Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
168 results(5 / 7)
Elaboración de compostaje con los residuos orgánicos del comedor para el huerto escolar ecológico
2020Ornela María Muñoz Millet, Antonio Yepes Jiménez · · Spain
A school in Spain implemented composting of organic waste from its canteen for use in an ecological school garden, with support from the AGROA school composting program and the Aguilas City Council. The entire educational community participates, from canteen staff separating waste, to the janitor transporting it, and teachers and students organizing it for compost and using it as fertilizer. This practice serves as a didactic resource for developing environmental attitudes and sustainable habits.
CompostFood educationCommunityOrganic cycleClimate changeCreating urban green infrastructure where it is needed – A spatial ecosystem service-based decision analysis of green roofs in Barcelona
2019Johannes Langemeyer, Diego Wedgwood, Timon McPhearson, Francesc Baró, Anders L. Madsen, David N. Barton · The Science of The Total Environment · Spain (Barcelona)
This study developed a spatial multi-criteria screening tool in Barcelona, Spain, to prioritize green roof locations and designs for optimal ecosystem service provision. Fifteen spatial indicators and five green roof designs were analyzed and weighted by local experts. The assessment found high demand for green roof ecosystem services across Barcelona, especially in dense residential and industrial areas, with habitat, pollination, and thermal regulation being most needed, while runoff control and food production were least demanded. Naturalized roofs offered the highest potential for 87.5% of rooftop area.
CommunityBiodiversityClimate changePolicyUrban Agriculture as the Path to Sustainable City Development. Insights into Allotment Gardens in Andalusia
2019Barbara Maćkiewicz, Raúl Puente Asuero, Antonio Garrido Almonacid · Quaestiones Geographicae · Spain
This study investigated how urban allotment gardens in Baeza, Andalusia, Spain, affect the city’s sustainable development. The research showed that allotment gardens in Baeza endorsed all three pillars of sustainable city development: ecological, economic, and social. However, it was found that developing broader community relations on the city scale, reviving the declining local grocery market, and disseminating environmental initiatives that allotment gardens could promote and facilitate were missing.
Limited or null effectUrban–rural linkageClimate changeEconomicsCommunityUrban agriculture and health: assessing risks and overseeing practices
2019Christine Aubry, Nastaran Manouchehri · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · France (Paris)
Urban and peri-urban agriculture is exposed to various forms of pollution related to cultivation methods and urban air and soil quality, with different crop types exhibiting varied reactions to pollutants. The T4P and REFUGE programs on urban farms in the Paris region, and the ADURAA and QUALISANN programs studying vegetable-growing in Antananarivo, Madagascar, aim to assess health risks and oversee practices using methodological frameworks.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPolicyClimate changePocket parks for changing times and urban uncertainties
2019Dimitra Babalis · Florence Research (University of Florence) · Europe
This chapter uses a comparative analysis of European examples to define characteristics and typologies of pocket park design. It argues for establishing concrete concepts and guidelines for a new typology of pocket parks to improve spatial relationships and societal conditions.
CommunityClimate changeBiodiversityCollaborative Planning for Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in Frankfurt am Main
2019Michael Peterek, Susana Restrepo Rico, Yaman Hebbo, Ulrike Reichhardt · Technical Transactions · Germany (Frankfurt am Main)
This paper showcases sectoral and trans-sectoral projects in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, focusing on sustainable urban infrastructure across energy, water, wastewater, solid waste, and urban agriculture. The city has developed a collaborative approach to infrastructure planning, increasing possibilities for trans-sectoral projects and reducing natural resource consumption. The showcased projects were selected from a study of 36 operational, programmatic, and educational initiatives implemented by the city.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeEcosocial Innovations and Their Capacity to Integrate Ecological, Economic and Social Sustainability Transition
2019Aila‐Leena Matthies, Ingo Stamm, Tuuli Hirvilammi, Kati Närhi · Sustainability · Europe
This article analyzed 50 examples of ecosocial innovations in Finland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the UK to investigate how they integrate ecological, economic, and social sustainability goals. Ecosocial innovations were shown to combine these goals through five integrative practices: diversity of activities, successful networking, addressing new livelihood, focus on food, and explicit conceptual work on sustainability. These practices often emerge as pragmatic solutions to local needs and are valuable as forerunners for sustainability transition.
