Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
967 results(31 / 39)
Garden Insects 101: Attracting Beneficials & Deterring Pests - July 19, 2016
2016Cat Buxton · · United States
This record describes a community event titled "Garden Insects 101: Attracting Beneficials & Deterring Pests" held on July 19, 2016, from 6 PM to 7 PM at the WRJ Community Garden at Ratcliffe Park in the United States. The event featured Cat Buxton discussing beneficial insects and pests.
CommunityBiodiversityThe Role of the School Garden, and its Importance in the school Building - A field study in the social school service
2016هالة فالح احمد · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Iraq
A field study in Iraq investigated the role and importance of school gardens within educational institutions. The research found that school gardens eliminate desertification, moderate weather, and bring happiness to students and teachers, while their neglect obstructs the teaching process. The study recommends organizing teacher courses on school environment and health, and conducting periodic cleaning and repair campaigns for school gardens and buildings.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeBiodiversityWild Bees in the City: Reimagining Urban Spaces for Pollinator Health
2016Andrea Burr · Consilience · United States (St. Louis, Missouri)
This interdisciplinary pilot study in St. Louis, Missouri, USA (2013-2015) investigated relationships between pollinator health and urban land-uses. Wild bees were sampled weekly at urban farms, community gardens, and prairie pockets, and ethnographic interviews were conducted with 30 decision-makers in summer 2015. Informants described bees' role in crop yield and reported planting to attract pollinators, suggesting the city is viable for pollinator habitat.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityUrban–rural linkageCo‐inhabiting public spaces: diversity and playful encounters in Darwin, Australia
2016Michele Lobo · Geographical Review · Australia (Darwin)
This paper examines public spaces in Darwin, Australia, where the visibility of Aboriginal people and migrants often generates fear and anxiety. Focusing on a drop-in open-air café-community garden-op shop, the study argues that playful events and spontaneous multisensory encounters involving humans, non-humans, and material things can animate these spaces. It suggests that the vibrancy of matter and non-human life forms can inform how diverse cities are co-inhabited, challenging social cohesion policies centered on integration into a dominant white majority culture.
CommunityBiodiversityLandscape and Local Habitat Correlates of Lady Beetle Abundance and Species Richness in Urban Agriculture
2016Monika Egerer, Peter Bichier, Stacy M. Philpott · Annals of the Entomological Society of America · Global
This study identified landscape and local habitat factors influencing lady beetle abundance and species richness in urban community gardens. Assessing 19 gardens over two years, it found that the amount of natural area surrounding gardens at 3 km was the strongest correlate of abundance and species richness. Gardens embedded in more urban landscapes had higher lady beetle abundance and richness, suggesting that urban landscape quality and local habitat management may interact to shape lady beetle communities within gardens.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityExplorando la relación ser humano-naturaleza: agricultura urbana, ciencias de la conservación y ciudad
2016Ana Cristina Torres, Anne Caroline Prévot, Sophie Nadot · Letras Verdes Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioambientales · France (Paris)
A study of 9 Parisian community gardens revealed the limitations of the dominant approach in conservation sciences and urban planning, which seeks to halt environmental deterioration by establishing an ethical basis of attitudes deemed appropriate for conserving a particular nature, by limiting human-nature interaction. Considering citizen subjectivities, the study offers perspectives to nourish conservation sciences and rethink cities.
Governance failureCommunityBiodiversityPolicySubstantial Mortality of Cabbage Looper (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) From Predators in Urban Agriculture Is not Influenced by Scale of Production or Variation in Local and Landscape-Level Factors
2016David M. Lowenstein, Maryam Gharehaghaji, David H. Wise · Environmental Entomology · United States
A study at 28 urban food-production sites in the Midwestern United States measured the removal of sentinel eggs and larvae of the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) by predators over a 3-day period. Predators removed 50% of eggs and 25% of larvae, with mortality rates not predicted by landscape factors and similar across residential gardens, community gardens, and farms. Laboratory assays confirmed that lady beetles, spiders, and pirate bugs consumed eggs and larvae at high rates.
BiodiversityPollinatorsFrom green to brown landscapes—and back again: urban agriculture, ecology and Hae-jun Lee’s "Cast away on the moon"
2016Christopher Schliephake · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · South Korea
This essay examines contemporary urbanism's re-negotiation of nature's place in cities, presenting bottom-up and top-down urban agriculture models as alternative approaches to re-embed urban systems in natural cycles. It discusses socio-historical changes in urban landscapes since industrialization and analyzes the cultural urban ecology in South Korean director Hae-jun Lee’s 2009 film "Cast Away on the Moon." The film imaginatively explores these issues, prompting a re-consideration of urban lifestyles and the regenerative potential of working with soil.
