Research & reports

Sarah Selmer, James Rye, Elizabeth L. Malone, Danielle Fernandez, Kathryn Trebino · Science Activities · Global

This article describes how statistical literacy can be introduced at the upper elementary level through integrated science-mathematics instruction in a project-based learning context. Focusing on a farmers' market project and school gardening, it illustrates how to scaffold students' understanding of statistical questions and develop their ability to formulate survey questions. The approach extends to analyzing, interpreting, and representing data, enhancing the statistical problem-solving process.

Abiola A. Farinde, Brett Tempest, Lisa R. Merriweather · International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship · Global

This report described a service learning project that exposed underrepresented high school students to engineering through a community service activity where students built irrigation equipment for a community garden. The project's objective was to motivate high school students to consider STEM majors using service learning. A qualitative study was also conducted to describe the impact of informal science education through service learning, revealing three themes: experiential learning, broadening perspective, and identity as performance.

Leslie Vorraber, María Sebastián López, Esteve Fernández, Marcelo Scofano · Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) · Argentina (Flores)

Since 2012, the University of Flores (UFLO) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has implemented an Urban Agriculture Development Program. This program creates organic garden models with various production systems and designs, utilizing recycled materials and urban-adapted formats, to be promoted in community productive spaces. It involves monitoring and evaluating physical-chemical parameters of system components to ensure optimal development and the use of seasonal species adapted to the local climate.

Myungil Jeong, EuSook Jea, Sang Mi Lee, BuYoung Yi · Journal of people, plants, and environment · Global

This study investigated the effect of a 15-week horticultural activity program using a four-season ornamental rooftop garden on the mental development and intelligence quotient (IQ) of 47 preschoolers (26 experimental, 21 control) from May to September 2013. Both groups showed significant improvement in mental development, with the experimental group showing greater improvement. While IQ also improved in both groups, the change was not statistically significant, possibly due to the study's duration.

Heather Yeatman, Karen Quinsey, James Dawber, Wendy Nielsen, Deanne Condon‐Paoloni, Simon Eckermann, Darcy Morris, Pam Grootemaat, David L Fildes · Evaluation Journal of Australasia · Australia

An evaluation of a national kitchen garden program in Australian primary schools was conducted across 28 initiative and 14 comparison schools. The program achieved overall improvements in students' food choices (t=2.26, p=0.024) and kitchen lifestyle behaviours (t=2.35, p=0.019). Female students and those from provincial schools showed statistically greater improvements in food choices, with girls scoring higher than boys (t=6.19, p<0.001).

Kimberly Yates, Michael J. Brody · The Journal of Environmental Education · Global

This book states that the urban school garden represents a cultural, pedagogical, and practical shift in priorities towards the earth. Veronica Gaylie's latest book is just one example of the many ways she has addressed urban school gardens.

Okşan Tandoğan · MEGARON / Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Architecture E-Journal · Global

This study compiles a literature review on global efforts to create more livable physical environments for children, focusing on urban open spaces like home surroundings, school gardens, and playgrounds. It emphasizes the importance of these spaces for child development, socialization, and behavior formation. The review includes Child Friendly City initiatives and other practices related to streets, school gardens, playgrounds, and children's transportation.

Norul Hafizah Yusoff, Nurfaezah Ghani, Putri Haryati Ibrahim · The International Islamic University Malaysia Repository (The International Islamic University Malaysia) · Malaysia

This study analyzed the practicality of campus farming at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak campus, from the perspective of its community. Questionnaire surveys, interviews, and observations were conducted among 15 workers and 50 students. Findings indicated that the majority of respondents agreed campus farming is suitable and beneficial for the environment, economy, and social aspects within the campus.

Lauren Bosc · Jeunesse Young People Texts Cultures · Global

This essay discusses the growing focus on children's bodies within discourses of obesity and examines several recently published Canadian children's picture books on healthy food choices, including "Up We Grow!," "Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City," "The Good Garden," "Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City," "Down to Earth," and "Why Are You Doing That?" Drawing on Deborah Lupton's argument that increased focus on children's body size functions to regulate and manage children generally, the essay reads these picture books within the context of public anxiety surrounding childhood obesity.

이숙미, Kim In Ho · · Global

Aiming to develop approaches for enhancing the self-support capability of vulnerable groups, this study analyzed foreign cases in which urban agriculture activities were used for self-support. The analysis classified urban agriculture activities into four types depending on participants' level of self-support capability and employment status: a healing type that helps mind and body recover through engagement, a self-consumption type that supports healthy eating and cuts food expenses, a social-relation type built around interaction with the community, and an occupation type providing jobs and income through production activities.

Lucía Ferreira Fernández, Walter Alejandro Muiño, Pablo Valentín Ermini · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Argentina

In two peripheral neighborhoods of Santa Rosa, La Pampa province, Argentina — Zona Norte and Villa Germinal — a 2014 ethnobotanical and agroecological study examined home gardeners' knowledge, uses and meanings attached to arvenses, spontaneous plant species growing alongside cultivated crops. Using ethnobotanical data-collection tools, researchers collected and identified 57 species; roughly half of informants said they remove these plants without using them, while the rest use them mainly as fertilizer for their gardens or feed for domestic animals. Published literature cited medicinal preparation as the most frequent use, and Cynodon dactylon ("gramilla"), the species appearing most often in the gardens, was also regarded by informants as a "pest."

