Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
974 results(35 / 39)
Edirne Kent Merkezindeki Bazı İlköğretim Okul Bahçelerinin Peyzaj Tasarım İlkeleri Açısından Mevcut Durumunun Belirlenmesi
2013Beste Karakaya, Tuğba Kiper · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · Turkey (Edirne)
This study conducted physical, cultural, and current situation analyses of 10 elementary school playgrounds in the city center of Edirne. The current situation of these elementary school gardens was determined according to landscape design principles, and proposals were made to solve existing problems.
Food educationCommunityEl futuro está en la huerta de la esquina
2013Veguita de Graná · · Spain (Granada)
Rosa Felix explored urban gardens in metropolitan Granada, Spain, in 2013, linking them to employment opportunities. She noted that such experiences have a long history in many countries. Felix concluded that urban gardens would be successful if public administrations supported their creation.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyPeri-urban agriculture of Pisa plain and Monte Pisano. Results of a case-study. Spring School “Agricultural management in periurban areas”. Pisa 20-27 May 2013.
2013Elisa Marraccini, Sylvie Lardon · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Italy (Pisa)
The first Spring School on "Agricultural management in periurban areas," held in Pisa from May 20-27, 2013, aimed to introduce participants to key concepts and methods in Landscape and Territory Agronomy for analyzing and supporting land planning in peri-urban agriculture. This case study took place in the urban region of Pisa, Central Italy, where main spatial issues were identified and action proposals discussed.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyFrom Environmental Trauma to Safe Haven: Place Attachment and Place Remaking in Three Marginalized Neighborhoods of Barcelona, Boston, and Havana
2013Isabelle Anguelovski · City and Community · Spain (Barcelona), United States (Boston), Cuba
The role of place attachment in environmental mobilization among local activists improving degraded spaces, such as urban farms and community gardens, was investigated in three marginalized neighborhoods in Barcelona, Spain; Boston, USA; and Havana, Cuba. Activists in all three locations used environmental projects to express grief over community loss, fear of erasure, and emotional connection to their neighborhoods. They aimed to construct "safe havens" and remake places for residents to address environmental trauma.
CommunityPolicyHealthUrban agriculture in the new framework of green cities.
2013Isabel de Felipe Boente, Teresa Briz · · Spain
This paper describes the impact of urban agriculture (UA) in political, socioeconomic, and environmental scenarios, and analyzes its situation in Spain, where it is mainly located on roofs, walls, indoors, and ground places. It discusses local regulations, barriers, and opportunities for UA, as well as the role of stakeholders and neighbor communities. The paper suggests actions to improve UA, including urban planning and education.
PolicyEconomicsClimate changeFood educationLa trampa urbanística de los vacíos urbanos: casos etnográficos en Barcelona.
2013Marco Luca Stanchieri · X Jornadas de Sociología · Spain (Barcelona)
This paper explores the concept of "urban voids" in contemporary cities, focusing on abandoned plots resulting from unfulfilled urban reform projects. It argues that despite being defined as "voids," these spaces are sites of active human social practices, serving for common appropriation, self-management, conflict, and negotiation, fostering neighborhood cohesion and community action. Based on ethnographic data from Barcelona, the paper aims to expose the misleading nature of urbanistic language that defines socially vibrant spaces as "voids," questioning the social exclusion mechanisms supported by such definitions.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceRHS Yorkshire in Bloom launches £100,000 fund | Harrogate-News
2013Tim Cook · · United Kingdom (Yorkshire)
The gardening charity RHS Yorkshire in Bloom launched a £100,000 fund to offer more support for community gardeners. For the first time, people across Yorkshire and the Humber can apply for these funds.
CommunityPolicyUrban Agricultures: Spatial, Social and Environmental Transformations in Rome
2013Giovanni Attili · IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) · Italy (Rome)
This study focused on community gardens in Rome, Italy, which largely result from informal appropriation practices. While these gardens can enhance environmental and social quality of life, they require institutional support and present a crucial challenge for urban planning. The study highlights the need to explore tensions between social practices and institutional powers, and questions how public policy can legitimize these self-guiding societal expressions.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyBiodiversityHealthIl ruolo delle aree non urbanizzate nei contesti metropolitani: scenari di adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici
2013Daniele La Rosa, Francesco Martinico, Riccardo Privitera · TERRITORIO · Italy
This study discusses how non-urbanized areas in metropolitan contexts can be reconsidered for new land uses, combining peripheral urban agricultural production with environmental protection for climate change adaptation and ecosystem service production. Through a review of urban planning instruments in Mascalucia, a new land-use scenario for non-urbanized areas was proposed using a land suitability model that combined land cover and fragmentation analysis.
