Research & reports

Sophie 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.

Jen 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.

Bethaney 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.

Christian 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.

Charlotte Siiger · European Journal of Public Health · Denmark (Copenhagen)

The "Green Sustainable Communities" project in Copenhagen, Denmark, developed social gastronomy methods to empower lower socio-economic households with sustainable, healthy, and affordable cooking practices. Interventions included community meals, gardening, and food courses, utilizing surplus fruits, vegetables, and affordable legumes. These initiatives promoted affordable, climate-friendly, and healthy diets, increasing social wellbeing and improving nutrition.

Puteri Sidrotul Nabihah Saarani, Siti Nur Aishah Mohd Noor, Zailawati Khalid2, Asniza Hamimi Abdul Tharim, Asmalia Che Ahmad, Norhafizah Abdul Rahman, Mohamad Haizam Mohamed Saraf · International Journal of Business and Technology Management · Malaysia

This paper aimed to develop a conceptual framework for Life Cycle Cost (LCC) in the context of smart urban farming through an in-depth literature review. Employing the Iceberg Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model, the conceptual framework for Smart UF LCC components was divided into acquisition cost and hidden cost. This framework assists in decision-making by providing a holistic view of the costs involved in a project or investment.

Una Smilgaine · Aktuālās problēmas literatūras un kultūras pētniecībā rakstu krājums · Latvia (Riga)

This article explores the environmental issues reflected in the experience stories of 16 gardeners and locals on Lucavsala island, Riga, collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, audio recordings, and photography in 2021. Gardeners expressed environmental awareness through narratives about the island's geography, gardening practices, and environmental quality, with acquiring and managing a garden being a prominent theme. Despite mentions of waste, the environmental quality of Lucavsala was generally judged to be relatively high, with fresh air, peace, and quiet being important indicators.

Anisja Tarchahani, Jacqueline Loos · World Development Sustainability · Lebanon

This study analyzed the livelihood effects of rooftop urban agriculture for 10 Palestinian women in Ein El-Hilweh Camp, Lebanon, using a mixed-method approach combining document analysis and a survey. Findings suggest that rooftop urban agriculture contributes considerably to more sustainable livelihoods for Palestinian women and their families by enabling them to develop natural and human capital, increasing food security, and protecting natural resources. It is a low-threshold tool that enhances refugees' well-being over the medium term.

Svetlana Hristova-Vladi · Postmodernism Problems · Bulgaria

The book "Urban Agriculture for Improving the Quality of Life. Examples from Bulgaria," edited by Donna Pickard, explores the real versus potential effects of urban agriculture on the welfare of urban and nearby communities. This multidisciplinary study analyzes the interplay between urban agriculture practices and quality of life through social, educational, economic, spatial, and ecological aspects. It also delves into the historical dimension of urban agriculture in Bulgaria, including examples from Sofia in the 1930s.

Miriam Williams, Lillian Tait · · Australia (Sydney)

This chapter reflects on how attention to care helps understand the hopes and troubles shaping Community Food Initiatives (CFIs) in unequal worlds. Drawing on data from a 2019 research project documenting CFIs across metropolitan Sydney, Australia, the chapter analyzes two initiatives: the Addison Road Community Centre Organisation (ARCCO) Food Pantry and Five Serves Produce Community Support Agriculture Scheme (CSA). The analysis reveals expansive communities involving human and non-human others that are cared for, cared about, and cared with CFIs, highlighting the complexities of care in unequal contexts.

Triya Tessa Ramburn, Yufei Mandy Wu, Rachel Kronick · International Journal of Migration Health and Social Care · Global

A narrative review analyzed 17 peer-reviewed and 4 grey literature articles up to 2021 to document psychosocial outcomes of gardening programs for refugees and migrants. The analysis found that community gardening programs promoted continuity and adaptation (81% of articles), social connectedness (81%), overall wellbeing (95%), and a sense of meaning and self-worth (67%). Community gardens can strengthen psychosocial pillars for the recovery and resettlement of refugees and migrants.

Helena Hansen, Kevin J. Gutierrez, S. López García · Daedalus · Global

This essay draws on Frantz Fanon's insights into the sociogenesis of psychiatric disorders and feminist standpoint theory to map a path toward sociogenic mental health. It argues that psychiatry should shift from iatrogenesis, the harms of current individual-level and pathologizing approaches, toward the sociogenesis of mental health through robust collaboration with social movements of oppressed people and their collective healing approaches, including community gardens. The essay concludes by outlining a reinvented, community-collaborative psychiatry that supports sociogenesis.

Emelie Larsson, Katarina Giritli Nygren · Journal of Risk Research · Global

This study analyzed strategy documents and municipal website information to examine how municipalities frame urban gardening as a risk-reduction strategy, using critical discourse analysis. It identified two discourses: an eco(no)logical risk discourse addressing ecological risks within a capitalist market logic, and a social risk discourse focusing on gardening for work training. The findings reveal that top-down urban garden initiatives highlight contemporary inequalities in urban spaces.

Deni Permana · ANTASENA Governance and Innovation Journal · Global

This analysis evaluated the impact of school garden programs on students' nutritional status and nutritious food intake, using surveys, interviews, and nutritional status measurements before and after program implementation. School gardens positively impacted students' nutrition knowledge and increased fresh fruit and vegetable consumption, contributing to a reduction in malnutrition prevalence with significant increases in children's weight and height. However, the program's success was constrained by budget limitations and a lack of training for educators, highlighting the need for adequate training, stable financial support, and curriculum integration.

