Research & reports

Sylvie Lardon, Salma Loudiyi · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · France

Set against the mid-21st-century demographic challenge, in which urban growth projections toward 2050 raise alarms over cities' food security, food sovereignty, and the sustainability of increasingly fragile territorial food systems, a French essay questions our capacity to think through change and devise new modes of action. The available abstract is truncated at this point and provides no further detail.

Rebecca Bramall · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · United Kingdom

An essay (United Kingdom) centered on a 2007 allotment project - a "victory garden" set up in St James's Park, London, by the Imperial War Museum London with the Royal Parks - that traces connections between the Second World War "Dig for Victory" campaign and contemporary discourses of sustainability and austerity. Focusing on urban agricultural projects, it considers how austerity discourse might shape British consumers' understanding of agricultural systems and the formation of consuming subjects.

Monique Poulot · Bulletin de l Association de géographes français · France

Drawing on examples from the Île-de-France region and elsewhere in France, this piece discusses urban and peri-urban agriculture. It frames urban and peri-urban agriculture — once considered marginal and destined to disappear — as now an issue for both the sustainable city and sustainable agriculture, noting that most visions of the post-carbon 'city of tomorrow' describe a city made up of a concentration of compact urbanized zones alongside landscape fragments, each serving specific urban functions.

Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues, Diana Peixinho, Sílvia Nobre, Paula Sara Teixeira de Oliveira, Margarida Arrobas · · Europe

Noting that, in developing countries and in developed countries during periods of economic depression, creating land for urban agriculture has served as a politically significant instrument to strengthen food security and ease poverty and unemployment, and that more recent urban agriculture projects in developed-country cities aim to enhance social activity and quality of life, this paper reports on the "social gardens" project run by the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), Portugal, since 2011. It reports on some practices with high agroecological significance adopted by the gardeners, namely organic fertilization, composting, mulching, intercropping, and shelter systems.

Vesna Popović, Jelena Živanović Miljković · Institute of Agricultural Economics eBooks · Europe

A study analyzing trends in community gardening in Europe, with particular focus on Belgrade, Serbia, in relation to permaculture design principles. It notes that while intensive urban agriculture carries ecological risks related to soil, water, air, climate, biodiversity, and landscape, citizens seeking healthy food and closer contact with nature are turning toward extensive, often organic, forms of urban agriculture such as community gardening based on permaculture design, and it discusses the role of such gardening in smart-city development and its establishment potential in Belgrade.

Malin Arvidson, Fergus Lyon, Stephen McKay, Domenico Moro · Voluntary Sector Review, Vol.4 No.1, pp.3-18 (Policy Press) · United Kingdom

A paper analysing how social return on investment (SROI) is used in the United Kingdom to conceptualise, measure and communicate the achievements of social enterprises and charities. It examines the quantification of benefits, the valuing of volunteering, and the ways judgement and discretion are exercised within an SROI exercise. It identifies a particular tension between the participatory element in designing each exercise and the use of its results for competitive funding, and proposes a research agenda on the contexts in which that discretion is applied. Abstract only was consulted.

Marit 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.

Susan 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.

Eva 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.

David 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.

I. 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.

Kate 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.

J. 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.

Chiara 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.

Coline 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.

Katrin 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.

Ashley 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.

Paul. 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.

Johannes 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.

Barbara 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.

Madlyne 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.

Gillean 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.

Zbigniew Ziembik, Agnieszka Dołhańczuk-Śródka, Grzegorz Kusza · Proceedings of ECOpole · Poland

Soil samples were collected from the former "Piast" cement plant within Opole city borders, Poland, and nearby allotment gardens to study radioisotope activity concentrations. Naturally occurring radioisotopes and artificial Cs were found, with K and Cs showing the biggest radioactivity concentration. No significant differences in radionuclide activities were found between soil samples from the former industrial estate and the allotment gardens.

Lorena Rocca, Giovanni Donadelli, Sonia Ziliotto · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · Italy (Padua)

The "Small steps of Agenda 21" project in the "J. Mirò" nursery school in Padua, Italy, engaged children in participatory planning for their school garden. Children actively improved the garden, fostering awareness of community discussion and participation. The project demonstrated that children improved their sense of inclusiveness and responsibility.

Jan-Eelco Jansma, W. Sukkel, E.S.C. Stilma, Alex C. van Oost, A.J. de Visser · · Netherlands (Almere)

This case study in the Dutch city of Almere calculated that 6,200 hectares of conventional farming land (or 8,100 hectares for organic production) are needed to produce approximately 20% of the daily food basket for 350,000 future citizens. Local production reduces greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 27,000 tonnes/year, a relatively small reduction as most products are already produced in the Netherlands. The study emphasizes that other aspects, such as food basket composition, local food distribution system redesign, consumer behavior, and fossil energy use reduction, must be considered for reducing food miles, fossil energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.