CommunityClimate changeEconomicsPolicyCities: incorporating natural capital into urban planning
2019Perrine Hamel, François Mancebo, Clément Feger, Stéphanie Hamel · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France
This chapter presented three case studies illustrating how nature's benefits have been incorporated into urban planning decisions, specifically urban agriculture policy in Nantes and Bordeaux, France, and an integrated urban water management strategy in Melbourne, Australia. The cases demonstrated that urban green space provides multiple benefits, including efficient water management, food production, recreation opportunities, and biodiversity protection. Key opportunities and barriers for incorporating urban nature into planning were identified.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityClimate changeIs urban gardening a source of wellbeing and just freedom? A Capability Approach based analysis from the UK and Ireland
2019Alma Clavin · Manchester University Press eBooks · United Kingdom
A study using qualitative, visual methods and Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach in five community garden sites in the UK and Ireland examined their potential for human agency and ecological sustainability. While positive agency and wellbeing benefits were observed, the gardens were found to be limited in their ability to truly enhance political freedoms and overcome asymmetric power relations. The research indicates that these initiatives may perpetuate neoliberal forms of unsustainable and uneven development, alongside ongoing issues of tenure insecurity.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeMicroclimates of Urban Reproduction: The Limits of Automating Environmental Control
2019Andy Lockhart, Simon Marvin · Antipode · United Kingdom (Sheffield)
This article explored the phenomenon of automated environmental control, using three sites in Sheffield, UK: a botanical glasshouse, a luxury hotel, and a university plant growth research lab. The study identified technical and ecological tensions and limits of indoor environmental control at each site, which restrict the scope of automation. It also showed that maintaining desired conditions required considerable hidden labor and energy.
Limited or null effectDigital agricultureClimate changeHow Can Innovation in Urban Agriculture Contribute to Sustainability? A Characterization and Evaluation Study from Five Western European Cities
2019Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Kathrin Specht, Erofili Grapsa, Francesco Orsini, Giorgio Gianquinto · Sustainability · Europe
This study evaluated 11 urban agriculture case studies across Italy, Germany, France, and Spain to identify innovation triggers, characterize novelties, assess their innovativeness, and link them to sustainability. Researchers found 147 novelties, with more in environmental and social dimensions than economic, often originating from specific problems. The analysis suggests that innovativeness enhances overall sustainability in urban agriculture projects.
EconomicsPolicyCommunityClimate changeAgronomic and Environmental Assessment of a Polyculture Rooftop Soilless Urban Home Garden in a Mediterranean City
2019Anna Boneta, Martí Rufí-Salís, Mireia Ercilla‐Montserrat, Xavier Gabarrell, Joan Rieradevall · Frontiers in Plant Science · Spain (Barcelona)
This study analyzed an 18 m2 polyculture rooftop soilless urban home garden in Barcelona city center from 2015 to 2017 to estimate its degree of self-sufficiency and sustainability. A total productivity of 10.6 kg/m2/year was achieved, estimating that 5.3 m2 would be needed to fulfill the yearly vegetable requirements of an average citizen. While a high degree of self-sufficiency was achieved, fertilizers and their associated leachates accounted for the highest environmental impacts in all studied categories.
DIYClimate changeEconomicsUrban–rural linkagePolish Urban Allotment Gardens as ‘Slow City’ Enclaves
2019Robert Bartłomiejski, Maciej Kowalewski · Sustainability · Poland
This article discusses Polish urban allotment gardens (UAGs) as an alternative urban development framework, "Slow City." It notes that increasing problems of soil pollution, abandoned gardens, informal housing, and limitation of access to UAG green areas for other inhabitants reinforce the pressure to reduce the number of UAGs.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyClimate changeBibliotheken auf dem Weg zur ökologischen und sozialen Nachhaltigkeit.
2018Petra Hauke, Jens A. Geißler, Tim Schümann, Andrea Kaufmann · · Germany
This "Hands-on-Lab" aimed to share practical experiences on how libraries can contribute to sustainable development, referencing the UN Agenda 2030 and German sustainability strategies. It included impulse presentations on ecological and social sustainability good practices, such as urban gardening in libraries, followed by a World-Cafe discussion. The event focused on discussing practical implementation methods.
CommunityFood educationClimate changeOrganising food differently: Towards a more-than-human ethics of care for the Anthropocene
2018Jonathan Beacham · Organization · United Kingdom
This ethnographic study explored three community supported agriculture schemes in the north-west of England to understand how Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) can foster a more-than-human ethic of care for the Anthropocene. Drawing on the diverse economies framework and feminist ethics of care literature, the study argues that AFNs offer open-ended organizational forms that can play a central role in this endeavor.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceChanges in the sizes of agricultural areas and their agricultural and environmental functions within the territories of Cracow’s Mogiła and Wyciąże neighbourhoods
2018Piotr Krzyk, Bogusława Kwoczyńska · Problemy Drobnych Gospodarstw Rolnych / Problems of Small Agricultural Holdings · Poland (Cracow)
This study quantitatively assessed the conversion of agricultural land to investment purposes in Cracow's Mogiła and Wyciąże neighborhoods from 2010-2013, based on local plans. It also addressed soil quality, heavy metal content, and pH. Analysis of spatial management plans for these areas indicated a systematic decline in the share of biologically active areas.
