Research & reports

Sara Sama Acedo, David Berná Serna, Patricia Homs Ramírez de la Piscina · Etnografica · Spain (Madrid)

This paper analyzes the case of community urban gardens in Madrid integrated into the Municipal Program of Community Urban Gardens. These initiatives are situated in the interstices between community management and public institutional management, generating new demands on the management of urban green commons and enabling forms of shared governance. The study reveals that these gardens face the challenge of maintaining themselves as transformative spaces without being absorbed by commercial logics or marginalized into welfare-oriented or community volunteer spaces.

Wojciech Sroka, Karol Król, Jakub Kulesza, Marcin Stanuch, Sławomir Lisek · Agriculture · Poland (Kraków)

This study analyzed factors influencing young urban residents' readiness to participate in agro living lab (ALL) projects in Kraków, Poland. Based on a literature review and a survey among university students, it found that readiness to engage in ALL projects is strongly associated with respondents’ field of study, interests, individual experiences, positive attitudes toward urban agriculture, and personal relationships with farmers.

Dorota Rancew-Sikora, Anna Horolets, Joanna Krukowska · Environmental Sociology · Poland

This article investigates how community gardening ideals are materialized and abandoned, applying Hannah Arendt’s distinction between types of work. Based on empirical analysis of narratives and observations in 12 gardens across Poland, the research demonstrates obstacles to democratic sustainability transitions. It proposes a processual concept of "slippage" to understand mechanisms by which departures from ideals occur in community gardens.

Sara Mahdizadeh, Yun Gao · Local Environment · United Kingdom

This qualitative study, based on 16 semi-structured interviews, examined motivations and barriers to participation in community gardens in Huddersfield, UK. Key motivations included social interaction, mental well-being, and skill development. Reported barriers were declining volunteer numbers, physical workload, limited institutional support, and accessibility challenges.

Mar Loren-Méndez, Celia Chacón-Carretón, Pablo Manuel Millán Millán · ACE Arquitectura Ciudad y Entorno · Spain (Málaga)

This study examines the urban dimension of agricultural heritage, specifically urban orchards, in cities where agrarian activity is deeply intertwined with their origin and evolution. Using Nerja, Málaga, Spain, as a case study, the research highlights that accelerated urban transformation in recent decades has led to a rupture, undermining agrarian logic by abandoning historical growth practices. The study emphasizes the fundamental role of agrarian activity in built environments and advocates for the protection of urban orchards.

Chris Blythe, Veronica Barry · · United Kingdom

This chapter examines urban farming and growing in the United Kingdom, advocating for a broader definition beyond purely productive practices to include social, political, and environmental interpretations. It explores how physical spaces in four Birmingham examples foster social interaction, drawing on practitioner experience, literature, and user perspectives. The aim is to provide insights into the value of these spaces as social landscapes for urban policy.

Olaf Ciebiera, Paweł Czechowski, Federico Morelli, Sławomir Rubacha, Leszek Jerzak · Animals · Poland

This study investigated changes in the population size, distribution, and habitat preferences of the Eurasian magpie in Zielona Góra, Poland, over 23 years. A 2022 survey identified 953 magpie pairs, with an average density of 8.8 pairs/km2 across administrative boundaries (excluding forests) and 27.7 pairs/km2 in strictly urbanized zones. The highest densities were observed in the old town (36.5 pairs/km2) and residential blocks (34.5 pairs/km2), while peripheral areas showed significantly lower densities. Nests were predominantly located in coniferous trees, especially spruces, at a mean height of 11.8 m. Proximity to trash bins, water sources, and tall trees were significant predictors of nest density and placement.

Anna Birgitte Milford, Daniel Keech, Sarah Wangui Muiruri · Agricultural and Food Economics · Europe

This survey study explored differences in organizational models and member characteristics of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Norway and the UK, focusing on factors contributing to member contentment, mental health, and vegetable consumption. Norwegian CSA members participated more actively in cultivation and harvesting and more often prepaid subscriptions than British members. In both countries, CSA membership was perceived to improve members' quality of life, vegetable intake, and physical and mental health, with more active members reporting higher satisfaction and stronger positive effects on vegetable consumption and mental health.

