Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3623 results(44 / 145)
PROCESOS DE AGRICULTURA URBANA Y AUTOGESTIÓN COMUNITARIA PARA EL DESARROLLO DE HUERTAS CASERAS EN EL MUNICIPIO FRONTERIZO DE CÚCUTA
2023Juan Pablo Robayo, Jemay Mosquera Téllez · limentech Ciencia y Tecnología Alimentaria · Colombia (Cúcuta)
A descriptive and interpretive qualitative study in Cúcuta, Colombia, documented the implementation of home gardens aimed at self-management and community empowerment. The research involved families in the Rudesindo Soto, La Pastora, and Belén neighborhoods, utilizing semi-structured interviews, field work, and documentary analysis in collaboration with the Catholic Church. Findings indicated that participants experienced advantages and benefits in terms of self-management, cooperation, and community empowerment, leading to the formulation of a public policy proposal to support home gardens at the municipal level.
CommunityDIYFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEvidence on how urban gardens help citizens and cities to enhance sustainable development. Review and bibliometric analysis
2023Alexandra Ribeiro, Lívia Madureira, Raquel Carvalho · Landscape and Urban Planning · Global
This paper conducted a bibliometric analysis of published research on urban gardens, using Vosviewer software and the Web of Science database. The analysis identified four research clusters: 'Citizens' (people, lifestyle, community), 'Drivers' (motivations, purposes, benefits), 'Cities' (contribution to urban sustainability, hindered by lack of policy recognition), and 'Soil' (sustainability shortcomings due to soil contamination on vacant land). The study concluded that urban garden research is directly related to sustainable development, but the issue receives little importance, with most studies being case studies and economic pressure affecting sustainability.
CommunityClimate changePolicyEconomicsTeachers and students use of systems thinking about their participation in school environmental clubs
2023Richard Beach · Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy · Global
This study analyzed the perceptions of three English teachers and three students participating in two high school environmental clubs, using a critical inquiry systems thinking framework. Interviews explored their views on the purposes, outcomes, norms, and beliefs of energy/transportation, agriculture/food production, and economic systems impacting climate change. Teachers and students critiqued these systems for leading to negative climate change outcomes and engaged in sustainability practices like planting school gardens and supporting recycling/composting.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeOrganic cycleLa trama de la agricultura urbana: trayectoria de vida de un militante local (Rosario, Argentina)
2023Licia María Lilli · kult-ur revista interdisciplinària sobre la cultura de la ciutat · Argentina (Rosario)
This study reflects on sustainable food systems through the biographical narrative of Antonio Lattuca, a key figure in urban agriculture development in Rosario, Argentina. Based on a semi-structured interview, the research focuses on his activism in establishing urban gardens and institutionalizing collective strategies within the municipal government since the 1990s, including the Urban Agriculture Program. Rosario has over 34 years of urban agroecological experiences addressing urbanization, poverty, and exclusion.
CommunityPolicyWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceSocial and Community Benefits and Limitations of Urban Agriculture
2023Alicia Papanek, Catherine Campbell, Hannah Wooten · EDIS · Global
This publication, authored by Alicia Papanek, Catherine G. Campbell, and Hannah Wooten and published in January 2023 by the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, provides an overview of urban food production. It discusses the benefits of urban agriculture alongside potential challenges that can limit the success of these operations, including economic viability.
Economic viabilityCommunityHealthEconomicsOrganizing Tensions in Community-Supported Agriculture
2023Megan K. Schraedley · · Global
This chapter examines Sweet Water Farm, a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, through a participant's perspective, analyzing organizing practices by highlighting three tensions. These include the tension between community creation and customer management, issues of inclusion and exclusion from CSAs, and the challenge of transforming capitalist economic structures while operating within them. The study reveals that while CSAs offer potential for addressing equity in the food system, questions persist regarding their long-term adoption by diverse communities as an alternative to conventional agriculture.
