCommunityEconomicsEpigeal fauna of urban food production sites show no obvious relationships with soil characteristics or site area
2019Sofia Biffi, Cleandho Marcos de Souza, L. G. Firbank · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · United Kingdom
Seventeen urban food production sites of varying sizes in and around Leeds, UK, selected from an open-source database, were surveyed using pitfall traps to assess the abundance and diversity of epigeal invertebrates (beetles, springtails, and spiders) in relation to soil characteristics (organic carbon, moisture content, pH) and site area; soil productivity was assessed by growing radish (Raphanus sativus) under uniform conditions. The study found no correlation between epigeal invertebrate abundance or diversity and either site area or soil characteristics. The authors state this indicates there is, as yet, no evidence that urban food production sites are too small to draw on ecosystem services delivered by epigeal invertebrates.
Limited or null effectBiodiversityPollinatorsApoyo al Jardín Botanico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis en los procesos formativos y técnicos de agricultura urbana
2019Jair Fernando Castillo Yepes, Edward Reinaldo Pinto Ramírez · · Colombia (Bogotá)
Under an agreement between Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas and the Bogotá Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis), an internship project supported the city's urban agriculture program amid its rapid growth in Bogotá, Colombia. Using field notes, on-site observation, training sessions, and a checklist, the work identified deficiencies in the urban agriculture program and, based on these, developed an Agroecological Management Protocol for urban gardens addressing four areas derived from Good Agricultural Practices criteria: integrated crop management, good agricultural practices, environmental protection, and hazard control, aimed at diagnosing and improving conditions in gardens enrolled in the program.
Food educationCommunityMees: Participatory Design and Self-Building in Shared Urban Open Spaces: Community Gardens and Casitas in New York City
2019Micheline Nilsen · Journal of the American Planning Association · United States (New York City)
This entry is a bibliographic citation for a review of the work "Participatory Design and Self-Building in Shared Urban Open Spaces: Community Gardens and Casitas in New York City," published in the Journal of the American Planning Association, vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 592–593. No further content of the review is given in the available record.
CommunityPolicyKINERJA APLIKASI ANDROID UNTUK PEMANTAUAN DAN PENGENDALIAN URBAN FARMING PADA JARINGAN 4G
2019R. Deiny Mardian, Suhartati Agoes, Erby Virta Joseph Paays, Abi Falaki, Nur Hudantomo · · Indonesia
For urban residents growing plants as a hobby, an automated irrigation system was developed that activates a water pump based on soil moisture readings and refills a water tank automatically when its level drops to a minimum threshold, monitored and controlled remotely via a dedicated Android smartphone application. The application's performance was evaluated by measuring its response time over a 4G cellular network, which ranged from approximately 4 to 9 seconds.
Digital agricultureCommunityDIYGroup Gardening in a Native American Community: A Collaborative Approach
2019Blakely Brown, Laura Dybdal, Curtis W. Noonan, Maja Pedersen, Martin Parker, Mary Corcoran · Health Promotion Practice · United States
On an American Indian reservation, a community-based participatory research approach applying a social-ecological model identified the factors that promote or hinder community gardens and the use of locally grown food, and tested the feasibility of a group gardening program for Native American adults. Interviews with nine key stakeholders identified knowledge/experience, self-efficacy, Elders, traditional ways, community values, generational gaps and local tribal policy as influencing factors. In a feasibility study with 20 Native American adults with prediabetes or diabetes, Profile of Mood States scores showed consistently more positive change among group gardening participants than among a comparison group.
CommunityHealthFood educationWelfareUrban Agriculture in Southern and Eastern Africa: Policy Questions and Challenges
2019Beacon Mbiba · · Africa
This paper argues that the literature on urban agriculture is full of complaints about its negative treatment by researchers, urban managers and policymakers, who have regarded it as a new "eldorado" to be grabbed and exploited by whoever gets there first. Despite documented actual and perceived benefits to the urban economy, most cities in the region are said to lack policies that vigorously support urban agriculture. Most commentators hold that policy should provide more land, use of wastewater, security for crops and gardens, improved technologies, more demonstration projects, and credit, loans and extension services, and the paper concludes that a policy solution will not be found within urban agriculture itself but by taking the debate outside it.
PolicyHome Gardening And Household Food Security - Women Empowerment Issues In Urban Spatial Limits
2019H N Vidya · Iconic Research and Engineering Journals · Asia
This is a discursive paper arguing for the need to raise awareness of women's empowerment through home gardening as a means of household food security. It presents home gardening as a form of urban agriculture offering self-sufficiency from home-grown produce, increased self-confidence, and household food security, while noting that expanding home gardens in metro cities is constrained by water supply shortfalls, insufficient garden space, deficient sunlight, and competing land use as apartments and shared housing outnumber individual homes. No specific study population, sample size or data-based results are presented.
WelfareFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityHeavy Metal Contamination in Soil: Sources, Accumulation in Vegetables and Remedial Measures: A Review
2019Sandeep Kumar, Lal Chand Malav, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning, Nagpur, 440033, Maharashtra, Shiv Prasad, Sunita Yadav, Amrita Daripa, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning, Nagpur, 440033, Maharashtra · Agropedology · Global
This review argues that rapid industrialization and mechanization are driving heavy metal pollution worldwide, with both anthropogenic and natural sources of heavy metals reaching soil, water bodies and plants and ultimately entering the human body through the food chain. Heavy metals accumulate in plants and living organisms after uptake from soil and cause harm, and they are also toxic to soil biological activity by disrupting key microbial processes. The review states that, due to industrial development in urban areas, heavy metal contamination — from metals such as zinc, copper, lead and cadmium — has become a serious threat to the peri-urban agriculture that supplies vegetable production, and it surveys sources of contamination and remediation techniques, with a particular focus on phytoremediation.
Contamination & food safetyPeri-urban agricultureBuilding sustainable urban farms with government support in Singapore
2019Bjorn Low · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · Asia
A case study reports on Edible Garden City, launched in 2012 in Singapore — a hyper-urbanized city-state that imports 90% of its food — which has built urban gardens with the aim of increasing the country's resilience and people's connection to food. Combining commercial activities with socially driven projects, from consultancy to community farming, the company had built 200 edible gardens and states its "Citizen Farm" could potentially produce 150 kg of leafy greens and 150 kg of mushrooms per month, an effort supported by a public-private partnership that made unused spaces available and reformed regulations; it also runs a farm on the rooftop of the Raffles City shopping mall supplying local restaurants.
CommunityPolicyEconomics