Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2091 results(27 / 84)
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A TEACHING SCENARIO FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ON CREATING A SCHOOL GARDEN USING INQUIRY METHOD
2023Filippos Evangelou · European Journal of Education Studies · Greece (Ioannina)
This paper analyzes the design and implementation of a teaching scenario for creating a school garden using the inquiry method, implemented by students aged 6 to 12 years old at the 9th Primary School of Intercultural Education in Ioannina, Greece, from September 2018 to June 2019. The main purpose of the scenario's implementation is to create the school garden through practical daily teaching and learning activities and an inquiry approach, forming a culture among students about sustainability and sustainable development.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeUrban Farming and Its Socioeconomic and Environmental Benefits for Ensuring Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Jordan
2023Karolina Zubel · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Jordan
This policy paper explores the potential of urban farming in Jordan to address pressing issues of food security, climate-induced risks, and socioeconomic vulnerability in urban centers. Urban farming is identified as a crucial solution to feed vulnerable groups, enhance cities' resilience and employment opportunities, act as a center for community engagement and youth education, and provide ecological benefits. The paper also examines stakeholders' perceptions, beneficiaries, inclusivity in decision-making processes, and governance challenges related to urban farm development.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareClimate changeFood educationCommunityEconomicsMeanings
2023Amartya Deb · · Global
This chapter examines the multi-layered social construction of "ambivalent landscapes" in wild green spaces, connecting them to concepts like age-value in heritage conservation and guerrilla gardening. It argues that plant-built assemblages offer novel imaginations of urban nature and contribute to environmental justice. The chapter also explains that the isolation of spontaneous nature on buildings from a city's metabolic processes makes it difficult to value as green infrastructure, yet microsites of wild vegetation hold potential for greening resource-scarce neighborhoods.
CommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyReview and Analysis of the Motivations Associated with Urban Gardening in the Pandemic Period
2023Valentina Cattivelli · Sustainability · Global
This paper examined people's motives for urban gardening during the pandemic waves of 2020 and 2021 through a literature review. Analyzing relevant articles published from early 2020 to mid-2022, findings revealed that the most widespread motivations were related to personal and community wellbeing, as well as food supply security, including the opportunity to spend time having fun outside the home. Additionally, community resilience emerged as a new motivation not previously detected.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPlanting Commons through Art ?
2023Mareike Schwarz · Street Art & Urban Creativity · Global
This paper analyzes the intersection of urban art and community gardens to explore whether commons can emerge from this collaboration. Through a comparative study of two community garden projects in Berlin and Dakar, the research examines the impact of funding structures, accessibility, artistic concepts, and design on commoning. Findings reveal that the two projects differ significantly in their development context and underlying structures, affecting their ability to function as commons. Furthermore, the paper argues that the dependency of artistic involvement on third-party funding contradicts the principles of commoning.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban Farms and Their Benefits: Producing Food in the City
2023Véronique Saint-Gès, Hugo de Vergès · Frontiers for Young Minds · Global
This article introduces urban agriculture, explaining what it is, how it is practiced, and the benefits it provides. It highlights urban agriculture as a way to provide fresh, local food for city residents and to reintroduce nature into urban environments.
CommunityFood educationHealthAplicación tecnológica en agricultura urbana desde un enfoque comunitario que promueve la seguridad alimentaria en poblaciones vulnerables. Experiencia de un semillero
2023Laura Amelia López, Juan Pablo Ayala, Nicoll Yeliltza Parra, Adriana Alejandra Vargas, Juan Sebastián González, John Manuel Silva · Encuentro de Ciencias Básicas · Colombia (Bogotá)
This study presents a project by students from the Catholic University of Colombia, focusing on community-oriented urban agriculture to promote food security in vulnerable populations. An experimental strategy was used, employing a vertical module with an ESP 32 board and sensors to observe variables such as temperature, humidity, and pH. Prototype development, device design, and the production and growth of Batavia lettuce seedlings were achieved, followed by field piloting of the sensor application in community urban farming modules.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareDigital agricultureSufficiency in social practices: An underestimated potential for the transformation to a circular economy
2023Paul Suski, Alexandra Palzkill, Melanie Speck · Frontiers in Sustainability · Global
This article argues that sufficiency, often underestimated, is a suitable strategy for achieving a sustainable circular economy. It proposes shifting research and policy focus from product-centric approaches to consumption patterns guided by sufficiency. The case of urban gardening illustrates how small interventions can transform consumption by challenging the logic of availability. The authors advocate for using social practice theories to develop effective circular economy strategies.