Contamination & food safetyPeri-urban agriculturePolicyClimate changeEconomicsHealthRevisiting the Sustainability Concept of Urban Food Production from a Stakeholders’ Perspective
2018Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Francesco Orsini, Giorgio Gianquinto · Sustainability · Italy (Bologna)
This paper evaluates the concept of Urban Food Production (UFP) sustainability from stakeholders' perspectives in Bologna, Italy, through two workshops using mind-mapping. The bottom-up approach revealed a comprehensive vision of sustainable UFP, identifying relevant elements and key aspects for its development and policy-making. The study also highlighted priorities, synergies, and trade-offs among sustainability dimensions, suggesting UFP can serve as a local tool for democracy and equity.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeThe geography of urban agriculture: New trends and challenges
2017Barbora Duží, Bohumil Frantál, Marian Simón Rojo · Moravian Geographical Reports · Europe
This article provides a theoretical and conceptual introduction to urban agriculture in Europe, reviewing its diverging issues from a geographical perspective. It discusses urban agriculture within the context of urban and rural transformations, urban regeneration, agricultural restructuring, and land-use conflicts. The paper summarizes current research and presents main trends and concepts, emphasizing the challenges they pose to geographers.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyCommunityClimate changeThe role of interdisciplinarity in evaluating the sustainability of urban rooftop agriculture
2017Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Jordi Oliver‐Solà, J.I. Montero, Joan Rieradevall · Kobra (Universitätsbibliothek Kassel) · Europe
This paper presents an interdisciplinary scheme to evaluate the sustainability of urban rooftop agriculture (URA), investigating its quantitative and qualitative potential, and environmental and economic impacts. Using Barcelona, Spain, and Bologna, Italy, as case studies, four interdisciplinary methods were combined: qualitative research, geographic information systems (GIS), life cycle assessment (LCA), and life cycle costing (LCC). Results indicate that a combined GIS-LCA tool is useful for evaluating URA implementation and its environmental benefits at the city scale, with soil cultivation using compost in open-air rooftop gardens being the most eco-efficient option.
CommunityEconomicsClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceReflexions on Urban Gardening in Germany
2017Evelyn Gustedt · Challenges in Sustainability · Germany
This article reflects on traditional and contemporary gardening movements in Germany, focusing on gardening in spaces subject to land lease agreements, tenancy, or illegal land take. The author examined various definitions, the historical development of urban gardening, and the values users relate to these activities. Based on a literature review, observations, and discussions, the author concludes with considerations on these gardening movements in relation to urban sustainable developments.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageClimate changeAir pollution risk assessment on urban agriculture
2017Marthe Ortolo · Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) · Netherlands
This study outlines a plan to assess air pollution risks in urban agriculture in the Netherlands, focusing on heavy metal (Cd, Hg) and PAK accumulation in spinach in Amsterdam urban gardens. It includes a literature review, policy maker interviews, and practical measurements of airborne contamination. The study aims to model different uptake routes by plants, but actual findings on contamination levels are not presented in this abstract.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPolicyClimate changeUrban rooftop farming : sustainability, practices and stakeholder perception on case studies in Europe (Torino, Paris, Rotterdam)
2017Jonida Alliaj · · Europe
This qualitative investigation examined rooftop farming in Turin, Paris, and Rotterdam, focusing on local practices, policies, and stakeholder perceptions of sustainability and social impact. Findings reveal significant differences in governance: Turin's OrtiAlti project faced difficulties due to absent city strategies and policies, while Paris has a moderate number of rooftop farms with recent supportive policies. Rotterdam's Dakakker is a consolidated project, supported by local government through multi-stakeholder participation.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyClimate changeThe potential of urban agriculture for sustainability of cities in Poland
2017Rafał Jasionkowski, Anna Lewandowska-Czarnecka · Ecological Questions · Poland
This paper aims to present the possibilities of food production in cities in Poland, particularly in the context of sustainable development. Urban agriculture can play an important role in the sustainable development of cities, with the idea of crop cultivation and its implementation dating back centuries, and new forms of ecological farms being designed with technological advancements.
CommunityClimate changePolicyProductive Landscape as a Tool for Urban Regeneration - The Case of Groot-IJsselmonde, the Netherlands -
2017Byoungwook Min, Yoonchun Jung · · Europe
This research is an urban design project focusing on Groot-IJsselmonde, a post-war housing area in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It explores how a landscape approach can contribute to regenerating a decrepit residential district, proposing to add productive functions to unused green areas and meaningless landscapes to enhance the community's economic and social elements.
CommunityPolicyClimate changeFostering behaviour change to encourage low-carbon food consumption through community gardens
2017Ju Eun Kim · International Journal of Urban Sciences · United Kingdom (London)
This empirical research evaluated the role of London's community gardens in promoting participants' environmentally friendly food consumption patterns, thereby lowering London's foodprint. An online survey was circulated to 95 community gardens in London, with 48 gardeners responding, complemented by semi-structured interviews. The study confirmed that the timespan of community garden participation is not an absolute indicator of low-carbon food consumption choices, while identifying experiential and social learning as key aspects promoting gardeners' behavioral change.
CommunityClimate changeFood educationHealth