Research & reports

Eugenio-Gozalbo M., Ramos-Truchero G., Suárez-López R., Romanillos M.S.A., Rees S. · Education Sciences (MDPI), 12(3):168 · Europe

A study assessing a garden-based teaching unit on 'Food and Nutrition' against a traditional textbook-based unit. The garden-based sequence produced more comprehensive student understanding and better preparation for real-life dietary decisions, representing an educational improvement over traditional teaching.

Chan C.L., Tan P.Y., Gong Y.Y. · BMC Public Health, 22:1251 · Global

A systematic review of how school garden-based programmes affect children's diet- and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Synthesizing studies from multiple databases, it concludes that such programmes are a promising and cost-effective intervention for improving healthy eating among schoolchildren.

Wells N., Myers B., Henderson C. · Preventive Medicine Reports (Elsevier) · United States

A two-year randomized controlled trial assigning 46 low-income elementary schools in Arkansas, Iowa, New York and Washington to school gardens with curriculum or a waitlist control. Children in the intervention increased fruit and low-fat vegetable consumption more than controls, supporting the effectiveness of school garden programs.

Shimpo N. · 学芸出版社 (Gakugei Shuppan), ISBN 978-4-7615-2821-8, 208pp · Global

Shimpo's single-authored book on 'urban-type gardens' that activate underused spaces scattered through cities—suburban abandoned farmland, corners of urban parks, commercial-building rooftops, housing-estate grounds. Drawing on advanced cases and practitioner interviews from Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Japan, it shows how such gardens address vacant-land use, community revitalisation, greening and food/environmental education.

Dilebo T., Feyissa T., Asfaw Z., Zewdu A. · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 18:74 · Ethiopia

An ethnobotanical survey of 240 households across four zones of southern Ethiopia documenting on-farm landrace diversity, use patterns and farmer conservation of the staple crop enset.

Cosco N.G., Wells N.M., Zhang D., Goodell L.S., Monsur M., Xu T., Moore R.C. · Frontiers in Psychology, 13:993637 · United States (North Carolina)

An RCT of the Preventing Obesity by Design (POD) garden intervention in 15 Wake County childcare centers serving ages 3–5. Using a waitlist-control design, it tests effects on fruit and vegetable identification, liking and snack-time consumption, demonstrating collaborative garden-based outdoor learning in early childhood settings.

練馬区 · 練馬区 調査報告書 · Japan

Final report of Nerima's review panel building on the World Urban Agriculture Summit, organising directions for publicly supported urban agriculture under four pillars — circulation, environment, fairness and collaboration — including farmland conservation, agriculture-welfare links, ward allotments and outreach.

新保 奈穂美 · 世田谷区 都市農業関連研究報告 · Japan

Analyses Tamaribatake, a community garden piloted under Setagaya's proposal-based partnership programme, clarifying conditions that secure participants' freedom without rigid rules and offering operational insight for municipally supported community farms.

横浜市 環境創造局農政推進課 · 横浜市 市民調査報告 · Japan

Results of Yokohama's e-survey on citizen farms, capturing user motivations, satisfaction and challenges as baseline data for municipal policy improvements including the citizen-farm map and stronger outreach.

福岡市 · 福岡市 農林業総合計画 · Japan

Agriculture chapter of Fukuoka's five-year comprehensive plan, covering subsidies for citizen farms, experience farms and refresh farms plus Agrichallenge and other municipally supported urban agriculture measures.

Doyle G. · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development · Ireland (Dublin)

Based on case studies in Dublin, this paper identifies the key capacities—diverse expertise, supportive organisations, and access to land and resources—that enable community groups to successfully establish and sustain community gardens in Ireland. Published in the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development (Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 15–32).

Biskupovic C., Maurines B., Carmona R., Canteros E. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Chile

This qualitative comparative study of community and shared gardens in France and Chile found that small-scale collective gardening fosters human–nonhuman relationships and the transmission of caring practices, thereby promoting ecological citizenship and more sustainable forms of community living.

Cerda C., Guenat S., Egerer M., Fischer L.K. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Chile (Santiago)

This study examined home food gardening in Santiago during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding increased interest in gardening during the ~200-day lockdown and identifying mental health and food security as key benefits, while lack of space and horticultural knowledge were the main barriers.

Donald Gray · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

A 2022 paper examined the role of school gardens in addressing children and young people's decreasing experiences with natural environments, increasing mental health concerns, and growing worries about global environmental problems. Drawing on three initiatives from an original pilot school garden program, the paper presents evidence that garden-based learning can positively contribute to improved health and wellbeing, learning, and environmental awareness.

Graham Slater, Robert G. Unzueta, Clayton Pierce · · Global

This chapter argues that much scholarly literature on school gardens is based on problematic assumptions or ignores histories of violence and dispossession. Without an ecocritical approach, school gardens risk replicating systems of domination, extraction, exploitation, and human supremacy. The authors propose integrating theoretical reflection into emancipatory action within a historical materialist framework to address colonization, land dispossession, labor exploitation, and anthropocentrism.

