Research & reports

Meistian Herizon, Didi Ardiansyah, Radeni Ilyan Putra, Reflis Reflis, Satria Putra Utama · ABDISOSHUM Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Bidang Sosial dan Humaniora · Indonesia

Using a qualitative literature review, this paper examines how contemporary homesteading — characterized by self-sufficient food production, efficient resource management and sustainable living practices — can function as a framework for community service activities in Indonesia. It finds that homesteading contributes to household economic resilience, physical and mental health, environmental conservation and stronger social networks, but also faces implementation obstacles including limited land availability, lack of technical skills, regulatory constraints and social resistance.

Adeyemi Israel Atanda · Open MIND · Nigeria

This study examines how socioeconomic characteristics influence residents practicing sack farming in Ibadan, Nigeria, using a cross-sectional survey and mixed methods with 1,288 respondents proportionally allocated across high- (182), medium- (708) and low-density (398) residential areas. It found benefits including efficient use of space, increased crop yields and reduced soil erosion; the 31-40 age bracket showed the highest engagement (31.3%, chi-square=41.791, p=0.003, a significant association), while participation was 34.5% male versus 65.5% female with no statistically significant gender difference (chi-square=8.035, p=0.090).

CiAuna Heard · Environmental Education Research · Global

Using the author's own course, "Race, Gender, and Environmental Justice," as a case study, this article argues that justice-oriented climate education is strengthened when rooted in Black ecofeminist pedagogy. Set against the context of Jesuit educational institutions' commitments to sustainability since Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', it examines how Black ecofeminist pedagogy contributes to interrogating epistemological authority, developing structural analytical frameworks and embodied engagement with the lived world, arguing that it challenges Western Christian epistemological, methodological and political norms and pushes Jesuit environmental education toward a more critical stance on racial and gender justice.

Temi Indriati Miranda, Nurlia Listiani, Nugroho Purwono, Dwiyanti Kusumaningrum, Nirma Yossa, Diah Setiari Suhodo · Journal of Urban Management · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This study examines how informal actors along Jakarta's East Flood Canal (KBT), Indonesia, perceive and adapt to unclear governance conditions, based on two months of ethnographic fieldwork including 15 semi-structured interviews and field observations. It finds that informal practices such as street vending and urban farming are crucial to livelihoods and the urban ecosystem, creating green space, supporting food security and strengthening local identity, but that these actors constantly face eviction threats and exclusion from government support and protection due to inconsistent law enforcement, while still showing resilience through adaptive strategies and social innovation such as optimizing spatial use and building community networks.

Nicholas Sookhan, Thomas M. Onuferko, J. Scott MacIvor · Ecological Entomology · United States

This study measured pollination services across gradients of within-city urbanization and urban green space fragmentation at 10 community gardens in the United States, deploying four native indicator (phytometer) plant species and measuring visitor rate and alpha-diversity in relation to each species' reproductive outcomes. Although the researchers predicted a negative effect of urbanization, they found limited evidence of decline; contrary to expectation, Lobelia siphilitica showed increased visitor alpha-diversity and higher seed mass in more urbanized gardens, fragmentation effects were mixed -- edge density correlated positively with one species and negatively with another -- and local garden floral richness showed no influence, likely because richness was uniformly high across gardens.

Shahida Mohd Sharif, Izyan Ayuni Mohamad Selamat, Norsidah Ujang · Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology) · Malaysia

This study used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach supported by field observations to examine the lived experiences of long-term gardeners at the PPR Intan Baiduri public housing estate in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, exploring how grassroots gardening supports resilience, health and informal governance. It found that gardening provides retirees and low-income residents with routine, emotional wellbeing and opportunities for informal economic participation, that community gardens function as micro-level bioresource systems by repurposing reserve land, composting household waste and drawing on institutional collaborations with agencies such as DBKL and TNB, and that participants collectively organize planting cycles and maintain shared infrastructure while navigating labor constraints and fluctuating participation.

Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira · Geo Geography and Environment · South Africa

This study examines how community gardens in Cape Town's marginalised Cape Flats area enact spatial justice through everyday practices, drawing on Henri Lefebvre's social production of space and its spatial triad -- perceived, conceived and lived space. Based on semi-structured interviews with representatives of 34 community gardens and state actors, supplemented by documentary analysis of planning and policy frameworks, it finds that gardeners physically transform neglected land into perceived spaces of cultivation despite insecure tenure and limited infrastructure (water access, soil quality), negotiate and subvert top-down planning by repurposing school grounds and municipal reserves as conceived space, and sustain memory and identity as lived space through crops, seed exchanges and collective action -- while persistent challenges of tenure precarity, resource scarcity and competing land-use pressures threaten each garden's longevity.

Fernanda Tomiello, Sidney Gonçalves Vieira · Ciência Geográfica · Brazil

A Brazilian paper draws on Henri Lefebvre's ideas about the use and appropriation of space to examine the tension between domination, embodied in private property, and appropriation oriented toward collective, just use. Arguing for overcoming constraints that limit the appropriation of space and prioritizing human needs over market logic, the study analyzes the deterioration of green areas in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, finding that the city's Green Area Index (IAV) falls below the recommended level, and proposes practices such as urban agriculture as alternatives that challenge capitalist logic and promote the appropriation of space as a right for all.

Diana Rubí Oropeza Tosca, Roger Notario-Priego, Dalia Alejandra Candelario-Morales, Ezequiel Notario-Priego, José Eliseo · Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental · Mexico

A study in a rural community in Southeastern Mexico designed a management model for the administration and sustainability of a community garden, focusing on strengthening local capacities, ensuring equitable resource distribution, and promoting food security and environmental sustainability. Drawing on frameworks of social and solidarity economy, food security, sustainable development, and agroecology, and gathering data through focus groups, field visits, and semi-structured interviews with community members and stakeholders in a mixed-methods, participatory design, the study found the community committed to adopting sustainable practices, identified challenges such as resource limitations and climatic risks, and proposed agroecological practices and capacity-building as potential solutions. The resulting management model emphasizes collaborative governance and continuous monitoring.

Remigius Sotan Nino, Werenfridus Taena, Umbu Joka · Jurnal Hexagro · Indonesia

In Kefamenanu City sub-district, North Central Timor Regency, Indonesia, a study of the district's vegetable farmer population selected four villages (Bansone, Maubeli, Kefa Kelatan and Sasi) and conducted a census survey of 150 respondents in 2025. Using location quotient (LQ), shift-share analysis (SSA) and quadrant analysis, the study found mustard greens, eggplant, spinach and beans to be comparatively superior commodities, and mustard greens, long beans, tomatoes, spinach and chickpeas to be competitively superior. Commodities leading on both comparative and competitive advantage, and thus having development potential, were mustard greens (LQ=2.57, SSA=0.15), spinach (LQ=2.19, SSA=0.312) and beans (LQ=2.54, SSA=1.25).

Kolawole Farinloye, Grzegorz M. Józefaciuk, Samson O. Ojo, Ibukun A. Ayodele, Mayowa A. Aduloju · Journal of Natural Resource Conservation and Management · United Kingdom

A study evaluated the agritourism potential of Mudchute Park and Farm, an urban farm in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom, using a mixed-methods approach that combined qualitative assessment of the farm's existing infrastructure and programming with quantitative analysis of its plant and animal biodiversity (2025). Structured data was used to model potential offerings such as educational programs, hands-on workshops and thematic tours. The farm's collection of rare-breed animals and native and cultivated plant species was identified as a base for development, and the study proposed recommendations including a farm-to-fork culinary experience, expanded seasonal festival programming, and leveraging the farm's position as a rural site within a major city.

Sebastian Eiter, Wendy Fjellstad, Loes van Schaik · Landscape and Urban Planning · Europe

Drawing on case examples from five European cities, a 2025 study identified the challenges involved in monitoring the sustainability of urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data to using the results. Urban agriculture is often positioned as a tool to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems, yet sustainability is difficult to measure, fueling debate about how sustainable urban agriculture truly is and leaving a lack of incentive to promote it or protect existing initiatives threatened by development pressure on urban land. Comparing the five cities revealed large differences in what topics were monitored, who was responsible, who gathered data and when, what data was recorded and how it was stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these findings, the study recommends stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring, along with promotion of convenient tools for citizen-science data collection and long-term data storage.

