Research & reports

· Wikipedia · Taiwan

This Wikipedia article on waste management in Taiwan describes a recycling programme that began in 1989 following a 1987 amendment to the Waste Disposal Act, with the 3R Foundation established in 1994. There are 33 recyclable items across 13 categories; raw food waste is processed into fertilizer for farmers while cooked food waste is converted into livestock feed. As of August 2023, 25 large-scale incineration plants operate, 22 publicly owned (5 publicly operated, 17 privately operated) and 3 privately owned and operated. In 2016, 76.8% of fly ash from coal-fired power plants (1.703 million tons) was reused in construction.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on terra preta, a fertile anthropogenic dark soil found across the Amazon Basin, formed between 450 BCE and 950 CE and rich in low-temperature charcoal and pottery shards. It notes black carbon content reaching up to 9% (versus 0.5% in surrounding soils), depths of up to 2 meters, a regeneration rate of about 1 centimeter per year, an estimated coverage of 0.1-0.3% (6,300 to 18,900 square kilometres) of the Amazon Basin, and modern biochar-based attempts to recreate it.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on care farming, the use of farming practices to provide healing, mental health, social, or educational care. It cites the 19th-century Riddrie farm school in Scotland (1866-1871), where of 158 boys admitted, 64 were later considered to be living respectable and productive lives, though the program ended due to financial constraints. It references practices in the UK, Netherlands, US, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium (Flanders) without giving specific farm-count or participant statistics, and notes potential benefits for offender rehabilitation and as an adjunct therapy for anxiety and depression, while stressing the need for more rigorous research.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on attention restoration theory (ART), developed by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan in their 1989 book The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, which holds that exposure to nature helps recovery from directed attention fatigue. It cites a 2025 meta-analysis finding consistent benefits to executive function and working memory after at least 30 minutes of nature exposure, with effects plateauing around 200-300 minutes, and notes findings that people who spent at least two hours in nature in the past week were more likely to report feeling healthy and well.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on Mycobacterium vaccae, a non-pathogenic soil bacterium first cultured from cattle dung and also isolated from soil in Lang'o District, Uganda. It cites research in which heat-killed bacteria injected into mice raised serotonin levels and lowered anxiety, and live bacteria led mice to navigate a maze twice as fast with less anxious behavior. It also notes a meta-analysis of 54 clinical trials finding improved sputum conversion and radiological outcomes in tuberculosis treatment, and a 2019 study finding a lipid from the bacterium blocks several pro-inflammatory pathways in immune cells.

· Wikipedia · Global

Soil is a complex three-phase system of minerals, organic matter, gases, water, and organisms that supports plant growth and soil life. A typical soil is about 50% solids (45% mineral, 5% organic matter) and 50% pore space, with microbial density around 10^8 organisms per gram and pore-space CO2 concentrations 10 to 100 times atmospheric levels.

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

An EPA overview page on green infrastructure, explaining that rain or snow can pick up trash and chemicals as it flows into storm drains, and introducing solutions such as rain gardens, planter boxes, green roofs, and permeable pavement. The page does not present specific numeric data.

· Wikipedia · Global

Soil compaction is a geotechnical process that removes air between soil particles under stress, increasing density. It is essential as a support layer in construction but reduces water infiltration and root growth in agriculture. The degree of compaction is assessed relative to maximum dry density determined by tests such as the Proctor test; the article presents no specific numeric data.

· Wikipedia · China

Sponge city is a Chinese urban planning model that uses green and wetland infrastructure to absorb, purify, and store rainwater. China piloted the model in 16 districts in 2015 and a further 15 cities in 2016, with a central government mandate that 80% of urban space adopt sponge-city adaptations and recycle at least 70% of rainfall by 2030. However, 19 of the 30 pilot cities have still experienced flooding since implementation, indicating implementation challenges.

· Wikipedia · Global

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a long-standing technique for collecting rainwater from roofs and other surfaces into tanks or reservoirs, used worldwide for water supply in water-scarce areas, flood mitigation, and cost savings. Frankfurt Airport's system saves about 1 million cubic meters of water per year, Mumbai has mandated RWH infrastructure for new buildings above certain sizes since 2002, and typical UK households can reduce water use by 20-30% through RWH.

Philadelphia Water Department · Philadelphia Water Department · United States

Philadelphia Water Department's 25-year plan (2011-2036) is required to reduce combined sewer overflow pollution by at least 85 percent. In its first decade the program installed more than 2,800 green tools across nearly 800 sites, keeping more than 2.7 billion gallons of polluted water out of waterways. The Schuylkill River alone is credited with $589.9 million in annual economic impact, 6,154 jobs, and $37.7 million in annual tax revenue.

· Wikipedia · United States

A bioswale is a vegetated drainage channel that captures and breaks down sediment, organic matter, pathogens, nutrients, and heavy metals from stormwater runoff via plants and soil. At Willamette River Park in Portland (1996), 2,330 lineal feet of bioswale reduced suspended solids entering the river by 50%, and New York City has built more than 11,000 curbside bioswales.

· Wikipedia · Global

Food neophobia is a fear of new things, referring specifically to a child's tendency to reject unfamiliar foods. About two-thirds of the variation is attributed to genetics, with psychosocial factors (observing parents' food preferences) and heightened bitterness sensitivity (supertasters) also implicated. Effective strategies include offering non-food rewards for trying new foods, parental modeling, and repeated exposure (acceptance may require around 15 tries), while pressure or punishment worsens the problem.

· Wikipedia · Global

The mere-exposure effect is the phenomenon whereby liking increases simply from familiarity with a stimulus, also called the familiarity principle in social psychology. Robert Zajonc led research on it from the 1960s to 1990s, showing that an initial fear/avoidance response to novel stimuli decreases with repeated exposure and turns into liking. A meta-analysis of 208 experiments by Bornstein (1989) found an effect size of r=0.26, with the effect typically reaching its maximum within 10-20 presentations.

· Wikipedia · Global

Experiential learning is defined as learning through experience, or more specifically learning through reflection on doing, distinguished from classroom-based learning by the learner's active role. David A. Kolb systematized the modern theory in the 1970s, building on the work of Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget. Learning is described as a cycle of four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, with genuine learning requiring active engagement, reflection, analytical skills, and decision-making/problem-solving skills.

農林水産省 · 農林水産省 · Japan

Shokuiku (food and nutrition education) is positioned as "the foundation for living, underlying intellectual, moral, and physical education," aiming to help citizens cultivate lifelong health and rich humanity. The Basic Act on Shokuiku was amended on May 27, 2026, and the 5th Basic Plan for the Promotion of Shokuiku was decided on June 24, 2026. MAFF operates a public-private food education platform, an award system for exemplary food-education organizations, and a national Shokuiku Month campaign, among other initiatives.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · United Kingdom

The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) runs a campaign to make plants "an integrated part of everyday school life," offering free biannual newsletters, online training courses, a five-level School Gardening Award, and a library of activity plans and teaching guides. It also offers guided and self-guided school visits to RHS gardens and a biodiversity project with the Natural History Museum (the National Education Nature Park). The page does not state specific participation figures such as the number of schools involved.

· Wikipedia · Global

A school garden is an area designated for students to learn how to grow plants and produce at school, aimed at improving students' health, social development, and academic achievement. In Europe, the practice began in Schleswig-Holstein in 1819 and spread, reaching about 20,000 schools in Austria, 45,000 in France, 8,000 in Russia, and 2,500 in Sweden by the early 20th century. Research suggests the experiential nature of gardening increases preference for and consumption of fruits and vegetables, though more quantitative research is needed to prove benefits to children's health and wellbeing.

Jeong D., Li L., Perez-Quesada G. · Choices Magazine (Agricultural & Applied Economics Association), 2nd Quarter 2026 · United States

An analysis of community garden siting through an environmental cost-benefit framework, organised around two direct costs (land and water) and two externalities (water pollution and gentrification). Cheap vacant parcels can carry remediation and infrastructure costs that exceed those of pricier development-ready sites over a garden's planning horizon, and in arid regions irrigation can be up to 34% of annual maintenance cost. On the externality side, weak nutrient management lets nitrogen and phosphorus accumulate and risk groundwater contamination, and community gardens can raise adjacent property values by 3–4% initially and around 7% within five years, potentially displacing the lower-income residents they are meant to serve. The authors note that the absence of a comprehensive geo-referenced inventory of community gardens — with establishment dates, tenure arrangements and management practices — constrains rigorous cost quantification and causal analysis.

Dissinviel Stéphane Kpoda, Namwin Siourimè Somda, Muller Abdou Kiswendsida Compaore, Yemah Bockarie, Abel Tankoano, Ndoïallah Mickael Andjibaye, Amana Metuor-Dabire · Revista Argentina de Microbiología · Burkina Faso (Bobo-Dioulasso)

A 2026 study of 135 environmental samples — lettuce, irrigation water and organic manure — from market garden sites in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, testing for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by microbiological isolation, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and molecular characterisation. Of 55 Staphylococcus isolates, 16 (32.7%) were confirmed MRSA, with the PVL toxin gene detected in 18.4% and TSST-1 in 6.1%; resistance to oxacillin reached 96.4% and to fusidic acid 69.1%. The authors call for stronger microbial surveillance, better hygiene protocols and policy measures to reduce foodborne risks associated with urban agriculture. The study is West African evidence that market gardens, while supplying food and income, can also act as environmental reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria via irrigation water and organic fertiliser.

Yuki Iwachido, Himari Katsuhara, Kaho Maehara, Mahoro Tomitaka, Kensuke Seto, Shun Nonaka, Masayuki Ushio, Maiko Kagami, Takehiro Sasaki · Ecology and Evolution · Japan (Yokohama)

A 2026 study of 69 vacant lots in Yokohama, Japan — a city facing potential population decline — quantifying six environmental factors, five ecosystem functions, and the taxonomic and functional diversity and composition of plants, bacteria and fungi, then analysing ecosystem multifunctionality with structural equation modelling, a multiple-threshold approach and generalized linear mixed models. Environmental factors exerted the dominant influence on ecosystem functions, with soil moisture directly enhancing several functions and average multifunctionality. In contrast, spatial aggregation of vacant lots indirectly impaired them, mediated by increased plant richness and altered fungal composition; urbanization affected all ecosystem functions indirectly and had a direct negative effect on average multifunctionality that intensified at higher multifunctionality thresholds. The authors note that dispersed vacant-lot configurations in less urbanized areas may raise multifunctionality while reducing plant diversity, so planning in shrinking cities has to balance biodiversity conservation against multifunctionality. The data show that greening or cultivating vacant lots cannot be treated as simply 'the more the better'.

James Comtois · Institutional Investor · Global

Signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment grew from 63 institutions with $6.5 trillion under management in 2006 to 2,450 with $80 trillion in 2019. The article reports a research paper by Demirer and Zhang arguing that institutional ESG investing is largely herding driven by fad, reputational concern and fund flows, and has improved neither corporate ESG engagement nor investment performance. At the time of writing, global ESG fund inflows had fallen 50 per cent over the previous year, with a record $12 billion withdrawn in a single quarter.

Plinth · Plinth · United Kingdom

Published 5 April 2026 and updated 14 June 2026. Full cost recovery means funders covering not only a project's direct costs but its proportional share of overheads — rent, finance, IT, HR and chief-executive time. The article works through an example where two of ten staff (20 per cent of capacity) deliver a project, so £28,000 of £140,000 in annual overheads is added to £85,000 of direct costs for a £113,000 budget, and notes that overhead rates of 15–25 per cent are common sector guidance. It argues that accepting grants below true cost is a structural funding problem rather than a budgeting error, with consequences including staff burnout and governance risk, and notes that charity staff earn roughly 7 per cent less per hour than equivalent roles elsewhere in the economy.

内閣府 · 内閣府 · Japan

A Cabinet Office page describing the work of the single nationwide 'designated utilisation organisation' appointed by the Prime Minister under Japan's Dormant Deposits Utilisation Act (Act No. 101 of 2016). The Japan Network for Public Interest Activities (JANPIA) was designated on 11 January 2019 and must draw up an annual business plan for Cabinet Office approval, then select, supervise, inspect and evaluate the intermediary distribution organisations. The page carries associated documents dated 28 December 2023 and 30 March 2026.

内閣府 · 内閣府 · Japan

An explanatory deck on Japan's dormant deposits scheme published by the Cabinet Office in July 2026. Dormant deposits are accounts untouched for ten years or more; the enabling act passed as a member's bill in December 2016 and grant-making began in fiscal 2019, with activity-support organisations and equity investment added from 2024 under the June 2023 amendment. Dormant deposits transferred rose from ¥137.4 billion in FY2021 to ¥187.1 billion in FY2025, repayments to depositors rose from ¥25.2 billion to ¥58.7 billion over the same period, and transfers to the designated utilisation organisation ranged from ¥8.7 billion to ¥7.4 billion. As of the end of April 2026, 373 intermediary distribution organisations and 1,550 executing organisations had taken part, with an average grant of ¥154 million per project at the intermediary level and ¥16.24 million at the executing level.