Equity & displacementCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceFood Herstories and Everyday Life in Times of Crisis. Women’s Experiences in Food Production, Distribution and Consumption
2023Magdalena Popławska · Przegląd Kulturoznawczy · Global
This article analyzes women's experiences in household food production, distribution, and consumption as responses to daily life challenges, integrating food studies, historical sociology, and gender studies. Based on a literature review, including oral histories and autobiographical accounts of urban and rural women, the study demonstrates that women's food-related stories explore alternatives to scarcity economies and mass production. These alternatives, found in kitchens, farm fields, or allotment gardens, embody values like mutual assistance, trust, and reciprocity, and can be interpreted as creativity, resourcefulness, power relations, and resistance during everyday crises.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsAnalysis of Importance of and Satisfaction with the Values and Major Achievements of Urban Agriculture
2023Yumin Park, Yong-Wook Shin · Journal of people, plants, and environment · Global
This study conducted an importance-performance analysis (IPA) on the values and major achievements of urban agriculture, analyzing 104 responses from experts involved in urban agricultural policies. It found that both importance and satisfaction were highest for health functions, followed by social-cultural, environmental-ecological, and economic functions. Awareness of health functions was high, while economic functions were low, suggesting a need for strengthening.
PolicyHealthEconomicsCommunityBiodiversityAn analytical framework to measure the social return of community-supported agriculture
2023Marco Medici, Maurizio Canavari, Alessandra Castellini · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global
This study designed and applied a cost-benefit analysis based on the Social Return on Investment (SROI) to five Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives, addressing the lack of objective sustainability indicators. CSAs are local food supply chains characterized by member volunteer commitment, reduction of synthetic inputs in food production, and shortening of the supply chain. Findings revealed that the analyzed CSA case studies demonstrated a limited but positive socio-environmental performance compared to conventional food supply chains, thereby showing they can create real value in terms of social gains and mitigation of environmental impacts.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsOrganic cycleComparison of bioactive compounds of continental and Mediterranean pomegranate fruits and its application in urban gardening
2023Radenka Kolarov, Mirjana Ljubojević, JOVANA SUCUR ELEZ, Mirjana Adakalić, BILJANA LAZOVIC, Dejan Prvulović, Sezai Erċışlı, DJORDJE MALENCIC · TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY · Serbia
This study compared bioactive compounds in pomegranate genotypes from a continental region (Sremski Karlovci, Serbia) and a Mediterranean urban region (Bar, Montenegro). Analysis of phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, pigments, vitamin C, acidity, pH, and sugars, along with DPPH and ABTS antioxidant tests, revealed that pomegranates grown in the continental area had significantly higher amounts of biochemically active compounds than those from the Mediterranean urban region. This suggests adaptation to continental conditions, with continental samples showing greater antioxidant potential and proanthocyanidins content.
Limited or null effectDIYHealthUrban–rural linkageResilience processes and positioning of agroecological farmers in an urban horticultural fair in northwest Patagonia
2023Ana H. Ladio, Melisa Longo, Soledad Molares · Ethnobotany Research and Applications · Argentina (San Carlos de Bariloche)
This qualitative study analyzed the resilience processes of agroecological farmers at the Free Fair of Family Farmers from Nahuel Huapi in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. The fair's main resilience principles include high agrobiodiversity, learning and connectivity, cooperation, and adaptive systemic thinking. However, the economic and cultural viability of this fair is uncertain due to the drastic socio-environmental changes experienced in the region.
Economic viabilityCommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsA lifecycle analysis approach to the impact of green roofs on the structural and thermal performances of buildings
2023Sasan Khademi Kalantari, Mohammad Raoof Rashedi, Rojina Ehsani, Fariborz M. Tehrani · · Global
This paper addresses the lifecycle analysis of green roofs in hot summer Mediterranean climates, such as Rome, Italy, to optimize their application for sustainability. Green roofs can reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by lowering roof temperatures, but they also impact building weight and construction costs. The study aims to translate energy consumption into greenhouse gas emissions and measure water and waste related to structural or thermal operations, providing insights for building professionals.
