Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2091 results(69 / 84)
Food in the city: urban food movements and the (re)- imagining of urban spaces
2013Kristen Lyons, Carol Richards, Lotus DesFours, Marco Amati · Australian Planner · Australia (Melbourne)
Ethical food movements, including urban agriculture initiatives, are increasing in Australia. This study uses the case of Melbourne to examine how urban agriculture participants are re-imagining urban spaces and the future of Australian agriculture and food systems. It demonstrates that the politics and practices of urban food advocates challenge and resist the enclosure of urban spaces, creating new frontiers that transgress social, political, ecological, and economic boundaries.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyPoblación-Ambiente. Desarrollo y Agricultura Urbana en unMunicipio de Ciudad Habana, Cuba
2013Cabrera Trimiño, Gilberto Javier · · Cuba (Ciudad Habana)
In Cuba, urban agriculture is a movement producing food in urban spaces using local resources under ecological principles. While large cities like Havana cannot achieve food self-sufficiency, agricultural programs can enhance understanding of the population-environment-development relationship in Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America. This understanding is crucial for public policies addressing contemporary challenges like environmental vulnerability and climate change impacts.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyClimate changeCommunityUrban Gardening: espacio de creación, crÃtica social y activismo ecológico
2013Àngels Viladomiu Canela · AusArt · Global
This article reviews artistic interventions that address urban land uses and farming methods. These actions, through planting and cultivating, generate spaces for the expression of artistic, political, and social identities, often in urban interstices like abandoned lots or non-urbanized areas. The study identifies these practices as spaces for social critique and ecological activism.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyBiodiversityAsset Assessments and Community Gardens
2013Melvin Delgado, Denise Humm-Delgado · Oxford University Press eBooks · Global
Community gardens, particularly those involving food security, have become a focus for community asset assessments. Community gardens can address instrumental community needs such as food security, spaces for intergenerational and interethnic contact, and community beautification. They can also meet expressive community needs by fostering social capital bonding and bridging, providing a place for residents to gather and connect, and promoting the exchange of knowledge and abilities related to growing food across generations and cultures.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfare”Another world is plantable” : Urban activist gardeners’ communicative action
2013Heike Graf · · Global
This research discusses how urban activist gardening takes many forms and is practiced in cities worldwide. It is carried out in community gardens on vacant lots, which involves the cultivation of land considered neglected.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceSustainability through Urban Gardening
2013Sherece Burma Tami Ambury · Earth Common Journal · Global
This article explores three visions of sustainability through urban gardening at individual, community, and city levels, as visually presented by MacEwan University Design Studies students in their final documentary photography project. It details the students' project development process, including subject location and interviews, and highlights their increased awareness and interest in how urban and suburban residents can find or grow their own food.
CommunityDIYFood educationClimate changePresent Status of Rooftop Gardening in Sylhet City Corporation of Bangladesh: an Assessment Based on Ecological and Economic Perspectives
2013Md. Habibur Rahman, Mizanur Rahman, Md. Mostafa Kamal, Md. Jasim Uddin, Most. Jannatul Fardusi, Bishwajit Roy · Journal of Forest and Environmental Science · Bangladesh
This study analyzed rooftop gardening in Sylhet City Corporation, Bangladesh, from July-September 2010, collecting data from 450 gardeners. Findings showed rooftop gardening was primarily for mental satisfaction (95.3%) and leisure (87.8%), with middle-income classes most interested (43.78%). The survey recorded 53 plant species, and while few gardeners considered it commercial, cost-return analysis suggested economic viability with proper management.
DIYEconomicsCommunityBiodiversityText Twitter and tweet: Sustainability
2013Sharon McDonough · Practically primary · Australia (Melbourne)
This reflective piece explores the concept of sustainability and its connection to gardening in Melbourne, Australia. The author observes that a focus on sustainability encourages individuals to engage in personal and community gardening, including planting on nature strips. An example in Melbourne highlights neighbors collaboratively planting and caring for herbs, fostering community engagement and shared resource management.
CommunityDIYClimate change“They don't garden here”: NGO constructions of Maya gardening practices in Belize
2013Douglas Carl Reeser · Development in Practice · Belize
An analysis of an NGO school garden program in two Q'eqchi' Maya communities in southern Belize revealed challenges faced by NGOs. These challenges included issues of legitimacy, cultural appropriateness, self-interest, and constructed conceptions of their target communities, raising questions about the priority between autonomous, healthy communities and the preservation of the NGO program.
