Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
7626 results(68 / 306)
Rewriting the Erased History of Blacks in New Orleans Urban Gardening and Farming
2024Pamela Arnette Broom, Yuki Kato, Shawn “Pepper” Roussel · Humanity & Society · United States
This article examines the history of urban gardening by Black communities in New Orleans, United States. It uses oral history to complement official documentation, demonstrating that Black New Orleanians historically grew their own food for collective efficacy and to pass on horticultural knowledge. The study notes that most new gardens since 2010 lack cultural and social connection to this history.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyآليات مقترحة للتغلب علي معوقات الدور التربوي لمدارس التعليم المجتمعي في ضوء بعض الاتجاهات المعاصرة " دراسة تحليلية "
2024كريمة على حسن محمد, سوزان يوسف أبو الفضل, عزه أحمد صادق على · Journal of Educational Sciences - Qena Faculty of Education · Global
A study using a descriptive approach identified obstacles to the educational role of community education schools. Findings revealed obstacles across educational (e.g., low student achievement), social (e.g., low encouragement of community initiatives), cultural (e.g., low cultural level of staff), technological (e.g., lack of computer teachers), economic (e.g., weak family economic level), health (e.g., weak attention to a healthy school environment), and recreational roles (e.g., lack of school gardens).
Governance failureFood educationCommunityHealthUtopías concretas entre lo rural y lo urbano. Iniciativas comunitarias de agricultura urbana
2024Ion Martínez Lorea · Revista Española de Sociología · Spain (Pamplona)
This article uses Henri Lefebvre's concept of concrete utopia to analyze the practices of community urban gardens in Pamplona-Iruña, Spain. It interrogates their potential and limitations in responding to various situations of social vulnerability and rethinking the relationship between the rural and the urban.
Limited or null effectCommunityUrban–rural linkageWelfareExploring human appreciation and perception of spontaneous urban fauna in Paris, France
2024Chloé Duffaut, Florence Brondeau, Julien Gasparini · Cybergeo · France (Paris)
A questionnaire survey of 200 individuals in Paris, France, from May 2017 to March 2018, assessed the appreciation and perception of pigeons, rats, and hedgehogs in various urban locations. The study found clear differences in appreciation based on species and perceived usefulness, with rats disliked (2.2/10), hedgehogs liked (7.7/10), and pigeons receiving mixed reactions (4.7/10). Age, gender, education, or survey location were not decisive factors.
CommunityBiodiversityEnhancing Public Open Spaces: Exploring the Interplay of Perception, Safety and Security
2024Mayank Kaushal · · Global
This study investigates the relationship between urban form, perceptions of safety and security, and their influence on the utilization of public open spaces, including community gardens. It employs qualitative and quantitative methodologies, such as interviews, surveys, and observational analysis, to collect data on individuals' perceptions, experiences, and usage patterns. The research explores factors contributing to perceived safety and security and investigates strategies like urban design modifications and community engagement to improve these perceptions and enhance urban livability.
CommunityHealthPolicyINOVASI PEMERINTAH DAERAH KOTA TANGERANG DALAM PENINGKATAN KETAHANAN PANGAN (STUDI KASUS PADA DINAS KETAHANAN PANGAN KOTA TANGERANG)
2024Nurmiftah Fauzi, Titi Stiawati, Arenawati Arenawati · Kebijakan Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi · Indonesia (Tangerang)
The Tangerang City Food Security Agency implemented a 1000-plant hydroponic assistance program as part of an urban farming initiative to strengthen food security. This qualitative phenomenological study used Rogers' innovation attributes theory to evaluate the program's relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Results indicated the program provided economic benefits and spiritual satisfaction, and was compatible with existing values and food needs, but found room for improvement in the complexity aspect.
PolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityNutritional Quality of Vegetables From Malaysian Urban Community Farming
2024Mohd Nazrul Hisham Daud, Mohd Lip Jabit, Norhasni Ramli, Nur Syafini Ghazali, Joanna Cho Lee Ying, Azirah Omar · Bioresources and Environment · Malaysia
This study evaluated the nutritional quality of various vegetables from established Malaysian urban community farming. Analysis measured sugar content, gross energy, vitamin A, vitamin C, and twelve minerals (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Zn) using HPLC, calorimeter bomb analyzer, and ICP-OES. Results showed all vegetables contained at least two common sugars, with five possessing all targeted sugars, and gross energy ranged from 2900 to 3800 joule/g. Pak choy and sawi exhibited the highest vitamin A and C content respectively, while spinach showed the largest number of highest mineral types including boron, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus.
