Research & reports

강미영, 김영희, 김용현, 진종현, 이민희, 허무룡 · · South Korea

A South Korean study aimed at raising awareness of environmental importance through eco-friendly urban agriculture and promoting the effective establishment of urban agriculture. It found that, through urban agricultural activities, urban residents received education in eco-friendly farming methods and applied them in plot preparation, crop cultivation, and harvesting. Participants also regarded the seeds and seedlings used in urban agriculture as eco-friendly, and reported that the activities helped change their perceptions of the environment; they stated that this heightened awareness of environmental importance also influenced behavioural change, that they could introduce their urban agricultural activities to neighbours as eco-friendly, and that they intended to continue participating in urban agricultural activities.

Ellen Burke · Landscape Research · Global

This paper is a transdisciplinary literature review addressing how to measure the performance of food production landscapes in urban, suburban, campus and other design contexts. Noting that such performance is currently most often measured by the weight and value of harvest alone, it aims to identify expanded methods and metrics, particularly for health and well-being benefits. Through the review it presents evidence for mental well-being, physical activity, and human nutrition benefits, and catalogs performance metrics and evaluation methods.

Barış Kara, KAHRAMAN, Delal, AYDOGAN, Gungor Yasin · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · Turkey

A 2017 paper documents the design process of a school garden in Yenipazar district, Aydın province, Turkey, created through collaboration between teachers and students. It argues that a school garden should be simply designed and meet users' needs, guiding children's play, fun, and learning while building creativity and teamwork, and that design should be a collective product of designers and users rather than the designer alone. It presents the full design process, including detailed design, perspective drawings, and an animated film.

Kerstin Martin, Taylor Hinton, Darby Anderson, Elizabeth J. Schafer, Rebecca Dawson · The FASEB Journal · United States

This report examines a comprehensive community wellness initiative launched in 2014 in Meadville, Pennsylvania — a town classified as a food desert under USDA criteria, where 26.1% of residents lived in poverty and nearly 13% had poor nutritional status in 2014, and where an estimated 70% of adults regionally were overweight or obese with childhood obesity above 30%. The initiative established community gardens, piloted a fresh fruits and vegetables program in a local elementary school, and launched a mobile farmers market — piloted in summer 2016 in collaboration with the local bus company — targeting a low-income neighborhood to increase access to fresh produce and reduce obesity.

Patsy Eubanks Owens · Children Youth and Environments · United States

This is a review of Illène Pevec's book Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health, and Joy (New Village Press, 2016, 407 pages), which presents the experiences of youth — typically low-income and ethnically diverse — participating in a dozen gardening programs across four US states: Colorado, New York, California and New Mexico. Examples cited include youth in New York helping plant green walls and youth in New Mexico learning to grow traditional Native American foods. The review characterizes the book as research-based evidence documenting the effects of school gardening programs on adolescent development and well-being.

Anna Grichting · Kobra (Universitätsbibliothek Kassel) · Global

Set against the backdrop of food and water security in Qatar, and recognizing that rapid urbanization not integrated with ecological landscape design is driving urban sprawl, fragmented landscapes and biodiversity loss, this paper presents research on edible landscapes at Qatar University's architecture department, framed around its regenerative-cities concept, aimed at contributing to campus food supply while promoting biodiversity. Drawing on examples from edible campuses worldwide and literature on permaculture and food urbanism, an analysis of existing and future campus buildings and landscapes identified intervention types: retrofitting existing buildings with green roofs, green walls and biodiversity habitats; transforming existing landscapes; using empty land for food production; and integrating food gardens into the design of future buildings. The vision also includes water recycling and treatment, organic waste recycling, renewable energy, citizen participation and awareness campaigns, and collecting quantitative data on food miles.

Audit Yulardi, Andar Bagus Sriwarno, Dwinita Larasati · Jurnal Sosioteknologi · Indonesia (Bandung)

In Bandung, Indonesia's "Kampung Berkebun" program, residents whose main occupation was not farming faced difficulty maintaining productive plants such as vegetables, particularly through daily watering. This study developed a time-efficient irrigation system and trialed it with residents in RT 2, RW 2, Kacapiring, Bandung. A single-point connected irrigation system reduced the time consumed by watering activities, and trial observation showed a behavior change: residents who previously watered irregularly began watering more regularly.

Kenna McMrrray, Kelsey Hall, Roslynn Brain · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States

This descriptive piece from Utah, United States, explains Community Supported Agriculture as a farming arrangement providing a direct link between the community and the grower, in which shareholders purchase a share of the CSA and receive produce at regular intervals, typically weekly. It lists potential benefits — access to local, fresh produce free of preservatives and added hormones, and support for diversified agriculture — alongside potential barriers, including the seasonality of production, a smaller variety of products and the upfront cost of a share.