Governance failureFood educationHealthCommunityWelfareAgricultura urbana en la ciudad de Valdivia, Chile: Un proceso de asentamiento
2013Rodrigo Paúl Cabrera Verdezoto, María Oyarzún, Rodrigo A Echeverría Pezoa, Carlos A. Amtmann Moyano · Idesia · Chile (Valdivia)
This research identified factors influencing the settlement of urban agricultural enterprises in Valdivia, Chile, and characterized the profile of these entrepreneurs. A sample of 28 urban farmers, identified via snowball sampling, was surveyed. The most significant factor in the settlement process was the inclusion of previously rural areas now at the urban limits (53.57%). The average age of urban farmers was 54 years, and 61% were women.
EconomicsCommunityPrácticas de intervención en la agricultura familiar urbana mediante la articulación interinstitucional y el trabajo voluntario. El programa Pro-Huerta en la ciudad de Bahía Blanca
2013Juan José Quintero, Matías Álamo · Americanae (AECID Library) · Argentina (Bahía Blanca)
This study analyzes the role of institutional and social actors in the Pro-Huerta program, implemented by INTA in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. The program fosters community engagement through inter-institutional articulation and volunteer work, promoting organic family and community gardens in socio-economically marginalized areas like peripheral neighborhoods and schools. The research investigates the work of the NGO "Red de Voluntarios" within this program, using bibliographic information and interviews with key informants.
CommunityWelfareFood educationPolicyUrban agriculture in Bosnia: case of Sarajevo region
2013Hamid El Bilali, Siniša Berjan, Jasmina Simic, Aleksandra Despotović, Sabrija Čadro, M. Kulina · Journal of Central European Agriculture · Bosnia
This study investigated urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in the Sarajevo region of Bosnia, focusing on its legal and regulatory framework, governance, and advisory services. Information was gathered through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with 30 urban gardeners, extension agents, and municipal officers. The analysis covered UPA references in agricultural policies, extension agent focus, and urban planning regulations, concluding that UPA development requires improvements in regulatory frameworks and multi-stakeholder governance.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureCommunityEconomicsBiodiversityAgricultura urbana y el rol de la planificación de las ciudades
2013Camilo Villagrán Oyarzún, Ken Yan Qiu Sun · Revista de Urbanismo · Chile (Santiago de Chile)
This 2013 study investigated the challenges of integrating urban agriculture into Communal Regulatory Plans in Santiago de Chile. Analyzing two case studies in different metropolitan communes, the research inferred the general state of urban agriculture's inclusion in urban planning. The findings implicitly suggest difficulties in its integration, highlighting the need for improved governance in urban planning to effectively incorporate urban agriculture.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageCommunityEconomicsYouth Can! Grow Healthy: A Formative Evaluation of a Positive Youth Development Program
2013Andrew Carberry, Marsha Spence · Journal of Youth Development · Global
This paper presents a formative evaluation of an afterschool program, "Youth Can! Grow Healthy," which combined positive youth development and school garden curricula for elementary school children. The program used novel approaches to teach gardening and nutrition, and engaged children in advocacy for healthy community environments, including sessions on team building, healthy eating, and physical activity. Evaluation themes included successful youth engagement methods, social environment issues, and implications for program management, with results discussed to provide recommendations for future programs.
Food educationCommunityHealthAn Exploration of the Motivational Profile of Secondary Urban Agriculture Students
2013James C. Anderson · Journal of Agricultural Education · Global
This descriptive-correlational study examined personal factors that may affect the self-determination of 110 freshmen enrolled in an urban agriculture program. Results showed that when students perceived they had an influence in the decision to enroll in the program, they were more satisfied with that decision and more likely to report exerting moderate to high effort on agriculture-related academic tasks.
Food educationCommunityEl fenómeno de los huertos urbanos: Volver a los orígenes
2013Miguel Lorente · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Global
This paper describes the recent social movement promoting urban gardens as sources of leisure, social interaction, and healthy self-consumption food. Factors such as environmental awareness, increased unemployment, physical exercise for retirees, the pleasure of producing one's own food, and trends are contributing to the creation of small vegetable gardens in and around cities. This small-scale activity allows urban populations to discover and understand the role of agriculture.