Leonie Guerrero Lara, Baldur Kapusta, Jessica Duncan, Giuseppe Feola · International Journal of Politics Culture and Society · Germany

This article analyzes the German Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) network's political advocacy efforts between 2018 and 2022 to strengthen the movement and induce change in the industrial agri-food system. The study found that the network's organizational structure, or lack thereof, influences advocacy strategies, resources, and group dynamics. It concludes that advocates should consider their movement's organizational structure in relation to advocacy, including tensions around member participation and the visibility of advocacy work.

Sergi Ventura, J.R. Armengol Miró, David Camacho-Caballero, Enric Casellas, Ricard Segura-Barrero, Alberto Martilli, gara villalba · Urban Climate · Spain (Barcelona)

This study used the Pseudo Global Warming method and WRF model to assess urban heat adaptation strategies in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Three strategies were evaluated: increasing rooftop albedo, implementing irrigated sedum green roofs, and increasing peri-urban agriculture and urban parks. While increasing rooftop albedo provided the greatest daytime cooling (−1.75 °C), and green roofs and peri-urban agriculture showed moderate regulation, none of the strategies fully counterbalanced the projected 6 °C temperature increase by 2100, indicating a limited capacity of these adaptations under severe warming scenarios.

Jorge Palmero-Barrachina, Petr Blažek, Santiago Sabaté, Teresa Sauras‐Yera, Samuel Allasia-Grau, Daniel Nadal‐Sala, Sven Kallen, Tiago de Santana, Emil Cienciala · Frontiers in Forests and Global Change · Europe

This study presents a methodology for estimating potential biomass and carbon accumulation over a 40-year timespan for European afforestation activities, developed for the Life Terra project (LIFE19 CCM/NL/001200). It synthesized data from allometric equations, yield tables, national forest inventories, and national greenhouse gas inventory reports across four European biogeographic regions — Alpine, Atlantic, Continental, and Mediterranean — with the analysis focused mainly on timber plantations due to data availability and reliability constraints. Initial planting densities varied substantially across regions (1,869-7,702 trees/ha) and declined exponentially over time; by year 40, individual tree biomass estimates ranged from 0.08 to 0.20 t/tree with survival rates of 22.0-49.7%, giving stand-level biomass estimates of 54.7-232.6 t/ha. The estimates generally aligned with country-specific literature and IPCC default values but showed considerable site-to-site variation, and the study notes remaining uncertainties related to survival/mortality rates and climate change impacts.

Barelds-Cramer, Leonie, Kapteijns, Annemarie, Battjes-Fries, Marieke · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Europe

This report presents the outcomes and insights from a series of co-design workshops conducted at four FEAST Living Labs — Leuven (Belgium), Oxfordshire (UK), Ghent (Belgium), and Tuscany (Italy) — aimed at developing community-driven solutions supporting healthier, more sustainable food choices. The workshops used a participatory design methodology including timeline reflection, cognitive mapping of bottlenecks and qualities, and solution-pathway development. In Leuven, mothers of primary-school children wanted enjoyable, healthy, sustainable food to become a social norm, especially in schools, citing increasing exposure to unhealthy food marketing, affordability, and limited healthy school offerings; bottlenecks were mainly at the meso level, and proposed solutions included nutrition education as a standard school subject, stronger regulation of unhealthy food marketing, and digital tools to build knowledge. In Oxfordshire, parents of young children prioritized access to affordable fresh produce, opportunities for community growing, time to cook from scratch, and reduced waste; bottlenecks were more often at the micro level — limited skills, fussy eating, convenience pressures, and high food prices — with solutions including a free recipe and advice app, community gardens, cooking classes, better promotion of local support services, and initiatives connecting farmers and residents. In Ghent, professional stakeholders from food-related organizations in disadvantaged neighborhoods shared a goal of fair food access and stronger community connection through food, identifying bottlenecks in fragmented service provision, pricing barriers, and limited visibility of available food support.

Sara Rizzo, Giulia Lucertini, Alessandra Bònoli, Maria Elena Bini, Roberta Guzzinati, Luca Settanni, Francesca Cappellaro · Environmental Engineering and Management Journal · Europe

A study of six experimental case studies in the metropolitan city of Bologna, Italy, describing urban community gardens (UCGs) as examples of co-production in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), focused on the design and development of circular strategies for water reuse. It situates Bologna as a context where urban horticulture has long served as local welfare and is now evolving to host solutions supporting environmental resilience, and reports the implementation of social innovation pathways, community building and citizen engagement enabled through co-design activities using open innovation approaches, particularly Urban Living Labs (ULLs), which facilitated the development and testing of locally adapted, do-it-yourself solutions. The analysis concludes that the implemented solutions had significant social and economic impact, demonstrating UCGs' effectiveness as NBS in strengthening communities, contributing to the 2030 Agenda SDGs, and validating the outcomes of the participatory co-production approach.

