Research & reports

E S Iriani · · Indonesia (Malang)

This research used a deep interview method with Kampung 3G's management in Blimbing, Malang, Indonesia, to study its transformation from a flood-prone slum to an educational vacation village over five years. The study found that strict policy implementation, including punishments for policy breaches, and citizen engagement in programs like urban farming, led to environmental improvements and changes in citizen character. These changes upgraded citizen income through the emergence of micro-small-medium businesses, and Kampung 3G's programs became a reference for other areas, earning it multiple awards.

Tallyrand Moreira Jorcelino, Getúlio Francisco Silva, Jorge Alfredo Cerqueira Streit · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (São Sebastião/DF)

A qualitative, exploratory-descriptive research was conducted at the Girassol Community Garden in São Sebastião/DF, Brazil. The study aimed to collect educational data from garden members through non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis, intending to contribute to public policy formulation. Main results showed that 62.5% of Girassol Community Garden members had incomplete elementary school, 25% had completed high school, and 12.5% had incomplete high school. The conclusions identified a necessity for access to schooling in youth and adult education segments, and for knowledge relevant to environmental education and the work they develop in the garden.

Livia Marques Brandolt, Vitória Aparecida Porto Lima, Josimar Rodrigues Oliveira, Flaviana Tavares Vieira Teixeira · Revista UFG · Brazil (Diamantina)

In Diamantina, Brazil, the "University Garden: planting science and reducing inequalities" project was implemented at the Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM). The project aimed to create a more sustainable university environment through a community garden, involving undergraduate students to reduce retention and dropout rates. Approximately 87.5% of the project team members improved their Academic Performance Coefficient (CRA), suggesting that participation in university projects positively contributes to maintaining or improving academic performance.

Anja Seifert, Stefan Rogge · · Germany (Berlin)

The Bibliothek Tiergarten Sud, a library in central Berlin, has been transforming since 2013 with neighborhood volunteers focusing on a DIY philosophy, including urban gardening, after overcoming financial struggles. With EU funding, the library is establishing itself as a community center, offering diverse activities like a Repair Cafe and gardening information sessions. It also features Germany's first "Leih-Samerei" in a public library, allowing patrons to borrow home-grown seeds from local gardens.

A. Silva, Clara Costa Oliveira · RepositóriUM (Universidade do Minho) · Portugal

A community intervention process "Semear para Educar" was implemented with adults, predominantly of Roma ethnicity, within an existing community garden project at a non-governmental institution in northern Portugal. This project utilized participatory action research methodology, aiming to contribute to the integral formation of individuals in this garden and consequently improve their quality of life through non-formal education.

Fernanda Emanuele Silva Costa, Natália Sant’Anna de Medeiros, Iana de Oliveira Carneiro · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil

This project, implemented in 2016 at EEEFM Professora Juraci Machado in Serra, Brazil, established a school garden with agroecological practices. With the help of students, teachers, and the local community, the project cultivated four species of unconventional food plants, four medicinal plants, and two fruit trees, plus two leguminous species for nitrogen fixation. The initiative aims to promote agroecological experiences and has already shown improvements in students' teamwork, cooperation, and appreciation for school spaces.

Galvis Rivera, Andrea Natalia · · Colombia (Bogotá)

This paper proposes the development of a virtual educational tool to promote urban agriculture practices among students participating in the Environmental Social Service (SSA) program at the Bogotá Botanical Garden. The proposal follows a diagnostic instrument to characterize students' prior knowledge of urban agriculture, which has been a focus of Bogotá's development plans since 2004 to ensure food security and promote sustainable agriculture. The Botanical Garden leads environmental education processes with community actors and social service students.