Tapan S. Parikh, Sara Perl Egendorf, Isaiah Murray, Ali Jamali, Bryan Yee, Sammi Lin, Kendra Cooper-Smith, Brendan Parker, Koron Smiley, Jenny Kao‐Kniffin · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · United States

This study described the development of virtual reality (VR) platforms to support farmer knowledge transfer and innovation in urban agriculture in the U.S. The platform features a VR model of an organic farm in New York City, detailing farm operations and offering opportunities to integrate educational materials and personal narratives. VR has the potential to accelerate innovations in food justice by transcending the physical constraints of traditional agricultural extension.

Carmen Carrión · Digital Archive @ GSU · United States

This dissertation explored school gardens as an out-of-classroom setting for students to learn and develop their understanding of scientific inquiry and practices. The study found that school gardens can foster learners' abilities to construct real-life associations with science content through engagement, free exploration, and scientific investigation. This research also created curriculum and assessment tools for use in conjunction with school garden settings.

厚 板谷, 大輔 野上, 公文 佐藤 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Asahikawa)

This study, involving 20 preschool children from one kindergarten in Asahikawa city, Japan, examined how diversifying snow surfaces in a school garden affected physical activity intensity during winter outdoor play. Five trials were conducted in December and January-February. Activity intensity in snowy mountains was more prominent in the December control trial (less snow) than in the January-February experimental trials, but various play promotions increased activity in rough snow.

Julie Cornfield, Harmonii Odinga, Jaleh Kermani, Katherine P. Theall, M. Pia Chaparro · American Journal of Health Promotion · United States (New Orleans)

An environmental assessment of 10 community gardens and interviews with 20 community members and administrators in New Orleans, Louisiana, explored factors affecting garden use. Gardens scored high in design and cleanliness but low in accessibility and information availability. While community members perceived gardens could increase fresh food access, administrators believed gardens could not produce enough food for community-wide impact, emphasizing social benefits instead.

Stephani Rangga Larasati · Jurnal Atma Inovasia · Indonesia

The group service program 52 Period 79 identified Pulutan Village's potential in agricultural, processing industry, and natural tourism aspects, alongside a pocketbook program on cassava chips production and distribution. The program's outcomes, including e-books and videos, align with the village's mission to foster a competitive, advanced, independent, and prosperous society. This initiative aims to enhance citizen productivity, broaden insights, and support resident welfare through urban farming, agritourism, and processed food innovations.

Rayhan Ramadhani, Sarah Natalia, Faurica Nurul Syifa, Maulida Asha Sabilla, Arya Prayoga, Moch. Imron Rosyidi · Community Empowerment · Indonesia

In Bromo Hamlet, Kalinegoro Village, Indonesia, the KKN GNRM program on urban farming was held to maintain food security during the COVID-19 pandemic. This program aimed to provide knowledge, insight, and experience to boost organic vegetable production on narrow land through hydroponic training. The KKN GNRM increased public awareness of urban farming and hydroponics as a source of food security during the pandemic.

Claudia Marcela Puerto Layton · Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education · Colombia

This article reports the systematization of an experience with home/school gardens in an educational institution in Bogotá, involving high school students (seventh and eighth grades) in face-to-face and remote modalities. Results include the reconstruction of the strategy and didactic process, highlighting aspects that affect or support the educational process in each modality. Reflections with students indicated that while home gardens can contribute to food security, pesticides can pose a risk to food security in Colombia.

Dwiyana Anela Kurniasari, Siti Alimah, Didik Daryanto, Yusuf Baunsele, Summarningsih Summarningsih · Prosiding Konferensi Nasional Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat dan Corporate Social Responsibility (PKM-CSR) · Indonesia (Surabaya)

To address declining millennial interest in agriculture at SMA WIJAYA PUTRA in Surabaya, a Millennial Farmer School program was implemented to provide education and guidance on hydroponic urban farming. The program utilized education, training, mentoring, and evaluation methods. Results showed that 80% of students developed an interest in hydroponic cultivation, and 84% acquired hydroponic cultivation skills.

Lucia Masón, Benedetta Zagni, Francesca Bacchin, Carlotta Frison, Sara Scrimin · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global

This study investigated the effects of indoor (classroom) and outdoor (green school garden) environments on attentional processes in 42 third and fourth-grade children, considering emotion and physiological self-regulation (heart rate variability). Children were less distracted by negative emotional materials when presented with an outdoor background and showed greater selective and sustained attention in the green environment compared to the classroom. Sustained attention also varied in relation to physiological self-regulation, but only when performing the task indoors.

Mona Khalil, Carolyn Bolton‐Moore · Current Developments in Nutrition · United States

This study investigated whether a ten-week Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education (GENE) program increased skin carotenoid scores, a measure of vegetable consumption, in 30 diverse, low-income children aged 6–13 at two Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston in fall 2021. While individual skin carotenoid scores increased in 43% of participants and group averages showed an upward trend, these changes were not statistically significant. Height and weight increased significantly, and 49.7 pounds of produce were harvested.