Ibukun Balogun, James S. Pryke, Temitope Kehinde, Michael J. Samways · Landscape and Urban Planning · Africa

A 2025 study investigated how insect pollinator diversity differs between gardens, agricultural areas and natural areas within a southern African urban mosaic composed of an urban core, farms and natural areas, and examined how urban green spaces influence pollinator taxonomic diversity. Direct observation and pan traps were used to assess pollinator diversity alongside measured environmental, floral and landscape variables. Results showed similar pollinator diversity between agricultural and natural areas for some taxa, and between agricultural areas and urban gardens for other taxa. Floral variables were the most important predictors of pollinators, with greater floral diversity ameliorating the effects of urbanization and agricultural intensification, while landscape context was significant but less important. Although results varied considerably among taxa, the findings suggest agroecological farming may buffer natural areas from urbanization effects and reduce urbanization's impact on pollinators in urban gardens by providing needed resources. The study identifies floral variables as important for urban green planning, achievable through establishing more flowering plants in human-modified areas such as semi-urban agricultural areas and urban gardens.

Arum Sekar Kedhaton, Prince Clinton Immanuel Christian Damanik, Hizwatin Maulidya, Yuliana Devina Angela Jane, Juwari Juwari · Prosiding Seminar Nasional Pembangunan dan Pendidikan Vokasi Pertanian · Indonesia (Samarinda)

A 2025 study analyzed and compared the physical characteristics of soil in two areas of Samarinda City, Indonesia — Samarinda Ulu and Samarinda Utara sub-districts — as a basis for evaluating urban farming potential, using a descriptive-comparative approach to examine soil texture, structure, color and consistency. Results showed the soil in Samarinda Ulu had a fine sandy loam texture, small crumb structure and olive brown color (2.5Y 4/4), while soil in Samarinda Utara had a somewhat coarser texture, angular blocky structure and reddish brown color (5YR 4/4). These differences indicate variation in water retention and drainage capacity that affects crop suitability: Samarinda Ulu soil was found more suitable for horticultural crops, while Samarinda Utara soil suited drought-tolerant plants. The study is intended to inform the development of sustainable urban agriculture in humid tropical regions.

Zulma Lopez Reyes, Dalia Alshahrani, Jovana Čvorović, Mary May, Maged M. Saad · Frontiers for Young Minds · Global

An educational article on Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) describing how soil microbes act as natural fertilizers that improve soil quality and protect plants. The authors are researching how to use microbes to help plants grow in warmer climates, testing this work in school gardens where students learn about healthy soils and growing nutritious food using new technologies.

Lin Ye, Shuang He, Yong Li, Zhaohui YAN, Lei Huang · Landscape Architecture · China

Against the backdrop of China's evolving urban community governance—from the danwei (work unit) system under the planned economy, through the neighborhood committee system of market reform, to the current community-based governance model—which has eroded kinship-based ties and left communities more fragmented with declining residents' sense of belonging, this research examines how green space development, including community gardens and urban agriculture programs, can build social cohesion and resident wellbeing while facing persistent challenges around sustainable funding models, quantifiable outcomes, and equitable access across socioeconomic groups. The methodology combines CiteSpace visual mapping analysis with inductive and deductive review methods in a three-stage process that analyzes countries with the largest research output and tracks changes in key research topics over time.

Mieke Lopes Cardozo, Bas van den Berg, Koen Rens Wessels · · Europe

A narrative account of involvement with FRIS, a community within the University of Amsterdam working on education innovation for a fair, resilient, and inclusive society. The speaker, Mieke, describes being invited to coordinate and supervise a round of thematic teaching-innovation scholarships—organized jointly by the university's Teaching and Learning Centre and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies as part of the university's strategic plan—and to help build a learning community oriented toward more regenerative ways of learning and working.

Jacek Antonkiewicz, Iwona Paśmionka, Grzegorz Szychowski · Soil Science Annual · Poland

Following a flood that inundated allotment gardens in Nysa, southern Poland, for up to 14 days after the water rose on 14 September 2024, researchers analyzed 12 soil samples collected in early spring 2025 from two allotment garden sites. Most soils were found limed and disinfected, with high organic matter but low total potassium, sodium and sulfur. Zinc and copper concentrations exceeded the average for Polish arable soils, pointing to use of materials enriched with these elements.