Urban–rural linkageCommunityPolicyBiodiversityThe Green School: a sustainable approach towards environmental education: Case study
2016Lalieta Somwaru · Brazilian Journal of Science and Technology · Suriname
In Suriname, "The Green School" project, initiated in October 2013, is being implemented in all primary schools nationwide. This project aims to positively influence children's environmental behavior through practical activities, focusing on biodiversity (including school gardens), waste, water, and energy. Of the 333 primary schools in Suriname, 286 have been officially designated "Green Schools," and monitoring has shown improvements in classroom and schoolyard cleanliness and sustainable water and energy usage.
Food educationBiodiversityDIYAllotment gardens as a challenge for an urban designer
2016Antoine Zammit, Ina Šuklje Erjavec, Gabriela Maksymiuk, Dimitra Theochari, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Russell Good, Emanuele Sommariva · · Global
This chapter explores allotment gardens as a challenge for urban designers, identifying specific urban design quality considerations for these green spaces. It also examines the evolving role of urban designers in top-down and bottom-up processes to achieve suitable spatial quality. The chapter suggests that allotment gardens can enhance diversity, robustness, and amenity in urban areas, particularly when accessible from residential developments, and should be designed as safe and secure places.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityTips for young professionals
2016Annalisa Metta · Iris (Roma Tre University) · Global
This publication compiles visions from 50 architects, landscape architects, designers, and environmental leaders from 15 countries on sustainability, sustainable design, urbanism, and architecture. Through articles, interviews, and project presentations, they share insights from their work, including community gardens and environmental education. Annalisa Metta contributes 10 tips for young designers on responsibility and sustainability in open space design.
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityStrategically Siting Urban Agriculture: A Socioeconomic Analysis of Roanoke, Virginia
2016Tammy E. Parece, Elena Serrano, James B. Campbell · The Professional Geographer · United States (Roanoke)
A socioeconomic evaluation in Roanoke, Virginia, analyzed ten variables, including food options, across census block groups to identify neighborhoods that would benefit from urban agriculture. The study found that one block group qualified in all ten variables, and two-thirds showed need in at least half, with most of these areas located in the city's middle. This analysis produced a hierarchy of locations based on socioeconomic need for new urban agriculture sites.
EconomicsCommunityBiodiversityEcosystem services and tradeoffs in the home food gardens of African American, Chinese-origin and Mexican-origin households in Chicago, IL
2016John Taylor, Sarah Taylor Lovell, Sam E. Wortman, M.K. Chan · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States (Chicago)
In Chicago, semi-structured interviews and plant inventories were conducted with 59 African American, Chinese-origin, and Mexican-origin households regarding ecosystem services and tradeoffs in their home food gardens. A total of 387 plant species were identified; gardens of African American households were rich in ornamental species, while those of Chinese-origin households had a depauperate flora. Shade trees and a developed shrub layer were absent from most gardens, suggesting a tradeoff in ecosystem services favoring food production. Only 9.6% of the inventoried species were native to the Chicago area.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityBiodiversityOrganic cycleHealthBiodiversidad y agricultura urbana
2016Nicolás Cuvi · Americanae (AECID Library) · France (Paris)
The journal "Letras Verdes" called for reflections on biodiversity and urban agriculture, but many proposals were not published due to their technical report nature and lack of reflection on the meaning of these spaces. However, the article by Ana Cristina Torres et al., "Exploring the human-nature relationship: urban agriculture, conservation sciences, and the city," analyzes community gardens in Paris. In these spaces, dedicated to urban agriculture, the meaning of "nature" is redefined while new meanings about the city are constructed.