CommunityClimate changeOrganic cycleRethinking How City Dwellers Get Their Food
2023Claudia Wiese, Bernd Pölling, Wolf Lorleberg · Frontiers for Young Minds · Global
This article discusses how cities, despite covering only 2-3% of land, consume 75% of global energy and produce 80% of CO2 emissions, making them dependent on distant food sources. It describes how urban agriculture can help cities address climate change and environmental problems, while simultaneously improving living environments for urban populations.
Climate changeFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityUrban–rural linkageThree gardens as places of performative resistance and resilience
2023Pekka Ilmari Niskanen · Ruukku Studies in Artistic Research · Global
This paper examines three gardens—a Sahrawi sandoponic garden in Algerian refugee camps, a Helsinki Sandoponic Garden, and the Jardin Truillot in Paris—as sites for community gathering and addressing trauma. The Helsinki garden, a project by PHOSfate, highlights injustices faced by the Sahrawi population and the Baltic Sea, linking refugee status to phosphate mining and eutrophication. The study argues that recognizing injustice is central to the activism in these gardens and related practices.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeUrban Vegetation: Anthropogenic Influences, Public Perceptions, and Wildlife Implications
2023Catherine Simpson, Cade Coldren, Ioana A. Coman, Caitlyn E. Cooper, Gad Perry · IntechOpen eBooks · Global
This review focused on urban vegetation, whose importance is growing with expanding urban environments, examining its multiple uses, significance for urban wildlife conservation and sustainability, and media portrayal. Previously, the importance of urban vegetation was often emphasized in narrow literature niches related to horticulture and landscape architecture. This study surveyed diverse uses of urban horticulture and considered the role urban vegetation plays in urban ecosystem services and biodiversity.
BiodiversityCommunityThe contributions of urban horticulture to cities' liveability and resilience: Insights from Singapore
2023Angelia Sia, Puay Yok Tan, Kenneth B. H. Er · Plants People Planet · Singapore
This opinion article discusses the role of urban horticulture in Singapore, focusing on four national-level programs. It illustrates how these initiatives contribute to cultivating community ownership, fostering community ties, and promoting interest in horticulture among urban dwellers. The programs include community gardens, allotment gardens, the Gardening with Edibles program, and therapeutic horticulture programs.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeInfluence of school garden learning approach on academic development of global service-learners
2023Samuel Ikendi, Michael S. Retallick, Gail R. Nonnecke, Donald R. Kugonza · Journal of Agricultural Education · Global
This study investigated the influence of a school garden-based service-learning program on the academic development of alumni (n = 274) from 2006-2019. A self-administered questionnaire, completed by 94.2% of alumni, revealed three components of program activities: community engagement (including school gardening, bi-national team projects, farmer field visits, and school teaching assistance), reflexive actions (such as journaling, critical reflections, and presentations), and social life (including co-curricular activities, tours, and social parties). The findings suggested that alumni could benefit from more instructor-led cognitive development activities.
Food educationHealthCommunityStudy on Participatory Community Vegetable Garden Landscape Design from a Micro-Renewal Perspective
2023Yichen Ma · International Journal of Environmental Sustainability and Protection · Global
This article explores participatory community gardening theory and practices, using an old community as an example, to find ways to establish and grow community gardens for residents. It aims to provide a reference for establishing community gardens and exploring sustainable methods within urban micro-renewal, especially in response to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic affecting residents' access to necessities.
CommunityDIYFood educationWork in progress: power in transformation to postcapitalist work relations in community–supported agriculture
2023Guilherme Raj, Giuseppe Feola, Hens Runhaar · Agriculture and Human Values · Portugal
This comparative case study of three Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives in Portugal analyzed how power shapes transformations to postcapitalist work relations. Results showed that while CSA creates non-alienated, non-monetized, and care-filled postcapitalist work relations, they insufficiently unmake unbalanced power relations established in capitalist work relations. The selected CSA initiatives could benefit from actively deconstructing internal hierarchies, decentralizing decision-making power from farm owners, and addressing oppressive power relations ossified in their local and cultural context when establishing postcapitalist work relations.
Equity & displacementCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceNature-based solutions in informal settlements: A systematic review of projects in Southeast Asian and Pacific countries
2023Erich Wolff, Hanna A. Rauf, Perrine Hamel · Environmental Science & Policy · Global
This study analyzed past Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects in informal settlements across Southeast Asian and Pacific countries, utilizing both grey and academic sources. Six main types of NbS were identified, used to address various social, ecological, and cultural challenges in these settlements, including traditional community gardens and constructed wetlands, some differing from those in the Global North. NbS are often framed as grassroots initiatives led by local communities or as technical systems implemented within "upgrading programs."