HealthCommunityEconomics从自然疗愈到社会修复——公共健康视角下社区花园的疗愈价值探索
2024悦来 刘, 安锌 周 · Landscape Architecture · China
To explore the healing value of community gardens from a public health perspective, a study was conducted on four projects. Through literature review and questionnaire surveys, it was shown that community gardens promote individual healing, group therapy, and the repair and reconstruction of social relationships. This effect is realized through a three-layer mechanism: natural output services and physical space creation, individual physiological and psychological healing, and social relationship repair through community network building.
CommunityHealthWelfareA Polycentric Vision for Governing the Urban Food Commons
2024Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah · Urban agriculture · Global
This chapter examines alternative governance visions for urban agriculture, or urban food commons (UFCs), through the lens of polycentric governance. It argues that UFCs require a mix of institutional arrangements, including centralized, decentralized, market, cooperative, and command-and-control models, rather than a single approach. Four institutional design parameters are outlined to guide this polycentric vision: multiple decision centers, cross-scale and cross-sector interactions, an overarching rule system, and rule adaptability, exemplified by Chicago's NeighborSpace.
PolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceTowards Urban Forest Restoration in the City of Bukavu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: Residents' Perceptions
2024Legrand Cirimwami, Fabrice Kibingani, Clérisse M. Casinga · Journal of Environment · Africa
A study of Bukavu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (more than 1.6 million inhabitants in 60 km², driven by rural exodus due to insecurity), examining residents' perceptions of deforestation to inform policy on urban forest restoration. Researchers sampled and interviewed 210 informants, 70 each in the communes of Kadutu, Ibanda, and Bagira. Findings show 85% of informants favour restoring green spaces, and at least 72.9% recognise green spaces as important for air purification, environmental improvement, ornamentation, erosion control, biodiversity conservation, and food production from fruit trees. 81.9% agreed that vegetation cover has decreased, especially since the 2000s, mainly due to rural exodus and unregulated housing construction. 87.1% see themselves as the main beneficiaries of green spaces and blame government as the main destroyer of green spaces that should also be the main actor in restoring them, while acknowledging some of their own responsibility, though less than government's. For restoration, 51.7% suggested tree-planting initiatives, favouring Eucalyptus, Cupressus lusitanica, and ornamental and medicinal trees, with awareness-raising and planned urbanisation also proposed as strategies.
CommunityPolicyExploring the Role of Urban Agriculture in Indonesia’s Socio-Economic and Environmental Landscape: A Systematic Literature Review
2024Aji Saputra, Oekan S. Abdoellah, Gemilang Lara Utama · Jurnal Ilmu Lingkungan · Indonesia
A systematic literature review aiming to identify the methods used for sustainable urban agriculture in Indonesia and to assess the main opportunities and challenges of using it to achieve environmental, social, and economic goals. Using the PRISMA method, the review screened articles from the Scopus database and analysed 25 studies on the relationship between urban agriculture and sustainability. It reports that urban agriculture offers economic, social, and environmental benefits within sustainable urban environments, and concludes that realising its full potential requires coordinated efforts through policy development, community involvement, and overcoming existing obstacles.
CommunityEconomicsHealthPolicyPublic Urban Agriculture Equipment: A Tool for Fair and Sustainable Food Policies? Potager du Roi and Cité Maraîchère, Two French Case Studies
2024Véronique Saint-Gès, Bethsabée Warin, Antoine Jacobsohn · Sustainability · France
A study of two French public urban farms, the Potager du Roi in Versailles and the Cité Maraîchère in Romainville, using the concept of the triple-layered business model to examine their sustainability strategy through empirical case-study research. The evaluation of their economic, social, and environmental impacts shows their dependence on multiple interlinked public policies, and points to the justification for significant, recurring public funding on grounds of general interest.
PolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityEconomicsCross-sectoral collaborations between nonprofit organizations and businesses: implications for organizations providing mental health rehabilitation services
2024Noga Pitowsky‐Nave, Michal Almog‐Bar, Hillel Schmid · Social Work in Mental Health · Global
This paper presents a case study of a community garden in Israel that emerged from a collaboration between a Social Service Nonprofit Organization (SSNO) providing mental health rehabilitation services and a real-estate business firm. Based on interviews with key figures, onsite observations, and document analysis, it examined the inter-organizational dynamics of this collaboration and its benefits and challenges for the SSNO and its service users. The results show that collaborating with a business can offer SSNOs benefits in financial resources and volunteers, but also involves difficulties, which were intensified in the context of a mental-health-focused SSNO.