BiodiversityCommunityUrban–rural linkageAgricultural Heritage Systems: A Bridge between Urban and Rural Development
2016Yuanyuan Shi, Min Qingwen, Lu He, Fuller Anthony M · Journal of Resources and Ecology · China
This paper proposes "Agricultural Heritage Systems" as an entry point to balance urban and rural development in China, addressing threats posed by rapid urbanization. It focuses on public dietary change, agricultural industry development, institutional guarantees, ecological restoration, and cultural tourism in urban and peri-urban agricultural heritage sites, establishing a development model that balances urbanization and urban-supported agriculture. The paper argues this approach can preserve traditional culture, maintain organic farming, leverage landscape tourism, and utilize urban funds and technology to support rural enterprises.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justicePolicyBiodiversity都市農業振興基本法のあらまし
2015· 農林水産省・国土交通省 · Japan
Government explainer of the 2015 Urban Agriculture Promotion Basic Law, setting out its purpose, principles, and the responsibilities of national and local governments, and articulating the multifunctional roles of urban agriculture.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityUrban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL
2015Taylor J.R., Lovell S.T. · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 30(1):22-32 · Global
Studies African American, Chinese, and Mexican-origin home gardens in Chicago, finding that ethnic gardeners saving open-pollinated traditional crop seeds preserve agrobiodiversity while reproducing cultural identity and supporting community food systems.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunity在来品種の顕在化プロセスと展開課題
2015山口 創 · 食資源教育研究センター報告（CEIS Papers）, 29: 83-88 · Japan
Through interview surveys of three cases (Komoike-dainagon bean, Harima-o garlic, Himeji-ebiimo taro), this paper analyzes the process by which local varieties become recognized regional resources and the challenges of their development.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityEconomicsBiodiversityDiversity of wild bees supports pollination services in an urbanized landscape
2015Lowenstein D.M., Matteson K.C., Minor E.S. · Oecologia, 179(3):811-821 · United States
A study measuring wild bee diversity and cucumber pollination (a pollination service) across urban Chicago. Sites with more bee species had better pollination, and even densely populated residential areas supported high bee richness. It demonstrates that growing diverse flowers in urban gardens sustains pollinators and directly benefits urban agricultural yields.
PollinatorsBiodiversityFood educationCommunitySeed exchange networks and food system resilience in the United States
2015· Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences · United States
Documents seed exchange networks in the United States (including the Seed Savers Exchange) and their role in food system resilience and heritage crop diversity.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunityEcosystem disservices research: A review of the state of the art with a focus on cities
2015von Döhren P., Haase D. · Ecological Indicators · Global
Reviewing 103 studies, the paper synthesizes ecosystem disservices, functions of urban green and agricultural spaces perceived as negative for human well-being, such as pests, allergens, pollution, and wildlife conflict, and argues that valuing only benefits while ignoring disservices is inadequate.
BiodiversityPolicyGreen infrastructure as life support: urban nature and climate change
2015Sheryn D. Pitman, Christopher B. Daniels, Martin Edward Ely · Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia · Australia
A literature review conducted between 2012 and 2014 for the South Australian Green Infrastructure Project established the diverse benefits of Green Infrastructure. These benefits include temperature modification, improved human health, enhanced community liveability, effective water management, increased economic prosperity, biodiversity conservation, and extensive urban food production. The paper primarily focuses on Green Infrastructure's contribution to climate adaptation and protection.
Climate changeHealthBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceReading Ecosystem Services at the Local Scale through a Territorial Approach: the Case of Peri-Urban Agriculture in the Thau Lagoon, Southern France
2015Laure‐Elise Ruoso, R. Plant, Pierre Maurel, C. Dupaquier, Philip Roche, Muriel Bonin · Ecology and Society · France (Thau Lagoon)
This record is a citation for a study on reading ecosystem services at the local scale through a territorial approach, focusing on peri-urban agriculture in the Thau Lagoon, Southern France. The abstract provides only the citation information and no further details about the study's methods or findings.
Peri-urban agricultureBiodiversitySowing Resilience and Contestation in Times of Crises: The Case of Urban Gardening Movements in Barcelona
2015Marta Camps‐Calvet, Johannes Langemeyer, Laura Calvet‐Mir, Erik Gómez‐Baggethun, Hug March · Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) · Spain (Barcelona)
This research examined the role of urban gardens in building community resilience and articulating resistance in Barcelona, Spain, based on data from 27 urban gardening initiatives (13 self-governed, 14 public). Results showed that urban gardens contribute to resilience by fostering social and ecological diversity, transmitting local ecological knowledge, and creating opportunities for collective action and self-organization.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversityFood educationCivil Society Actors as Drivers of Socio-ecological Transition? Green Spaces in European Cities as Laboratories of Social Innovation. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 102
2015Judith Schicklinski · WIFO Studies · Europe
Across Europe, self-organized civil society movements are emerging to address local challenges, particularly in maintaining and developing green spaces where local governments face budget constraints. Initiatives like urban gardening demonstrate people's ability to cooperate, organize, and take responsibility for green spaces, introducing practices that support socio-ecological transition. These activities contribute to urban sustainability by providing ecological benefits and recreational opportunities.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityClimate change