Research & reports

Jenny Cameron, Craig Manhood, Jamie Pomfrett · Local Environment · Global

This paper explores Bruno Latour's concept of "learning to be affected" as a form of bodily learning, suggesting it is suitable for understanding how people are motivated to act in response to the world. It argues that performative and collective research, focused on crafting realities, can enhance this embodied learning. A community garden research project using a collective bus trip-workshop method is presented as an example.

Craig Pearson · Urban agriculture · Sri Lanka

Each community in Sri Lanka developed its own Green Plan and decided what vegetables or plants it would grow. Home garden plots and community gardens were created with seed and plant donations from a university, with planting occurring in April and May 2004. Community residents assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the plants, while Sevanatha and university staff visited the sites regularly to monitor and provide consultation.

Hillary Anne Doerfler · D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) · Global

A literature review examined the use of school garden programs for health promotion among elementary school youth. The review found that school gardens successfully improved academic achievement, increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and enhanced social skills. However, significant barriers to implementation were identified, particularly in low socioeconomic status schools, including a lack of funding, insufficient gardening knowledge among teachers, and limited community and parent involvement.

Maria Lundgren · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · Global

This workshop explores how school gardens can be integrated into the curriculum and used for learning. Participants will engage in experiential activities demonstrating the garden's utility in elementary classrooms as a setting for content-based language acquisition.

Consuelo Montes Rojas, Astrid Alejandra Gomez · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Colombia (Popayán)

This participatory research in three communes and four urban-marginal settlements of Popayán, Colombia, surveyed 116 displaced families to evaluate chayote (Sechium edule) as a food alternative. The study found that chayote adapts well to settlement conditions and serves as an alternative food source, promoting the consumption of underutilized species and encouraging urban agriculture practices.

Sinan Koont · University Press of Florida eBooks · Cuba

This chapter discusses the expansion of Cuba's higher-education system after 1959 and the establishment of institutions such as BTJ, ANIR, FCT, and SCIT to encourage technological innovation. Science education was emphasized down to the primary-school level, and Cuba devoted considerable resources to research and development and to building R&D capacity — including founding CIGB for biotechnology, establishing scientific hubs, and developing in vitro propagation technologies. In agricultural research and education, many universities established sustainable agriculture programs, and phyto-sanitary institutions were created to ensure plant health. The chapter ends with a discussion of two examples of urban agriculture outcomes: banana production and nematode control (Hebernem).

CONSUELO MONTES R, ASTRID ALEJANDRA GÓMEZ G · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia

This participatory study evaluated Sechium edule (chayote, locally "cidra papa") as an alternative food source for displaced families living in marginal urban settlements of Popayan, Colombia, aiming to recover traditional knowledge of its use and management, identify ecotypes, capture its sociocultural significance as a means of maintaining ties to the countryside, and assess its productivity and management potential in marginal urban spaces. Using participatory methods including recreational activities, awareness workshops, and knowledge- and seed-exchange tours, the study covered three communes in Popayan, applied 116 surveys across four selected settlements, and conducted monthly visits with informal dialogue with participating families. It confirmed that plants such as chayote adapt to conditions in the settlements and can serve as an alternative food source for these populations, and the activities encouraged consumption of underutilized species, knowledge exchange, and conservation of ecotypes and plant species able to withstand marginal conditions.

Morgan · Public Health Nutrition · Australia

Among primary-school students, the study compared nutrition education with and without a school garden, examining effects on knowledge, vegetable intake and preferences, and quality of school life.

Luo Yu-wei · Journal of Jinling Institute of Technology · Global

This paper discusses the role of entrepreneurial horticultural talent training in urban agriculture, asserting that urban agricultural development depends on such talents. It outlines steps for training entrepreneurial gardening talents, including developing entrepreneurial awareness, providing entrepreneurship education, and strengthening practical teaching. The paper concludes that the horticulture education system for training entrepreneurial talents should be improved in accordance with urban agricultural development.

cdoyle · · Ireland

Celebrity Chef Richard Corrigan visited the Letterkenny Community Gardens in Donegal, Ireland, during the County Enterprise Board’s ‘Enterprise Week’. He emphasized the importance of community involvement in growing healthy food and cultivating native, indigenous varieties.

Noah Zerbe · · Global

Failures in the mainstream industrialized food system have increased interest in alternative food systems. These alternatives include urban agriculture, community supported farms, school and community gardens, and fair trade. Despite their diversity, these emergent systems share a common vision for food provision based on social and environmental justice.

Ferne Edwards, Dave Mercer · Local Environment · Australia (Melbourne)

This paper discusses the use of food mapping in the "Meals in Metropolis" undergraduate course at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. The course introduced Industrial Design and Landscape Architecture students to critical issues of food security and sustainability in urban design. Students produced food chain maps, neighborhood food maps, and redesign posters, which are concluded to reveal an emerging landscape of innovative food production in Melbourne, potentially leading to a more resilient, distributed urban food system.

Lyn Dart · Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · Global

Dietetics students participated in a 6-week community-based gardening initiative to develop public health practice skills. Students received training in basic gardening and applied skills with Master Gardeners while working in a community garden. Post-training, students engaged in outreach as educators to local community agencies, learning to integrate nutrition and dietetics applications with gardening for food security and community sustainability.