WelfareHealthCommunityA process evaluation of a randomized-controlled trial of community gardening to improve health behaviors and reduce stress and anxiety
2024Eva Coringrato, Katherine Alaimo, Jenn A. Leiferman, Angel Villalobos, Hannah Buchenau, Erin Decker, Lara Fahnestock, Pallas Quist, Jill Litt · Scientific Reports · United States
A process evaluation of the Community Activation for Prevention (CAPS) randomized controlled trial assessed implementation of a nine-month community gardening intervention in the United States using semi-structured interviews, direct observation of garden sites, and an exit survey. The trial enrolled 291 participants (19% non-white, 34% Hispanic/Latino, 58% with income under $50,000/year); among 145 assigned to gardening, 97 (67%) gardened the full season with a median visit time of 90 minutes per week, and of the 48% who completed the exit survey, 89% reported high satisfaction. Garden social events were offered at 73% of gardens but attended by only 48% of intervention participants; the evaluation concluded the intervention was delivered with high fidelity.
CommunityHealthWelfareEvaluasi Keberlanjutan Urban Farming di Kampung Ngemplak Sutan, Kota Surakarta
2024Fauziyyah Nur Rachmadillah, Mochamad Yusuf · Jurnal Teknik ITS · Indonesia
In Kampung Ngemplak Sutan (Kampung Sayur Organik), Surakarta, Indonesia, sustainability of the local urban farming initiative was evaluated using primary data from observation, questionnaires and interviews plus secondary data, analyzed with Multidimensional Scaling and Rapid Appraisal for Sustainability (MDS/RAPS). The socio-cultural dimension scored highest at 75.44 ("very sustainable"), while the economic dimension scored lowest at 56.71 ("fairly sustainable"); the study also noted that urban farming there functions mainly as a side activity that receives limited attention and that community participation has been declining.
Limited or null effectCommunityPolicyIdentifikasi Sumber Belajar Lokal untuk Mendukung Inovasi Pembelajaran Biologi
2024Siti Nurhidayati · Panthera Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Sains dan Terapan · Indonesia
In Mataram City and West Lombok Regency, Indonesia, researchers used observation and interviews with teachers and students to identify local learning resources available for high school biology teaching. They found potential resources including school gardens, city parks, urban forests, coastal areas and local agro-tourism sites, and reported that using these resources increased student interest and motivation and made lessons more contextual, while also noting continuing challenges in implementation.
Food educationCommunityReflections on the production of space and justice: A study of everyday life of the SuoJincun's guerrilla gardeners
2024Shuyue He, Ming Li, Yuhan Zheng, Xin Gao, Ruixia Wang · Cities · China
An ethnographic study of two guerrilla gardening cases in Nanjing, China (SuoJincun), examined how residents produce differentiated representational space in daily gardening practice. It found that gardening carries social value as material production, functions as a material carrier of place attachment and cultural identity, offers access to nature and culture for residents with limited mobility, and operates as a form of private appropriation and recycling of collective public space by residents.
CommunityDIYPolicyThe Roots and Vaccine of the City
2024Annabel Nyole, Daphne Randall, Naserian Saruni · The Journal of Public Space · Africa
A 2024 photo essay on youth-led public space initiatives in Nairobi, Kenya; Kampala, Uganda; Freetown, Sierra Leone; and Harare, Zimbabwe. Using empirical data, it documents youth revitalizing local economies through urban farming and income diversification, and acting as stewards of green spaces in ways that enhance urban vitality, social connection, and well-being. It also reports that youth are extending their engagement into the digital sphere, advocating for internet access in public spaces as a socio-economic right.
CommunityHealthWelfareDiálogos entre a formação omnilateral e a educação ambiental crítica com estudantes do nível básico
2024Alessandro Silva de Oliveira, Gustavo Carvalho da Rocha Lima Martins, Gonzalo Oviedo, Lucas José de Oliveira Gomes · Revista Tecnia · Brazil
A 2024 paper reports on an educational practice with elementary school students at a community garden at IFG-Anápolis, Brazil, framed around "omnilateral formation" and critical environmental education. Through periodic visits, workshops, and discussion sessions, the practice addressed problems arising from the use and consumption of pesticides in food. It reports that the critical environmental education approach was significant in revealing the latent meanings behind an agribusiness food market based on unrestrained pesticide use.