Izabella Pisarek, Kamila Śmieszkoł, Aleksandra Cichoń, Magdalena Śliwa, Dżoana Latała-Matysiak, Katarzyna Łuczak, Grzegorz Kusza · Journal of Ecological Engineering · Poland

A 2025 study assessed the impact of a railway line on soil quality, particularly heavy metal content, at the "Hutnik" family allotment gardens in Zawadzkie, Poland. Twenty research plots were set out near a forest complex (reference) and near railway infrastructure (a potential emission source), with soil samples collected from a depth of 0-25 cm and analyzed for total zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni). Elevated concentrations of copper, zinc, and lead were found in soils close to the railway line, and based on the chemical analysis data, the study concludes that railway transport may pose a greater threat to the environment than previously expected.

Julia Spanier · Geoforum · Germany

A 2025 paper examines how community supported agriculture (CSA) performs and shapes rural-urban relations, based on four CSA initiatives in Germany. It finds that CSA does not automatically nurture "good intentions" between the urban and the rural, but can foster material solidarity and mutual understanding between urban consumers and rural producers. At the same time, it finds that hierarchical rural-urban relations, or rural/urban autonomy, may also be enacted within CSA, and that CSA can in some cases deepen processes of alienation between the rural and the urban, arguing that investigations of rural-urban relations in CSA must go beyond assessing producer-consumer relations alone.

Vebjørn Egner Stafseng, Anna Marie Nicolaysen, Geir Lieblein · · United Kingdom

This education-research chapter presents findings from participatory visioning workshops that agroecology students conducted with urban agriculture initiatives in Oslo, Norway, in 2018 and 2019, analyzing the students' resulting reports. Key vision characteristics were categorized into social, nature and governance themes; common challenges included difficulties in collaboration, lack of funds and time, and initiative-specific constraints, while strong political support and rising interest in urban agriculture emerged as supporting forces, with proposed actions grouped into ecology, food, education, organization, social and municipality categories.

Stokman, Antje, Khokhlova, Viktoria, Peters, Lasse, König, Bettina, Lange, Doris, Bürig, Lara, Esche, Finn, Feldmann, Falko, Quambusch, Mona · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Germany

A German report on an urban agriculture innovation district being developed in Hamburg as part of the Horner Geest landscape axis and the urban development of the new Gartenstadt Öjendorf. An interdisciplinary research team from HafenCity University (landscape planning), the Julius Kühn Institute (horticultural sciences), and the University of Kassel (agricultural economics and sustainability research) is developing scenarios for a productive horticultural park and testing them on a test and demonstration site. The project aims to establish innovative forms of urban agriculture that increase the presence and perception of farming in urban space and promote direct interaction between city residents and professional agricultural actors; this report covers the project on the occasion of its first scenario workshop.

Marco Focacci, Christina Schäffer, Isabella De Meo, Alessandro Paletto, Fabio Salbitano · Urban forestry & urban greening · Europe

A study of urban forest gardens—multilayered, mainly perennial edible intercropping systems—in Sweden, aimed at a national inventory, identifying the drivers behind their establishment, and understanding their contribution to urban sustainability policies. The researchers identified 30 forest gardens across 10 cities and conducted site visits and stakeholder interviews, finding three main origin types: grassroots movements, schools, and municipal officials, each informed and trained by "knowledge hubs" (associations, education centres and professionals). Social network analysis showed knowledge hubs were pivotal to establishment and information circulation, while few connections existed among other actors. Stakeholders rated cultural ecosystem services—education, community building, recreation and aesthetic value (8.7/10)—higher than regulating services such as biodiversity and climate regulation (7.9/10) and provisioning services (6.5/10). Interviews also identified legal burdens on land management and use, financial sustainability challenges for both bottom-up and top-down forest gardens, and a lack of skilled labor.