CommunityHealthEconomicsDIYFood educationThe Yard Goes on Forever: Community Initiatives in Maintaining and Revitalizing Local Open Space
2013David Nichols, Robert Freestone · · Australia
This paper reviews efforts to utilize and manage a specific type of neighborhood greenspace in Australia, known as internal reserves. These spaces, often underutilized, have been reinvented by residents through new gardening and leisure initiatives. Three success stories in the Melbourne suburbs of Keilor, Footscray, and Reservoir are reported, identifying empowering pathways for enriching the environmental and cultural capital of a more sustainable suburban environment.
CommunityPolicyCultivating More Than Food: Where Community Gardens Fit with What Cities Do
2013Terri Evans, Christiana Miewald · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global
Community gardens and other local food initiatives are insufficient strategies to replace the quantity and efficiency provided by contemporary globalized food systems for supplying cheap food to urban populations.
Limited or null effectCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsHorticultura comunitária e construção de sistemas socioecológicos sustentáveis Community horticulture and construction of sustainable socio-ecological
2013Alessandra Pavesi, Denise de Freitas, Bárbara Pacheco Lopes · · Global
This paper reaffirms the importance of community horticulture as a tool for learning scientific and political skills essential for building sustainable and resilient Socioecological Systems (SES). It explores concepts from (Agro)Ecology and Education, reframing community and school gardens from a contextualized perspective to strengthen adaptive capacity and enable systems to respond to disruptions.
CommunityFood educationClimate changePotenciál záhrad a produkčných plôch v súčasnom meste
2013Jana Adamková · Brno University of Technology Digital Library (Brno University of Technology) · Global
This article discusses how productive gardens, historically integral to cities, have been disappearing from urban structures in recent years. As urban agglomerations and their resource uses become dominant, cities increasingly depend on external food supplies. The article highlights the importance of gardens for humans and the role of productive urban space in creating a viable urban environment. It states that as the world urbanizes, urban agriculture plays an important role in contributing to the sustainability of cities in spatial, socio-economic, and environmental ways.
CommunityUrban–rural linkageEconomicsClimate changeSegmentation and Preference Analysis of Urban Farming Patterns
2013Jeong Im Hwang, Yoon Ji Choi, Bo Gyung Jang · The Korean Journal of Community Living Science · Global
This study segmented urban farming patterns and analyzed preferences using two-step cluster analysis, chi-square analysis, and ANOVA, based on face-to-face surveys from 9 urban farms. Three clusters were identified: 'hobby-oriented farming', 'producing-oriented farming', and 'multipurpose farming'. Significant differences were found among these groups regarding age, presence of children under 14, household income, and housing type, indicating that urbanites' farming patterns vary with socio-demographic profiles.
CommunityDIYEconomicsHow Does Your Garden Grow? Environmental Justice Aspects of Community Gardens
2013Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, Rob Porter · Journal of Ecological Anthropology · Global
This conceptual paper focused on the benefits of community gardens, informed by participant observation and literature from the environmental justice movement. Community gardens are stated to be models for improving health through growing and eating local produce, and instruments for generating social awareness and community change.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceGuerrilla warfare in the planning system: revolutionary progress towards sustainability?
2013David Adams, Alister Scott, Michael Hardman · Geografiska Annaler Series B Human Geography · Global
This article examined how planning practice, exemplified by permaculture and guerrilla gardening case studies, can be rooted in confrontation and legal challenge, hindering innovative practices. The findings confirmed that spatial planning theory is largely "disintegrated" from much contemporary planning and environmental practice and wider sustainability discourses. This suggests that planners and decision-makers' prescribed and constrained management of space can impede practices with significant societal and environmental benefits.
Governance failureDIYPolicyCommunityUrban Gardening: espacio de creación, crítica social y activismo ecológico
2013Àngels Viladomiu Canela · · Global
This paper reviews specific artistic interventions that address urban land uses and farming methods. These actions, through the act of planting and cultivating, generate spaces for the expression of artistic, political, and social identities. These places are settling in the interstices of our cities, such as empty brownfield sites, non-urbanized or semi-urbanized areas, riverbanks, highway verges, and railway edges.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceTeacher Professional Learning Communities for Sustainability: Supporting STEM in Learning Gardens in Low-Income Schools
2013Sybil S. Kelley, Dilafruz R. Williams · PDXScholar (Portland State University) · Global
A summer program engaged teachers in hands-on STEM education within learning gardens at four low-income schools in southeast Portland. The program aimed to transform teaching and learning by providing experiences that connect STEM to real life and sustainability. Teacher feedback highlighted the value of learning STEM in gardens and addressing social and environmental justice.
Food educationCommunityWelfare