Karen Hobday, Jacqueline Ramke, Rènée du Toit, Sara Pereira · Health Education Journal · Timor-Leste

An intervention under the Healthy Eyes in Schools Project, delivered across four primary schools in Aileu District, Timor-Leste, was evaluated using a descriptive mixed-methods design combining questionnaires and interviews. Local teachers received training and resources to deliver nine lessons on eye health; in two schools this was paired with the creation of school gardens and improvements to water and sanitation. Students in classes 5 and 6 took part: 384 students aged 10-17 (median 12) completed the baseline survey and 237 completed a follow-up. The intervention was associated with improved eye health knowledge and some attitudes and practices, but attitudes about the capabilities of blind children and adults did not change. Teachers' attitudes and support from principals and an international NGO appeared key to successful implementation, while limited coverage of eye health in the existing curriculum, limited parent participation, and limited access to healthy food may have constrained the intervention's effectiveness.

Chen Sheng-we · · Global

A discussion piece positions the popularization of urban agriculture science as a key measure for shifting traditional agriculture toward modern agriculture and accelerating urbanization and new countryside construction. It identifies making urban agriculture research results benefit the public as a pressing problem in current popularization efforts, and examines service philosophy and content innovation to improve service quality and content based on the practical work involved and its shortcomings. No empirical data is presented.

Matejowsky T. · Locale: The Australasian-Pacific Journal of Regional Food Studies · Philippines (Urdaneta City, Pangasinan)

This ethnographic case study examines Urdaneta City's backyard and community gardening program launched in 2009 to address food insecurity and household self-sufficiency in a provincial Philippine city. It analyzes the interplay between municipal government objectives and citizens' subsistence and economic needs.

Alyssa M Boyle · Scholarship @ Claremont (The Claremont Colleges) · Global

This thesis discusses the importance of school gardens, highlighting the industrialized food system and "Nature Deficit Disorder" in children as two environmental and societal problems. School gardens are presented as an effective tool to address these issues. A how-to manual for implementing such projects in schools and sample lesson plans for use with the garden across the curriculum are also provided.

Bertram C. Bruce, Naomi Bloch · Education and Culture · Global

This paper develops a philosophical basis for community inquiry, drawing from pragmatist theory. It applies this framework to a case study of community inquiry within an urban agriculture project. The example demonstrates how learning can occur both inside and outside school settings, fostering a stronger connection between education and community life.

Amaya Valero, Sergio Nicolás · · Colombia (Bogotá)

This research analyzes the impact of participatory agroecological farming practices in an urban context, focusing on the integration of organic farming components into educational settings. The case study examines the Jardin la Paz in Bogotá, Colombia, where urban agriculture is developed by children, youth, teachers, and parents on available land. This initiative utilizes urban subsoil properties to produce food, combining rural practices adapted to the urban ecosystem through local and inter-institutional efforts.

Kynda R. Curtis, Ruby Ward, K. Eileen Allen, Susan L. Slocum, Curtis, Kynda, Ward, Ruby, Allen, Karin, Slocum, Susan · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global

This study aims to explore the effects of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program membership on consumer dietary choice and nutritional intake. It also investigates potential modifications in food purchase, preparation, and dining out practices among participants. The research addresses a gap in understanding how CSA participation might lead to attitude and behavioral changes, which could inform public policy for dietary improvements.

Sherece Burma Tami Ambury · Earth Common Journal · Global

This article explores three visions of sustainability through urban gardening at individual, community, and city levels, as visually presented by MacEwan University Design Studies students in their final documentary photography project. It details the students' project development process, including subject location and interviews, and highlights their increased awareness and interest in how urban and suburban residents can find or grow their own food.

Joanne Pascoe, Claire Wyatt‐Smith · · Australia (Brisbane)

An investigation at two Brisbane State primary schools in Australia explored the potential of school gardens as a cross-disciplinary learning environment for curriculum literacies. The study found that students' enthusiasm made the garden an effective literacy learning space, with those having learning difficulties and behavioral issues benefiting most. Stakeholder comments indicated overall improvements in writing skills and learning attitudes through integrated garden lessons.

Douglas Carl Reeser · Development in Practice · Belize

An analysis of an NGO school garden program in two Q'eqchi' Maya communities in southern Belize revealed challenges faced by NGOs. These challenges included issues of legitimacy, cultural appropriateness, self-interest, and constructed conceptions of their target communities, raising questions about the priority between autonomous, healthy communities and the preservation of the NGO program.

Juan José Quintero, Matías Álamo · Americanae (AECID Library) · Argentina (Bahía Blanca)

This study analyzes the role of institutional and social actors in the Pro-Huerta program, implemented by INTA in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. The program fosters community engagement through inter-institutional articulation and volunteer work, promoting organic family and community gardens in socio-economically marginalized areas like peripheral neighborhoods and schools. The research investigates the work of the NGO "Red de Voluntarios" within this program, using bibliographic information and interviews with key informants.

Andrew Carberry, Marsha Spence · Journal of Youth Development · Global

This paper presents a formative evaluation of an afterschool program, "Youth Can! Grow Healthy," which combined positive youth development and school garden curricula for elementary school children. The program used novel approaches to teach gardening and nutrition, and engaged children in advocacy for healthy community environments, including sessions on team building, healthy eating, and physical activity. Evaluation themes included successful youth engagement methods, social environment issues, and implications for program management, with results discussed to provide recommendations for future programs.

James C. Anderson · Journal of Agricultural Education · Global

This descriptive-correlational study examined personal factors that may affect the self-determination of 110 freshmen enrolled in an urban agriculture program. Results showed that when students perceived they had an influence in the decision to enroll in the program, they were more satisfied with that decision and more likely to report exerting moderate to high effort on agriculture-related academic tasks.

Miguel Lorente · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Global

This paper describes the recent social movement promoting urban gardens as sources of leisure, social interaction, and healthy self-consumption food. Factors such as environmental awareness, increased unemployment, physical exercise for retirees, the pleasure of producing one's own food, and trends are contributing to the creation of small vegetable gardens in and around cities. This small-scale activity allows urban populations to discover and understand the role of agriculture.