Karolina Zubel · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Jordan

This policy paper explores the potential of urban farming in Jordan to address pressing issues of food security, climate-induced risks, and socioeconomic vulnerability in urban centers. Urban farming is identified as a crucial solution to feed vulnerable groups, enhance cities' resilience and employment opportunities, act as a center for community engagement and youth education, and provide ecological benefits. The paper also examines stakeholders' perceptions, beneficiaries, inclusivity in decision-making processes, and governance challenges related to urban farm development.

Laura Amelia López, Juan Pablo Ayala, Nicoll Yeliltza Parra, Adriana Alejandra Vargas, Juan Sebastián González, John Manuel Silva · Encuentro de Ciencias Básicas · Colombia (Bogotá)

This study presents a project by students from the Catholic University of Colombia, focusing on community-oriented urban agriculture to promote food security in vulnerable populations. An experimental strategy was used, employing a vertical module with an ESP 32 board and sensors to observe variables such as temperature, humidity, and pH. Prototype development, device design, and the production and growth of Batavia lettuce seedlings were achieved, followed by field piloting of the sensor application in community urban farming modules.

Abigail M. Decker, Scott A. Morrison · The Journal of Environmental Education · Global

An exploratory study examined how gender is communicated, experienced and constructed in nature-based education (NBE), based on 30 hours of fieldwork at one private outdoor preschool and two public elementary school garden clubs. The analysis identified four sites where gender socialization occurs in NBE: materials, spaces, conversations and educators. While gender-coded human-made objects tend to be fewer outdoors, the study argues that environmental educators must be intentional and explicit about curating a gender-decoded learning space, recognizing how gender is constructed by and for children and communicated and experienced, and must foster understandings of gender beyond the binary.

Nasreen Khan, Teck Chai Lau, Booi Chen Tan · Food Research · Global

A qualitative content analysis examining social entrepreneurship and adoption factors behind smart urban farming among elderly people. Interviews were conducted via purposive sampling and analyzed using the framework method, drawing on diffusion of innovation theory and the theory of planned behavior. It found that positive attitudes and positive social influence increase adoption of smart urban farming, that using technology can help elderly farmers continue farming, and that effective social entrepreneurship involvement - providing information and technical advice - influenced adoption. Ease of use was the most important adoption factor, with attitude and subjective norms also shown to be influential.

H. J. Kim, Won-Suk Oh, Jin-Gun Kim, Won-Sop Shin · Healthcare · Global

Ninety participants were divided into experimental and control groups and took part in 16 biweekly urban gardening sessions from May to November 2022 to test effects on perceived restorativeness, resilience, sense of community, and stress reduction. Using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Sense of Community Index, Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument, and salivary cortisol testing, the study found that urban gardening activities positively influenced participants' physiological and psychological responses.

Winalyn Denzon, Meraflor C. Estose, Krysha Camille Villanueva, Joa H. Jao · Multidisciplinary Science Journal · Global

A descriptive study surveyed 50 randomly selected respondents from designated areas on their acceptability of a container gardening program designed for BTVTED (technical-vocational teacher education) students, to gauge whether it could serve as a food augmentation strategy. Analysis using means and standard deviations found most participants were female, and acceptability was highest on the economic dimension — producing one's own food, generating income and supplying household subsistence. The researchers recommended that local governments run education campaigns to expand participation in container gardening.

Muradiye Ateş · Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi · Global

A qualitative study on the role of social innovation in poverty alleviation and sustainable development examined two cases — the KIVA microcredit system and community-supported agriculture — assessing each for innovativeness, sustainability, social impact, target audience, and institutional structure. It concluded that both cases contribute to poverty reduction and regional development in terms of these dimensions.

Samah El Khateeb, Mariam Saber, Indjy M. Shawket · Ain Shams Engineering Journal · Egypt

A 2023 study by researchers at Ain Shams University, Egypt, asking how gender roles shape small-scale home gardening — which spread during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in low- and middle-income communities — and whether the benefits are distributed equally between men and women or skewed towards one gender. The team ran a quantitative survey and tested its hypotheses using WarpPLS (partial least squares structural equation modelling) to examine the relationships between gender, gardening activities and the benefits obtained. The authors pose the equal-versus-skewed distribution of benefits as an explicit research question and frame the results as material for urban authorities seeking to create a fair and inclusive environment. The abstract does not specify sample size, sampling method or the cities covered, and the cross-sectional design does not establish causation.

Gray T., Tracey D., Truong S., Ward K. · Local Environment, 27(5):570-585 · Australia

A mixed-methods study of 42 social-housing residents across six new community garden sites in Sydney. Participants reported greater health and wellbeing awareness, new interest in growing fresh food, shared produce and recipes, happiness, and frequent socialization and community connectedness.

Krols J., Aerts R., Vanlessen N., Dewaelheyns V., Dujardin S., Somers B. · Landscape and Urban Planning · Belgium (Flanders)

A cross-sectional study of 587 domestic garden owners in Flanders and Brussels found that nature relatedness and neighbourhood green space quality were associated with reduced stress and depression, while socioeconomic security was an independent protective factor.

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.