Fikret ALINCAK, Mehmet Ali Öztürk, Tuğba TURAK · The Online Journal of Recreation and Sport · Turkey (Gaziantep)

This study investigated the pedagogical expectations of 25 classroom teachers in Gaziantep, Turkey, regarding playgrounds in school gardens, using open-ended questions and content analysis. The findings revealed that teachers perceived school gardens as inadequate and unsuitable for students' levels, and considered the areas unreliable. Teachers concluded that playgrounds should be wide, have diverse game tools, be educational, and have corrected ground for student safety to support children's development.

Kora Uhlmann, Brenda B. Lin, Helen Ross · Sustainability · Global

This paper reviews existing literature on foodscape and biophilia to highlight the need for inter-disciplinary research combining urban agriculture and food literacy. The review suggests that emotional connection with nature benefits human wellbeing and predicts pro-environmental behaviors, and that urban agriculture can improve wellbeing and food security if the next generation has this connection and necessary life skills.

Emrah Yalçınalp, Özgür Demirci · Türk Tarım ve Doğa Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Trabzon)

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the edible plant potentials of three different urban parks in Trabzon, Turkey, by questioning users' approaches. Introducing edible landscapes in urban parks is believed to help urban residents feel closer to nature and contribute to their awareness of ecology and environmental conservation.

A. B. Juma Edwin, Omondi Paul, W. Kareri Raphael · Journal of Geography and Regional Planning · Kenya (Kakamega Town)

This study collected data from 159 urban youth farmers in Kakamega Town, Kenya, to investigate the effect of youth engagement in vegetable production on household well-being. A significant association was found between time spent on the farm and the size of the vegetable plot, with 90.5% of respondents reporting they would continue vegetable production. 34.0% reported vegetable production was 'more than adequate' and 28.9% 'adequate', and urban farming was found to contribute to the greening of the city.

Dilafruz R. Williams, Heather Brule, Sybil S. Kelley, Ellen A. Skinner · International Journal of STEM Education · United States (Portland)

This study examined the Science in the Learning Gardens (SciLG) program with 113 students and three teachers from two low-income urban middle schools in Portland, United States. Longitudinal data from 2015 measured students' motivational experiences in the garden to predict science engagement, learning, grades, and identity. Findings suggest that garden-based activities can support students' engagement and learning in science and foster long-term interest in science.

Katherine Mycock · Children s Geographies · Global

This paper explores how mud is used to form gendered and class-based identities among children aged 3–11 years old during outdoor learning. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in a school garden and two forest schools during the 2014–2015 school year. The research found that mud kitchens and waterproofs partly governed experiences by creating separations between bodies and mud, though children's encounters sometimes exceeded pedagogical functions, leading to resistances.

Taliesin Haugh · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · Global

This paper outlines a 5-year plan for the School for International Training (SIT) to enhance sustainability praxis, building on its 2018 student-led community garden project. The plan aims for SIT to become an experiential ecology center, collaborating with local NGOs and hosting permaculture programs, to address climate change and contribute to sustainable development.

Cindy Melissa Torres Peña · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Spain

"SOS Polinizadores" is an educational project aimed at fostering knowledge and study of pollinating insects in ecosystems among students, teachers, and the broader educational community, including their impact on our lives and current threats. It also seeks to raise awareness about environmental problems and the sustainability of nearby ecosystems like parks, gardens, and urban and peri-urban vegetable gardens. The project was carried out in eight educational centers in Madrid in Spring 2017, with a guide provided for future implementation in other centers.

Krista Steffen · Digital Commons - Hamline (Hamline University) · Global

This project aimed to design a language-focused curriculum for English Language Learner (ELL) students, delivered through hands-on learning in a school garden. By synthesizing research on ELL, science, and outdoor education, eight best practices were identified to guide the curriculum's development. Findings indicated that garden-based education can effectively promote language development and improve student academics for ELLs when these strategies are applied.

Estevan Leopoldo de Freitas Coca, Ricardo Barbosa · Policy Press eBooks · Brazil, Canada

This chapter analyzes school meal programs in Brazil (PNAE) and Canada (F2S BC) as sustainable alternatives to corporate dominance in the global food system. PNAE creates an institutional market for family farmers and provides local food to students, while F2S BC involves school gardens, food education, and local food incentives. The study found that PNAE has wider reach but focuses on consumption, whereas F2S BC highlights schools as growing spaces and food as a pedagogical resource.