Jasna Grabić, Milica Vranešević, Pavel Benka, Srđan Šeremešić, M. Meseldzija · Sustainability · Europe

In Vojvodina Province, northern Serbia — a rural region where 70% of the territory has been converted to arable land — researchers used QGIS to map areas suitable for implementing Nature-based Solutions (NbS), drawing on CORINE Land Cover, OpenStreetMap, data from the Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina Province, and the EUNIS platform. The area suitable for NbS totaled 1,183,228 ha, or 55.74% of the province, with organic and regenerative agriculture projected to increase by up to 5%. Grazing was identified and mapped as a desirable grassland management option, potentially practicable on nearly 10% of the territory.

Kolawole Farinloye, Grzegorz M. Józefaciuk, Samson O. Ojo, Ibukun A. Ayodele, Mayowa A. Aduloju · Journal of Natural Resource Conservation and Management · United Kingdom

A study evaluated the agritourism potential of Mudchute Park and Farm, an urban farm in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom, using a mixed-methods approach that combined qualitative assessment of the farm's existing infrastructure and programming with quantitative analysis of its plant and animal biodiversity (2025). Structured data was used to model potential offerings such as educational programs, hands-on workshops and thematic tours. The farm's collection of rare-breed animals and native and cultivated plant species was identified as a base for development, and the study proposed recommendations including a farm-to-fork culinary experience, expanded seasonal festival programming, and leveraging the farm's position as a rural site within a major city.

Sebastian Eiter, Wendy Fjellstad, Loes van Schaik · Landscape and Urban Planning · Europe

Drawing on case examples from five European cities, a 2025 study identified the challenges involved in monitoring the sustainability of urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data to using the results. Urban agriculture is often positioned as a tool to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems, yet sustainability is difficult to measure, fueling debate about how sustainable urban agriculture truly is and leaving a lack of incentive to promote it or protect existing initiatives threatened by development pressure on urban land. Comparing the five cities revealed large differences in what topics were monitored, who was responsible, who gathered data and when, what data was recorded and how it was stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these findings, the study recommends stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring, along with promotion of convenient tools for citizen-science data collection and long-term data storage.

Mieke Lopes Cardozo, Bas van den Berg, Koen Rens Wessels · · Europe

A narrative account of involvement with FRIS, a community within the University of Amsterdam working on education innovation for a fair, resilient, and inclusive society. The speaker, Mieke, describes being invited to coordinate and supervise a round of thematic teaching-innovation scholarships—organized jointly by the university's Teaching and Learning Centre and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies as part of the university's strategic plan—and to help build a learning community oriented toward more regenerative ways of learning and working.

Jacek Antonkiewicz, Iwona Paśmionka, Grzegorz Szychowski · Soil Science Annual · Poland

Following a flood that inundated allotment gardens in Nysa, southern Poland, for up to 14 days after the water rose on 14 September 2024, researchers analyzed 12 soil samples collected in early spring 2025 from two allotment garden sites. Most soils were found limed and disinfected, with high organic matter but low total potassium, sodium and sulfur. Zinc and copper concentrations exceeded the average for Polish arable soils, pointing to use of materials enriched with these elements.

Shanza Neda Hussain, Aritra Ghosh · Energy and Buildings · United Kingdom

This study examined a sustainable residential building design in Birmingham, UK, combining rooftop agrivoltaics, vacuum gasochromic smart glazing and onsite green hydrogen production. Comparing vertical, optimal 30-degree tilt and dome monofacial/bifacial agrivoltaic setups growing tomatoes, tomato production held steady at 0.31 kg/m2 despite varying shading; maximum electricity generation was 7,919 kWh from bifacial 30-degree panels, the lowest levelized cost of electricity was 0.061 British pounds/kWh from monofacial 30-degree panels, the vacuum gasochromic glazing had the lowest U-value (1.32 W/m2K) but the greatest thickness (24.6 mm), and the hydrogen needed annually for the glazing was estimated at 52.56 g, with the bifacial 30-degree system theoretically covering up to about 64.23 km per day for a hydrogen vehicle.

Zuzana Strculová · Revue of Social Sevices / Revue sociálnych služieb · Europe

An article framing community gardens as spaces where people from different social groups meet to co-create and share space, arguing they function not only as ecological or urban projects but as effective tools for social work — particularly in community building, social inclusion and strengthening intergenerational ties. While community gardens often emerge as grassroots civic initiatives, their operation involves a range of actors: local residents, social workers, educators, non-profit organizations, city governments and even businesses — a diversity that, the article argues, is why gardens can be understood as "microworlds of collaboration." Drawing on foreign examples of good practice, it illustrates how community gardens can serve as effective tools in inclusive, environmental and participatory social work.