PolicyClimate changePeri-urban agricultureBiodiversityCommunity Volunteering as Neoliberal Strategy? Green Space Production in Berlin
2012Marit Rosol · Antipode · Germany (Berlin)
Documents how Berlin's municipal policy of promoting community gardening was an attempt to outsource public green-space maintenance to unpaid volunteers under 'roll-back'/'roll-out' neoliberalism. Based on empirical research, it shows the outsourcing strategy largely FAILED (volunteers could not sustain provision) while opening space for other private interests.
PolicyCommunityWelfareReconceptualising gardening to promote inclusive education for sustainable development
2012Susan B. Johnson · International Journal of Inclusive Education · United Kingdom
This paper argues that a reconceptualized approach to school gardening in the UK could promote inclusive education for sustainable development. It examines the potential for children aged 5-14 to develop ecological knowledge, action competence, and environmental engagement skills through gardening. The paper suggests a curriculum framework and provides a bean crop exemplar, but it does not present empirical findings or results from an implemented program.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeBiodiversityCapacity building in the field of climate change adaptation - first experiences from a rural research and development project in Germany.
2012Eva Foos, Thomas Aenis, Julia Jahnke · GERICS Climate Service Center Germany (University of Oldenburg) · Germany
This paper discusses initial experiences from a German R&D network (INKA BB) developing capacity building programs for climate change adaptation in agriculture and horticulture. It uses two urban agriculture/gardening examples as case studies to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of development processes. The authors advocate for "learning chains" that enable lifelong learning and an action-oriented, participatory approach to foster mutual learning among partners from research and education.
Climate changeFood educationPolicyHiri-nekazaritza Bilbo inguruan
2012David Tijero · Aldiri: arkitektura eta abar · Spain (Bilbao)
This article criticizes the municipal administration's attitude towards informal allotments on the outskirts of Bilbao. It analyzes the consequences of green space reclamation plans executed in recent years and advocates for policies promoting both formal and informal urban agriculture.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityPeri-urban agricultureBackyard chicken keeping in the Greater London Urban Area: welfare status, biosecurity and disease control issues
2012I. Karabozhilova, Barbara Wieland, Silvia Alonso, Laura Salonen, Barbara Häsler · British Poultry Science · United Kingdom (London)
A 2010 questionnaire survey of 30 backyard chicken flock-keepers in the Greater London Urban Area found that while chickens generally had conditions for natural behaviors, most owners did not comply with regulations on catering waste feeding. Disease prevention measures were rare, and a lack of avian and zoonotic disease knowledge among owners was observed, indicating implications for disease control.
Governance failureHealthPolicyCommunityCommunity food growing and the role of women in the alternative economy in Tower Hamlets
2012Kate Metcalf, Julia Minnear, Tabitha Kleinert, Victoria Tedder · Local Economy The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit · United Kingdom (East London)
This practitioner's perspective discusses how the Women’s Environmental Network organizes support and training for community gardens in East London. It considers how these efforts contribute to local resilience against economic and cultural pressures and create greater access to green spaces.
CommunityEconomicsFood educationWelfareTower Hamlet’s “urban oasis”: the re-imagining of identity through volunteer work at Spitalfields Community Farm
2012J. McLean · · United Kingdom
This research focused on the re-imagining of identity through volunteer work at Spitalfields Community Farm in Tower Hamlets, London. It specifically investigated how Bangladeshi-Londoni diaspora volunteers contributed to creating this urban rural space and how, through their imagining of this space, they consciously sought to remember their homeland while establishing a new sense of identity in London.
CommunityWelfareFood educationChapter 29 Public space, urban agriculture and the grassroots creation of new commons: lessons and challenges for policy makers
2012Chiara Tornaghi · · United Kingdom
This academic-activist research on grassroots urban agriculture initiatives, focusing on four projects in Leeds, UK, found that local and regional institutions have limited ability to respond to these new demands. Planning traditions constrain institutions, failing to create flexible public spaces. Consequently, short-term solutions are found in "loose spaces" or ad-hoc negotiations, but these remain emergency or residual practices, highlighting challenges for urban public space management.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageRegulation of Farmland Conversion on the Urban Fringe: From Land-Use Planning to Food Strategies. Insight into Two Case Studies in Provence and Tuscany
2012Coline Perrin · International Planning Studies · France, Italy
Case studies in Provence and Tuscany indicate that planning prescriptions and land-market control are insufficient for protecting farmland on the urban fringe. Farmland is not effectively protected if regulatory approaches are not integrated into a global strategy for agriculture and food based on community involvement. Farmland protection policies are more effective when combining top-down policies with bottom-up initiatives and recognizing the multifunctional character of urban agriculture.