Sunette M. Laurie, Mieke Faber, Mamohkele M Maduna · South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition · South Africa

A cross-sectional survey of 90 primary schools (10 per province across South Africa's nine provinces) participating in the National School Nutrition Programme collected questionnaire data from 66 garden administrators, 55 garden workers, 687 educators and 2,547 learners, with an observational checklist completed for 66 gardens. Sixty-six schools (73%) had a food garden, ranging from 100 to 6,000 m² and growing a variety of vegetables but few fruits. Reported problems included lack of funds (59%), lack of tools and infrastructure (47%), lack of garden workers (53%) and lack of technical support (50%), and few gardens received external funding. In 50% of gardens crops grew for more than six months, and 30% supplied fresh produce to school meals more than twice a week; 54% of learners were involved in school gardens and 67% had food gardens at home, with 68.4% of learners and 86.4% of educators reporting they liked eating vegetables every day.

Jason Martinek, Lynn Prosen · Transformations The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy · United States

This interview-format article profiles Lynn Prosen, a science teacher and garden education coordinator at Gill St. Bernard's, a day school in Gladstone, New Jersey, USA, who teaches science from preschool through fourth grade. The school's roughly two-acre garden is divided into four 70 x 80 ft plots — one with raised beds, two dedicated to growing food for the dining hall and farm — alongside a 110-tree apple orchard and beehives for honey production.

Emily Heying, Kendra M. Butkowski · The FASEB Journal · United States

This study surveyed 22 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members receiving weekly vegetable shares in central Minnesota, USA, administering a demographic and anthropometric survey at the season's start and four follow-up surveys on vegetable consumption and food waste, each 10 days after a share pickup. Average BMI was 26.1 ± 4.3 kg/m², average family size was 3.1 ± 1.2 persons, and average distance traveled to pickup was 3.4 ± 5.8 miles; the percentage of vegetables consumed depended on vegetable type and family size but not BMI. Leafy greens were both the most frequently included vegetable and the most frequently discarded; 80% of participants reported increased awareness of food waste from taking part in the study, but only 53% believed their food waste had actually decreased, and awareness showed no correlation with vegetable consumption or discarding behavior.

Muhammad Nuri Shobry · Kebijakan dan Manajemen Publik · Indonesia

Using George C. Edward III's policy implementation model combined with the Van Horn and Van Meter framework — communication, resources, disposition, bureaucratic structure, and socio-political-economic support as the five variables — this qualitative descriptive study with purposively sampled informants analyzed implementation of the urban farming program by the agricultural, fishery, and forestry extension agency in Gresik Regency, Indonesia. It found that implementation of the urban farming policy by the Gresik extension agency was not going well and fell short of the maximum, with the stages of implementation not proceeding smoothly and the communication, resources, and target-group support variables in particular found to be poorly organized and ineffective.

정나라, 정명일, 한승원, 김재순 · · South Korea

A resident survey in South Korea was conducted to provide basic data for building a community garden as part of a village-making project. Respondents who said they would use the garden more than once a week made up a high share, with usage frequency rising with respondent age; afternoon use on both weekdays and weekends showed high intended participation, and the garden's efficiency was found to increase when it was located within about a 20-minute walk (roughly 1 km); the study concludes that garden design should reflect each community's characteristics rather than applying a uniform layout.

Cat Buxton · · United States

This is an announcement for a free workshop on garden insects, held Thursday, June 22, 2017, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Community Garden at Ratcliffe Park in White River Junction, Vermont. The workshop was led by a garden consultant and sponsored by the Upper Valley Food Co-op.

Jorge Luiz de Góes Pereira, Fabrício Darley Paixão Fernandes · Revista Brasileira de Educação do Campo · Brazil

A qualitative case study using field observations and document analysis, conducted from April 8 to June 22, 2016, examined two pedagogical projects — "Community Garden" and "Hands That Make" — at the municipal elementary school Pedra Torta (a Community Agroecological School) in Águia Branca, Espírito Santo, Brazil. The findings show that these projects enable students to perceive multiple dimensions of rural reality and to value rural culture.

Sima Pouya, Elif Bayramoğlu, Öner Demirel · Kastamonu University Journal of Forestry Faculty · Turkey

A study of the Doğan Çağlar Orthopedic Disabled School in Ankara Province, Turkey (2017) determined how outdoor space was used at the school and developed the main decisions for an environmental (landscape) design project addressing those uses. Face-to-face interviews with school management, teachers, and parents, plus a parent survey, examined contributions to children's physical, emotional, and social development according to disability type and degree. Following a process of problem identification, data collection (questionnaire and evaluation), field analysis of functions, and design master decisions, the study produced landscape-design suggestions for the school garden, highlighting the need to plan for different age groups and physical characteristics, to create spaces where children encounter nature and develop creativity, and to design school and garden spaces for children with disabilities differently from general spaces because their needs vary by disability type, both physically and psychologically.