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyApplication of Human Urine in Vegetable Production in a School Garden: A Participatory Action Research
2023Govinda Prasad Devkota · Pragyaratna प्रज्ञारत्न · Nepal
This participatory action research in a public high school in Nepal explored the applicability of urine diversion toilets for organic vegetable production and sanitation improvement. It found that urine diversion toilets prevent surface water pollution and improve students' hygiene. Additionally, using human urine as fertilizer increased vegetable production by 40% compared to animal fertilizer in plots of the same area.
Organic cycleFood educationCommunityPeriurbano/agricultura periurbana: tres perspectivas: ecológica, social y territorial
2023Juan Camilo Ochoa Céspedes · Entorno Geográfico · Colombia (Medellín)
This paper critically analyzes peri-urban and peri-urban agriculture, addressing problems of territorial tension resulting from the accelerated expansion of real estate into peri-urban areas due to low urban land availability. The discussion questions the economic, environmental, and social risks of this expansion, highlighting tensions and resistance. The paper illustrates these issues with examples from the peri-urban area of Medellín and its metropolitan area.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsClimate changeCommunityThe Socio-Cultural Benefits of Urban Agriculture: A Review of the Literature
2022Ilieva R.T., Cohen N., Israel M., Specht K., Fox-Kämper R., Fargue-Lelièvre A., Poniży L., Schoen V., Caputo S., Kirby C.K., Goldstein B., Newell J.P., Blythe C. · Land (MDPI), 11(5):622 · Global
A systematic review of 272 peer-reviewed publications drawing on urban-agriculture sites in 57 countries, organizing socio-cultural benefits into four domains: cohesive communities, health and well-being, economic opportunities, and education. Community connection and learning emerged as the most frequently reported benefits.
CommunityHealthFood educationEconomicsCommunity gardens and their effects on diet, health, psychosocial and community outcomes: a systematic review
2022Hume C., Grieger J.A., Kalamkarian A., D'Onise K., Smithers L.G. · BMC Public Health, 22:1247 · Global
A systematic review synthesizing 53 eligible studies. Community garden participation was positively associated with fruit and vegetable intake and several psychosocial and community outcomes, though effects on physical health indicators were mixed.
CommunityHealthFood educationCommunity gardens as local learning environments in social housing contexts: participant perceptions of enhanced wellbeing and community connection
2022Gray T., Tracey D., Truong S., Ward K. · Local Environment, 27(5):570-585 · Australia
A mixed-methods study of 42 social-housing residents across six new community garden sites in Sydney. Participants reported greater health and wellbeing awareness, new interest in growing fresh food, shared produce and recipes, happiness, and frequent socialization and community connectedness.
CommunityWelfareHealthFood educationUrban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Sourcebook – From Production to Food Systems
2022FAO, Rikolto, RUAF · Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rikolto & RUAF · Global
A comprehensive guide co-published by FAO, Rikolto and RUAF for local decision-makers, urban planners and practitioners. It frames urban and peri-urban agriculture from production through to urban food systems and policy, promoting reduced food loss via short supply chains, biodiversity protection, social inclusion, and urban-rural linkages.
PolicyCommunityOrganic cycleFood lossEconomicsBiodiversityEvaluating the impacts of school garden-based programmes on diet and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and practices among the school children: a systematic review
2022Chan C.L., Tan P.Y., Gong Y.Y. · BMC Public Health, 22:1251 · Global
A systematic review of how school garden-based programmes affect children's diet- and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Synthesizing studies from multiple databases, it concludes that such programmes are a promising and cost-effective intervention for improving healthy eating among schoolchildren.
Food educationHealthCommunityまちを変える都市型農園 コミュニティを育む空き地活用
2022Shimpo N. · 学芸出版社 (Gakugei Shuppan), ISBN 978-4-7615-2821-8, 208pp · Global
Shimpo's single-authored book on 'urban-type gardens' that activate underused spaces scattered through cities—suburban abandoned farmland, corners of urban parks, commercial-building rooftops, housing-estate grounds. Drawing on advanced cases and practitioner interviews from Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Japan, it shows how such gardens address vacant-land use, community revitalisation, greening and food/environmental education.
CommunityFood educationOrganic cyclePolicyEcosystem service delivery by urban agriculture and green infrastructure – a systematic review
2022Evans D.L., Falagán N., Hardman C.A., Kourmpetli S., Liu L., Mead B.R., Davies J.A.C. · Ecosystem Services, 54, 101405 · Global
A systematic review synthesizing 157 peer-reviewed articles that compares which ecosystem services are delivered by different types of urban agriculture and green infrastructure. It finds that community gardens, green spaces and parks deliver the most diverse services, that local climate and air-quality regulation are best provided by green infrastructure alone, and that biological control and genetic-diversity maintenance peak when green infrastructure is combined with urban agriculture.
BiodiversityCommunityHealthEconomics