Governance failurePolicyPeri-urban agricultureCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceChapter 38 The CPUL City Toolkit: planning productive urban landscapes for European cities
2012Katrin Bohn, André Viljoen · · Germany (Berlin), United Kingdom (London)
This chapter reviews the evolving Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) City concept in the context of Berlin and London, exploring ways to integrate sustainable food systems into the urban fabric. The CPUL City Toolkit provides an overview of key steps for planning and implementing urban agriculture as part of coherent productive urban landscape strategies. The toolkit introduces four methods of action: Action U+D, Action VIS, Action IUC, and Action R.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceCultivating the Social Field : Strategically moving Urban Agricultural Projects towards Sustainability
2012Ashley Courtney, Brendan McShane, Ella Wiles · · North America; Europe
This research explored how low-income urban agricultural (UA) projects in North America and Europe can be strategically supported for sustainability. The authors analyzed UA projects using the 5 Level Framework and the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, along with Leverage Points, to understand their current reality. The study produced strategic recommendations and guidance for UA projects to foster a societal shift towards sustainability.
CommunityEconomicsClimate changePolicyChapter 42 Room for urban agriculture in Rotterdam: defining the spatial opportunities for urban agriculture within the industrialised city
2012Paul. A. de Graaf · · Netherlands (Rotterdam)
This research offers a top-down perspective on Rotterdam's urban landscape to identify spatial opportunities for urban agriculture. It defines promising urban agriculture types based on international best practices and local expert judgment, then formulates criteria for opportunities based on spatial, environmental, and social demands and benefits. The study aims to support bottom-up urban agriculture projects by mapping these opportunities and demonstrating their potential through design case studies, linking them to urban sustainability and resilience.
PolicyClimate changeCommunityKreuzberg’s Multi- and Intercultural Realities - Are They Assets?
2012Johannes Novy · · Germany (Berlin)
This seminar aims to identify the contemporary winners and losers in Berlin's urban development and how this is manifested and reproduced through urban space. Central points of interest include conflicts surrounding the "New Berlin," the potential and threats of Berlin as a "Creative City," the spatial dimension of social exclusion, the integration of migrants, and perspectives of the "right-to-the-city-movement" (e.g., guerrilla gardening). Berlin's urban landscape will be compared to those of Paris and St. Petersburg.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsGuerrilla Gardening - zwischen Street Art und der Rückkehr zur Natur
2012Barbara Uhlig · edoc Publication server (Humboldt University of Berlin) · Germany
This study analyzes guerrilla gardening as a protest movement where activists plant flowers, trees, and vegetables on derelict urban spaces without owner permission. The motivations for guerrilla gardening are pragmatic, ecological, political, and aesthetic, though its artistic status is often denied. The study demonstrates that guerrilla gardening aligns with George Dickie's institutional theory of art and can be classified as art.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityDIYFarmers against the Market? The Itinerary of an Alternative Marketing System for Fruits and Vegetables
2012Madlyne Samak · L Homme et la société · France
A long-term study in southeastern France examined the development of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as an alternative marketing system for fruits and vegetables. The study found that the non-market dimension of CSA appears to have disappeared over time, from its initial form to current basket systems. This change is attributed to the diversification of farmers' sociological profiles and the transformation of marketing conditions for organic local products.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsChapter 27 Urban agriculture and seasonal food footprints: an LCA study of tomato production and consumption in the UK
2012Gillean M. Denny · · United Kingdom
This study investigated the ability of urban agriculture (UA) to decrease food-related greenhouse gas emissions, using a life cycle analysis of tomatoes, produce surveys in East Anglia, and household surveys of 183 UA-practicing households. It found that UA participation can reduce an individual's tomato consumption emissions from 52.4 kg CO2e/yr to 11.2 kg CO2e/yr. This reduction amounts to 44% from a non-UA, low-emission diet and 78% from a supermarket diet.
Climate changeFood miles & supply chainDIYEconomics