Climate changeBiodiversityA Social-Ecological Model for Inclusion Processes in Urban Agriculture of Vienna, Austria
2023Sophie Kathrin Schaffernicht, Elisabeth Quendler · Merits · Austria
This study aimed to identify systemic barriers to inclusion in horticultural working life and potential solutions for people with disabilities within urban agriculture in Vienna, Austria. A pilot project was conducted from May to October 2019, involving a university, three social institutions, two horticultural farms, and fifteen people with disabilities. The findings suggested that urban agriculture opportunities should extend beyond simple cooperation between social institutions and horticultural farms.
Equity & displacementWelfareCommunityGesellschaftliche Raumverhältnisse als nachhaltigkeitswissenschaftliche Perspektive auf ‚Raum‘, ‚Natur‘ und ‚Geschlecht‘. Das Fallbeispiel Urban Gardening
2023Tanja Mölders · · Global
"Societal Spatial Relations as a Sustainability Science Perspective on 'Space', 'Nature', and 'Gender'. The Case Study Urban Gardening" was published on page 39 of Gender und Diversity in Natur-, Technik- und Planungswissenschaften.
CommunityPolicyClimate change‘We’ve Never Done This Before’
2023Jen Rae · Performance Research · Australia (Melbourne)
During the 2020-21 COVID-19 lockdowns, Fawkner Commons in Melbourne, Australia, transformed a community garden into an urban farm and a disused lawn bowling club into a food hub. This initiative, led by local residents, distributed over $116,000 worth of no-cost/low-cost culturally relevant food boxes and over 2,400 prepared meals in 2020 to the food-insecure suburb of Fawkner. This article reflects on the creative methodologies that supported Fawkner Commons' success in providing food relief when other organizations were overwhelmed.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareClimate changeProspecção Científica e Tecnológica sobre o Uso de Softwares para a Oferta e a Comercialização em Hortas Comunitárias
2023Jamille Anderson Luiz da Silva, Paula Tereza de Souza e Silva · Cadernos de Prospecção · Global
This study aimed to identify mobile applications developed or used for offering and trading food products in community gardens, through scientific and technological prospecting. Searches were conducted across multiple databases using keywords like "Aplicativo," "App," "Software," "Horta," and "Agricultura urbana." The results showed few applications associated with the theme, with most intended for specific localities and few available for widespread use, indicating a limited effect of existing tools.
Limited or null effectDigital agricultureCommunityEconomicsTranslating unique agricultural precedents into public urban agriculture design
2023Joshua Zeunert, Tanya Court · Elsevier eBooks · Global
Public urban agriculture (PUA) in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia faces challenges, including aesthetics and negative perceptions of its spatial presence and visual performance. In these contexts, PUA often remains limited to allotments, community gardens, education gardens, and street verge gardens, which frequently suffer from negative aesthetic perceptions in highly visible public settings. This chapter explores how eight distinctive rural food production practices could be translated into urban contexts to address aesthetic shortcomings in PUA design.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageURBAN HORTICULTURE: A PATH TO SELF-RELIANCE AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY
2023Belal Ahmad, Gaurav Kumar · KAAV PUBLICATIONS eBooks · Global
This paper discusses urban horticulture as the integration of plants with the urban environment. In developing nations, urban gardening already makes a major contribution to food security and nutrition, and many urban areas worldwide are attempting to improve sustainability by encouraging urban farming and increasing urban greenery. New approaches like vertical gardening and hydroponics are suggested to improve existing urban cropping systems, ensuring access to fresh produce.
Food sovereignty & justiceHealthCommunityDIYEl vermicompostaje una alternativa para potenciar la agricultura urbana
2023Medardo Wilfredo Blanco Villacorta · Revista de Investigación e Innovación Agropecuaria y de Recursos Naturales · Global
This review examined general aspects of vermicomposting to explore its use in treating organic solid waste and enhancing urban agriculture. It analyzed 99 papers published between 2000 and 2022, retrieved from Google Scholar. The review found that vermicomposting is a low-cost ecotechnological process where earthworms transform organic solid waste into vermicompost, making it suitable for recycling organic waste in cities and supporting urban agriculture sustainability.