Aysun Çelik, Elvan Ender Altay · Kocaeli Üniversitesi Mimarlık ve Yaşam Dergisi · Turkey

A study evaluating the landscape condition of school gardens at 49 schools (30 primary, 19 secondary/equivalent) in the central district of İzmit, Kocaeli Province, Turkey, assessed for space-use profiles, landscape design components, and vegetal components (using a proportional range method for space use and frequency analysis for landscape and vegetal component data). The study found that landscape design of the school gardens is neglected, and that space-use rates fall far below standards compared with developed countries. Green space use was observed in only 43.33% of primary schools and 57.89% of secondary schools; the gap between the school with the largest green area and the one with the smallest was 313 times in primary schools and 57 times in secondary schools. Plant diversity in existing green spaces was found to be quite poor, with grass areas and flower beds rarely used. 93.34% of primary schools, which serve children of play age, had no play equipment areas, and 47% of secondary schools lacked multifunctional playgrounds suitable for basketball and volleyball. The study recommends treating school gardens as part of education and adopting a uniform standard for organizing spaces and components so all students have equal access.

Siebler, Kay · Texas ScholarWorks (Texas Digital Library) · Global

Describes a case narrative of a mobile "writing center without walls" that brings English-language-learner tutoring to non-traditional venues, including a community garden where vegetables are grown alongside the teaching. The abstract does not report a study design, participant numbers, or measured outcomes; it is presented as the story of one such writing center.

Mikkel Gabriel Christoffersen, Finn Bo Petersen · Bibliotekovedenie [Russian Journal of Library Science] · Europe

Describes a redesign of Copenhagen's public library system away from a fixed, physical-media-centered model toward deconstructed, modular learning services embedded across the city — in schools and kindergartens, secondary education institutions, sports and cultural centres, and community allotment gardens, where the library provides inspiration for online research into botany and garden design, alongside its traditional library spaces. The stated goal is for the library to become part of ubiquitous public urban space, driven by a goal of "equal opportunity" in bridging socioeconomic gaps in reading and digital competency. The piece is descriptive, presenting the initiative and its venues rather than measured outcomes.

한국교원대학교, Dong-Kuk Hwang · Journal of Korean Practical Arts Education · South Korea

A meta-analysis of research papers published in Korea between 2001 and September 2017 examined the educational effectiveness of school gardens. Papers were identified by cross-searching the keywords "garden," "school," "elementary," and "early childhood," yielding 25 papers and 49 calculated effect sizes. Dependent variables were character development, dietary habit improvement, intellectual ability improvement, and environmental literacy, with study subject, number of participants, garden type, and instructional hours used as moderator variables. School garden education showed a large overall effect size, with character development showing the largest effect size among the dependent variables. Effects were largest when targeting early childhood subjects, groups of 15 or fewer, box-type gardens, and 10-15 instructional sessions. A publication bias test found some bias present, but the educational effect of school gardens remained large even after accounting for it.

Debra Flanders Cushing, Harriot Beazley, Lisa Law · · Australia

A book chapter synthesizes research on food practices, urban food landscapes, and childhood obesity in (sub)tropical Queensland, Australia, examining two community garden examples with a focus on access to healthy food. It cites the WHO position that no single intervention strategy prevents childhood obesity, and that solutions must draw on three areas: governmental structures, population-wide policies, and community-based interventions. Key barriers to children's healthy diets identified are food availability, convenience, taste preferences, peer pressure, and lack of parental or school support, with increased knowledge of fruits and vegetables shown to directly increase children's consumption of them. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research on urban green spaces and obesity.

Mariana Tarricone Garcia, Denise Eugênia Pereira Coelho, Cláudia Maria Bógus · DEMETRA Alimentação Nutrição & Saúde · Brazil

A study of three municipal schools in Greater São Paulo, Brazil, examined the dietary impact of children's experience growing food in school gardens, as perceived by parents and educators. In-depth interviews with principals, teachers, and staff, plus semi-structured in-home interviews with parents, gathered responses from 27 individuals — 19 parents and 8 educators. The school garden was found to promote reflection on eating and food through knowledge gained from direct contact with growing food crops, affecting both the children and their families. Concrete effects reported included dietary changes, greater knowledge of food and the food system, increased appreciation of the food produced, and greater motivation to try new vegetables.

Shimpo N. · 博士論文 (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Tokyo) · Japan

Doctoral dissertation systematically analysing the historical development of urban-type gardens and agricultural activities in Japan. Traces the emergence and evolution of diverse urban agricultural spaces—allotment gardens, community gardens and the like—forming the basis of Shimpo's later books and papers.

農林水産省, 国土交通省 · 農林水産省（都市農業振興基本法に基づく政府の基本計画・閣議決定） · Japan

The government's basic plan under the Urban Agriculture Promotion Act (2015). It places 'realising the diverse functions of urban agriculture' at the centre and sets three new policy directions: securing urban farmers, securing land for farming, and full-scale agricultural-promotion measures. It is the core plan underpinning municipalities' citizen farms, experience farms and farmland conservation nationwide.

HILLS LIFE（森ビル） · HILLS LIFE（森ビル運営メディア） · Japan

An article explaining Mori Building's rooftop rice-growing at Roppongi Hills and Ark Hills through its 'machi-iku' (town-based learning) philosophy. From a developer's viewpoint it discusses the meaning of resident- and worker-participation in rice planting and harvesting, and the link between rooftop greening / green infrastructure and community building.