Camila Urbina Lavajos, Oscar Vargas Chozo · Devenir - Revista de estudios sobre patrimonio edificado · Peru

A qualitative, descriptive study of the Tumino ravine in Moyobamba, Peru, examined the degradation of its evolving cultural landscape caused by inappropriate land use and informal settlement. Results showed 41% of the ravine area under conservation while another 41% faced unsustainable uses such as dumping and drainage discharge, with landscape fragmentation found to be affecting ecological connectivity and biodiversity. In response, the study proposes a system of ecological patches including urban gardens, green corridors, paths, boardwalks, viewpoints, wetlands and urban lagoons.

I Gede Fery Surya Tapa, I Kadek Angga Budi Astrawan · Community Development Journal Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community service report from SDN 3 Serangan, a public elementary school in the Serangan sub-district, Indonesia, describes a program to grow family medicinal plants (TOGA) on school grounds to raise environmental health awareness. Activities included site observation, plant species selection, land preparation, seedling procurement, and training and outreach to students. The program is reported to have increased use of school land for TOGA cultivation, expanded students' knowledge of TOGA, and encouraged active student participation in environmental health activities.

Angie Tatiana Ortega-Ramírez, Arley Lida Moreno, José Enrique Luna Correa, Miriam Reyes Tovar, Óscar Silva-Marrufo, Miriam América Caballero Olvera · Sustainability · Colombia (Bogotá)

A study designed and implemented a school garden at Carlos Albán Holguín school in Bogotá, Colombia, as a strategy to secure food for vulnerable communities and promote environmental education, structured in six stages including diagnosis, characterization, formulation and pilot validation. Surveys and checklists evaluated garden conditions and students' understanding of environmental practices. After implementation, 75% of students showed outstanding comprehension of sustainable agriculture and 80% effectively applied organic farming principles.

Affan Khoerul Pratama, Niken Kusuma Dewi, Ardhian Oktawidyaman, Afia Mansyoorah Nurjaman, Bintang Restu Darmawan, Dimas Arifil Akbar, Die Bhakti Wardoyo Putro · An-Nizam · Indonesia

A community service program in Cepokosari hamlet, Bantul, Indonesia, provided technical training and intensive mentoring to members of the Family Welfare Movement (PKK) on growing eggplants and chili peppers using repurposed used water gallon containers as vertical-gardening planting media, aiming to reduce plastic waste while promoting household food security and economic improvement. The results show that using used water gallons as planting media enhanced plant productivity, yielding enough produce for household consumption with a surplus sold for supplementary income for participating families.

Ximena Guadalupe Culebro Cervera · Ciencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar · Mexico

Quintana Roo, Mexico, depends on imported food for more than 60% of state consumption, creating structural vulnerability for the local economy, ingredient freshness, and food autonomy. Using a qualitative, critical-interpretive documentary approach, this review analyzed 27 academic, institutional, and community sources to examine how local initiatives — urban gardens, resilient Maya agriculture, and food cooperatives — contribute to self-consumption, the recovery of traditional knowledge, fair trade, and access to fresh ingredients. These practices help preserve endemic species such as criollo maize, chaya, and achiote, and the review states that such strategies need to be integrated into territorial public policy.

Siu Hou Chong, Paw Lan Tai, Chen Yee Teh, Siao Hoong Sam, Ning Hii, Jia Yi Tan, M D Isa M. Saffiuddin, Jia Hao Lau, Chee Yuan Ng, Chiou Woan Leng · World sustainability series · Malaysia

This is a case description of Koperasi Kongsi Selangor Berhad (Kongsi Co-op), a Malaysian consumer co-operative. The co-op connects local producers and consumers through community-supported agriculture and community-supported education, promoting organic farming, sustainable practices, ethical business, and lifelong learning. It reports having overcome financial and resource constraints by building an internal culture and network.

Liliek Dwi Soelaksini, Trisnani Alif, Tirto Wahyu Widodo, Ilham Muhklisin, Dewi Puspa Arisandi, Nurfadilah Nurfadilah · Sejagat · Indonesia

In PKK RW 27, Tegal Boto Lor (Sumbersari District, Jember Regency, East Java, Indonesia), where urban residents with limited agricultural land had already been using roadside planting of trees and ornamental plants, a community service team introduced the urban farming concept through wall gardening, delivered via education and soft-skills training. Comparing pre- and post-test results, the share of residents meeting the "good" knowledge criterion rose from 20% before the training to 53.4% after.