CompostOrganic cycleSoil bacterial community composition and diversity respond to soil environment in rooftop agricultural system
2023Mengdi Dai, Xiangfeng Tan, Ziran Ye, Bojun Li, Yi Zhang, Xuting Chen, Dedong Kong · Environmental Technology & Innovation · Global
This study analyzed 15 soil samples from three sampling sites (original soil, after a seven-year natural cycle, and after a seven-year microcirculation system) to investigate soil properties, bacterial communities, and their relationships in a rooftop farm. The microcirculation system was shown to effectively improve the soil environment and bacterial community by increasing total nitrogen and total organic carbon contents by approximately 2 and 3.5 times, respectively.
Organic cycleBiodiversityClimate changeCOVID-19 lockdowns and associated shocks: Lessons from farming households’ resilience to food and nutrition insecurity in Cameroon
2023Neville N. Suh, Richard A. Nyiawung, Ernest L. Molua, Rossella Bottone, Canan Abay · World Development Sustainability · Cameroon
This study in Cameroon explored the association between farming households' resilience and food/nutrition insecurity during COVID-19 lockdowns. Focus group discussions identified shocks and response strategies, followed by an in-depth study of 249 farming households. Econometric modeling revealed that COVID-19 shocks adversely affected food and nutrition security and reduced resilience capacity. However, existing adaptive capacity and access to basic services significantly contributed to resilience, with female-headed and semi-urban households showing greater resilience.
Food sovereignty & justiceHealthEconomicsPeri-urban agricultureNurturing soil-adarities
2023Bethaney Turner · · Global
This chapter explored human-soil relations in urban home and community gardens through ethnographic fieldwork. While biodiverse soil offers direct health benefits, the presence of contaminated, toxic soils, prevalent in lower socio-economic neighborhoods, was shown to expose inequities in access to safe gardening sites and hinder the realization of potential therapeutic benefits. It argues that the therapeutic benefits of gardens are best realized when humans cultivate attentive relationships with myriad multispecies companions.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthBiodiversityOrganic cycleWelfareUrbanization, Land Scarcity and Urban Farmers’ Mobility: Evidence from Ghana
2023Michael Tuffour · Journal of Regional and City Planning · Ghana
This study investigated how urban farmers in Ghana cope with land scarcity amidst rapid urbanization and the factors influencing their mobility for farmland. Responses from 251 farmers were analyzed using both Tobit and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), revealing that land situation factors such as land ownership type, land scarcity challenges, and land size were associated with farmers' mobility. Farm characteristics like market benefits, intensity of vegetable production, and technology level, along with personal characteristics such as age, education level, farmer engagement, and marital status, also played a role in mobility.
PolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceThe pedagogical school garden and the educationalisation of social problems in Denmark
2023Christian Larsen · Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes · Denmark
In Denmark, school gardens were voluntarily established by the School Gardens Association and local teachers to address perceived social problems in cities during the first half of the 20th century. This initiative aimed to develop civic virtue and inner strength in urban children through garden education. The movement peaked around 1960 and has experienced a revival in recent decades.
Food educationCommunityWelfareUrban garden as a water reservoir in an urban area – a literature review
2023Wawan Setiawan, B J Gawryszewska · Scientific Review Engineering and Environmental Sciences (SREES) · Global
This study is a literature review aiming to show that contemporary researchers recognize the potential of urban gardening in improving urban retention. A meta-analysis of peer-reviewed scientific articles from databases like Web of Sciences, Science Direct, Springer, and MDPI was performed, defining urban garden retention indicators such as rainwater/stormwater infrastructure, watering systems, and planting type. The analysis of article distribution noted an overrepresentation from North America and an absence from South America.
Climate changeCommunityUrban–rural linkage