Environmental trade-offsFood educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHorticultural Therapy Practice as Ecological Activism
2024Yunus Kara · Journal of Turkish Therapeutic Horticulture · Global
A 2024 literature review examines the relationship between horticultural therapy and ecological activism. It positions horticultural therapy as a means of ecological activism that can enhance individuals' environmental awareness while relating to improvements in mental and physical health, describing it as a practice that raises quality of life through interaction with plants and immersion in nature and supports understanding of ecosystems and the adoption of sustainable lifestyles. It identifies future research directions including examining effects across different age groups and communities, long-term impacts, and applications within community gardens.
CommunityHealthWelfareImproving Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Science Teaching Self-Efficacy through Garden-Based Technology Integration
2024Erin Ingram, Patricia Wonch Hill, Dena Harshbarger, Jenny Keshwani · Education Sciences · Global
A 2024 study examines the impact of the "Garden TOOLS" garden-based technology integration program on science teaching self-efficacy among 39 elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) enrolled in a 300-level science methods course in the rural Midwest, US. Using the STEBI-B instrument to measure change in personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) and science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE) before and after the intervention, it found that participants in the Garden TOOLS professional development workshops showed a statistically significant increase in PSTE from pre- to post-workshop, and that participants who also implemented the Garden TOOLS lesson in practicum showed increases in both PSTE and STOE.
Food educationCommunityDigital agriculturePersist or Perish. The Dynamics of Irrigated Agriculture in Urbanising Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
2024Matthijs T. Wessels, Shaaban M. Mgana · Urban Forum · Tanzania
Based on ethnographic research in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — one of the fastest-urbanizing cities in sub-Saharan Africa — this study examines how farmers configure their day-to-day agricultural practices amid urban change. Contrary to narratives that present agriculture as passive in the face of urban growth, it describes farmers building networks of provision through informal access to land and water, supplying food and employment while actively co-shaping the city. Farmers adapt their strategies in response to land pressure and water resource degradation. The paper argues that better representation of urban farmers and irrigated agriculture in urban planning and governance would reduce uncertainty and risk for both farmers and the wider city.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsSummary
2024Ada Górna · · Global
This chapter summarizes research conducted for a book comparing urban agriculture in three cities — Havana, Singapore, and Kigali. It presents a structured comparative analysis identifying similarities and differences among these Global South cities across four facets: distribution characteristics, internal structural/production and organizational/technical features, distribution methods, and functions fulfilled. It also identifies universal attributes of urban agriculture that recur independently of spatial, socioeconomic, political, and environmental conditions, along with distinctive mechanisms shaping its development, and discusses verification of the study's hypotheses, methodological challenges specific to each city, and directions for future research.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyReversing food-land relationships in the city: Insights from the Seeding East Buffalo Fellowship Program
2024Carol E. Ramos-Gerena, Allison DeHonney, Shireen Guru, Rachel Grandits, Insha Akram, Samina Raja · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This article examines the Seeding East Buffalo Fellowship (SEBF) program, co-founded by community and academic organizations in Buffalo, NY in 2022, which supported residents of Buffalo's Black neighborhoods in growing their own food, emerging as urban agriculture leaders, and engaging in urban agriculture policy advocacy. The authors, who are co-founders or team members of SEBF, draw on field notes and qualitative interviews with SEBF growers to reflect on lessons from this pilot program. Key lessons for policy change identified are that programs must be rooted in community history, pedagogical strategies must be tailored to local context, and long-term relationships must be fostered.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceFood educationDa bene pubblico a bene comune: le aree verdi come oggetto di un impegno congiunto
2024Valeria Di Martino, Gian Vito Zani · Rivista di estetica · Italy
This paper examines the distinction between public goods and common goods (commons) as understood in economics and applies it to a typical public good — urban green areas. While public goods involve openness to all and state management, commons require management that is common yet still limited; the two also differ in the kind of agent involved, with public goods presupposing an aggregate of individuals and commons presupposing a plural subject capable of acting in concert to manage the good. After exploring this distinction in detail, the paper applies it to green areas in cities and shows the theoretical advantages of a commons-based framing, including through the concrete case of community gardens.
PolicyCommunity