Pernille Malberg Dyg, Karen Wistoft · Environmental Education Research · Denmark

An exploratory multiple case study in Denmark examined the "Gardens for Bellies" school garden program and its role in student wellbeing. The study indicated that the program promotes student wellbeing through positive emotions from being outdoors and positive social interactions, which seemed to affect self-esteem. While the majority of students experienced wellbeing, it is not documented whether these effects influence long-term wellbeing or planetary care, and not all students thrived in the garden's open space.

Tim Schümann · · Germany (Bad Oldesloe)

The public library of Bad Oldesloe, Germany, developed a series of events combining makerspaces, community building, urban gardening, and foodsharing. This transformed the library into a modern and creative learning space and offered its physical space as a community platform for networking, cooperation, and creativity. This initiative demonstrates an opportunity for public libraries to show relevance and develop new sustainable services.

Kelsey Wapenaar, Aideen DeSchutter · Journal of Childhood Studies · Global

This paper consists of a series of moments evolving from an inquiry with a community garden plot, involving children's, educators', and families' experimentations and processes of "coming to know" the garden. Through this inquiry, it was found that a community garden is open to a plurality of possibilities. This entangled process of coming to know engages the imaginary and involves layers of touching, hearing, seeing, drawing, talking, writing, and storying the garden.

Renee Raiden Boyer, Ben Chapman · VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) · Global

This handbook outlines recommended agricultural practices for food safety in school and community gardens. Topics include food safety, site selection, pesticides and fertilizers, handwashing, water and irrigation, composting, garden design and animals, sanitation, and tools.

Nanik Furoidah, Muhammad Juhan · Prosiding Semnas PPM 2018 · Indonesia

This PKM activity aimed to empower PKK groups in RT 45 and RT 46, Dawuhan Lor Village, Sukodono, Lumajang, through urban farming to achieve economic productivity and family food security. The program provided soft skill training in urban farming, hydroponics, and portable cultivation, resulting in an approximately 80% increase in partners' urban farming knowledge, an approximately 80% increase in portable agriculture and composting skills, and a 40% increase in hydroponic skills. Consequently, about 15% of family fresh food needs could be met through self-cultivation, and family food security cadres capable of initiating sustainable urban farming activities were formed.

Beatriz Doris Laury Dzib Moo, Sandra Patricia Dzib Moo, Gerardo González García · · Mexico (Villahermosa)

This study aims to help residents of Colonia Linda Vista in Villahermosa, Tabasco, understand the importance of implementing home gardens, targeting 7,500 inhabitants with a sample of 30 households. The primary objective of this first phase is to assist residents in comprehending the significance of urban gardens as an alternative to improve family nutrition and economy. The introduction of urban gardens is particularly emphasized due to the lack of parks and gardens for the residents in this area.

マリコ ソヤ, ミチコ コバヤシ, Mariko Soya, Michiko KOBAYASHI · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Niiza)

In Niiza City, the development of processed local vegetables is not advanced. This research matched the needs of Niiza City with the seeds of a university, leading to the industry-government-academia collaboration for the development of a "carrot dressing" using Niiza City's certified autumn-winter carrots. Students from the Department of Food and Nutrition were involved from cultivation to prototyping and design, resulting in manufacturing in March 2017 and sales in April through collaboration with local companies.

Davide Fassi, Alessandro Sachero, Giulia Simeone · IDEA JOURNAL · Italy

This paper reviews Coltivando, a convivial garden at Politecnico di Milano, which serves as a design research project and a social and educational experiment. It brings together neighbors and design students to meet, cultivate, and share skills. The review analyzes the project's context, outputs, innovation, process, obstacles, impact, user needs, transferability, and dissemination.