Ruth Hickey, Hilary Whitehouse · IGI Global eBooks · Australia

James Cook University's School of Education developed an online learning environment, BirdNet, for rural and regional schools in Far North Queensland, Australia. Pre-service teachers collaborated with practicing teachers and children to create learning activities, including those for building school gardens. The project demonstrated that innovation and place-based learning can enhance ICT and scientific literacy, despite challenges like technical issues and distance.

서향숙 · 의철학연구 · Global

This paper discusses the environmental and health issues arising from modern food culture, focusing on industrial and pastoral food chains as explored by Michael Pollan. It examines environmental pollution and GMO food issues within industrial food chains, and problems with semi-organic corporate food systems in pastoral chains. The study proposes urban agriculture, including school gardens, as a solution for a healthy food chain for future generations, integrating the concept of "food justice."

A. C. Egun · Journal of Agricultural Sciences · Global

This paper examined the competencies needed by Agricultural Science teachers in urban areas for effective institutional preparation. Teachers identified 24 competencies for urban agriculture teaching but expressed deficiency in 19 competencies (79.17%). The curricular implication is to include basic Humanities subjects like Geography, Economics, and Commerce in Agricultural Science teacher programs and to effectively implement field trips to strengthen the relationship between theory and practice.

AP Chanan, Jaya Kandasamy, S. Vigneswaran, G Spyrakis, I Ghetti, Elisa Idris · UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) · Australia (Sydney)

This paper outlines a project by Kogarah Council in Sydney, Australia, which assisted all 22 schools in the Kogarah LGA to install rainwater tanks. The initiative aimed to increase water use efficiency and reduce potable water consumption for toilet flushing and school garden irrigation. The project successfully reduced drinking water usage and served as a visual reminder for students to conserve water.

Eva Collins, Kate Kearins · Academy of Management Learning and Education · New Zealand (Auckland)

A sustainability instructor took a graduate class to an eco-village near Auckland, New Zealand, where students observed off-grid homes and community gardens. While New Zealand students were inspired by the alternative lifestyle, two international students from China and Tajikistan expressed that this lifestyle was how they lived at home and they did not wish to live that way, preferring the New Zealand lifestyle. This indicates a limited appeal of the eco-village model to some international students.

Somerset S., Markwell K. · Public Health Nutrition · Australia (Queensland)

A 12-month intervention trial introduced a food garden at a state primary school (grades 4-7) in a low socio-economic area, evaluating changes in children's ability to identify vegetables and fruit and their attitudes toward them, against a historical control.

Marianne E. Krasny, Keith G. Tidball · Cities and the Environment · Global

This paper discusses community gardens as heterogeneous environments that integrate environmental restoration, community activism, social interactions, cultural expression, and food security. They provide a context for learning that addresses multiple societal goals, including fostering a scientifically literate populace, practicing environmental stewardship, and participating in civic life. Using preliminary evidence from the Garden Mosaics intergenerational education program, the study suggests the potential for community gardens to foster multiple types of learning.

Veronica Gaylie · · Global

This book chronicles the establishment of a campus learning garden involving student teachers and environmental education students. Despite starting with no funding, the project resulted in a transformation of attitudes towards nature, community, and the learning process. The book examines this process through metaphors of the garden as environment, community, and transformation, bridging theory and practice for ecology-centered teaching.

Amy Cutter‐Mackenzie · ePublications@SCU (Southern Cross University) · Australia

An Australian environmental education non-profit implemented the "Multicultural Schools Gardens" program in disadvantaged schools, using food gardening to teach culture, English as a Second Language, and environment. A combined methods research approach, including student self-research, interviews, and observations, was used to assess learning experiences. At one culturally diverse school with many migrant and refugee families, the program fostered a strong sense of belonging among students and provided opportunities for English language learning and environmental connection.

Jessica Veenstra, Daniel Dembe, Jude Nsamba, Lisa Marie Wasko, C. Lee Burras, Gail R. Nonnecke, Orum Boniface, Simon Downie, Rachael Cox · Soil Survey Horizons · Uganda

Soil surveying was conducted in the summer of 2006 and 2007 at Namasagali Primary School in Uganda, covering approximately 95 acres (38 hectares) for a school garden program. Researchers identified soils using observations and teachers' indigenous knowledge, described pedons, and measured depth, color, roots, pores, pH, electrical conductivity, texture, structure, slope, and aspect. The survey produced a map with seven polypedons, which was shared with teachers and local farmers.

Graciela Ottmann, Eduardo Sevilla Guzmán, Antonio Lattucca · REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE AGROECOLOGIA · Argentina (Rosario)

This paper examines the environmental dimension of agroecological productive experiences, focusing on a specific case in Rosario, Argentina. It demonstrates that by articulating various agroecological experiences into productive networks, these networks gain political content, influencing transformation processes with participatory and popular education. Examples include the Network of "Huerteros/as," the Green Life consumer network, "Huerta" Parks, and Social Agroindustries, which are agroecological actions integrated with Rosario's municipal Urban Agriculture program.

Marielle Dubbeling, Laura Bracalenti, Laura Lagorio · Open House International · Argentina (Rosario)

In Rosario, Argentina, city planners and university staff collaborated with two low-income communities to design and implement a multifunctional neighborhood park, public square, and road reserve for urban agriculture. A step-by-step participatory design process was followed. This participatory design contributed to improving socio-economic and environmental conditions in the city.