Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
172 results(1 / 7)
Educational sources and resource accessibility are drivers of pollinator management in urban farming systems
2026Jennifer Roedel, Karma Thomas, Zsofia Szendrei · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States
This study surveyed 74 urban growers to evaluate how grower and farm characteristics influence the implementation of eight common pollinator management strategies and overall farm crop richness. It found that demographic variables had no impact; instead, growers' decisions were shaped most by their sources of educational information and by resource use and accessibility, with online materials appearing more effective than hard-copy formats. The authors conclude that more accessible educational resources are needed for these historically underserved urban growers.
PollinatorsFood educationBiodiversitySCHOOL GARDEN IN MOCAJUBA BASED ON STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVES AND THE WORK OF PIBID
2026Maria Eduarda Costa Maia, Nathalia Gomes Corrêa, Eder Everton Caldas de Oliveira, Waldenira Mercedes Pereira Torres · Aracê. · Brazil
This article reports on the creation and implementation of a school garden at Dep. Abel Figueiredo Municipal Elementary School in Mocajuba, Pará, Brazil. The project, initiated based on student demands identified through a documentary, involved 9th-grade students, PIBID scholarship recipients, and the school community. The school garden fostered practical learning, student leadership, collaborative work, and improved school meals, with strategies for sustainability including maintenance schedules and irrigation systems.
Food educationCommunityHealthBiodiversityGardeners’ knowledge of arthropod ecological roles is shaped by experience, education, and gender
2026Edith Gonzales, Brenda B. Lin, Heidi Liere, Shalene Jha, Stacy M. Philpott · Figshare · United States (California)
An online survey of community gardeners in California, United States, assessed their knowledge of arthropod ecological roles. Gardeners demonstrated high knowledge, correctly classifying 71–83% of arthropod images. Female gardeners more accurately classified pollinators, while those who participated in a Master Gardener program more accurately classified herbivores and natural enemies.
CommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsFood educationAprender com a Terra: a horta como prática pedagógica em Educação Ambiental e Alimentar na Educação Infantil
2026Vívian Ariane de Oliveira Costa, Raíssa Aline Pereira, Mariana Azevedo Rabelo, Paula Montenegro Euzébio, Angela Liberali Pinheiro, Gabriella Ribeiro · Revista Brasileira de Educação Ambiental (RevBEA) · Brazil
This article reports on a school garden implemented in Early Childhood Education at Cirandinha School, in partnership with the Poços de Caldas Botanical Garden Foundation, after in-person classes resumed post-COVID-19. Using a qualitative and descriptive approach, the experiment aimed to promote critical environmental education and healthy habits. Results indicated active participation by children, increased autonomy, and environmental awareness, showing the garden as an integrative resource linking school, family, and community.
Food educationCommunityHealthBiodiversityHuertos urbanos comunitarios y su contribución al escalamiento agroecológico en una ciudad intermedia: un estudio de caso en Jovel, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México
2026Jesús De la Rocha Illanes · Revista de Estudios Urbanos y Territoriales IBU · Mexico (San Cristóbal de Las Casas)
A qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study was conducted on four community urban gardens in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, to understand how agroecological scaling occurs and what practices comprise it. The research found that agroecological scaling in these gardens is essentially horizontal and deep, occurring at a microsocial level, person-to-person, and intergenerationally; however, the vertical facet of this process appears to be weakened. Agroecological practices include collective/collaborative composting of organic matter, ecotechnology engineering, links with local socioeconomic and solidarity networks, digital presence, reintegration of agricultural ceremonies/rituals in the urban context, and collective actions against eviction attempts.
CommunityOrganic cycleBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceDynamics of urban greening in public squares: sustainable planning and the provision of ecosystem services in urban centers
2026Jéssica de Oliveira, Micael Silva de Freitas, Frederico Augusto Guimarães Guilherme, Jonathan Souza Oliveira, Laura Beatriz Oliveira, E. V. E. J. Amaral, Eder Marcos da Silva, Wendy Carniello Ferreira, Anderson Ribeiro Diniz, Carlos Rogério Andrade, Deivid Lopes Machado · Urban Ecosystems · Brazil (Jataí)
The temporal dynamics of urban greening in public squares in Jataí, Goiás state, Brazil, were evaluated through two surveys in 2010 and 2024. A complete floristic census of 14 public squares found no difference in total abundance but a significant increase in species richness from 79 to 121. However, urban greening management prioritized exotic and deciduous species, detrimentally affecting ecosystem attributes essential for sustainable planning, such as permanent shading and the valuation of regional flora.
BiodiversityClimate changePolicyThe Multifunctionality of Community Gardens: A Case Study in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, México
2026Carlos Alberto Garza Alonso, María de Jesús Ordóñez Díaz, Flor Esthela Sánchez Cortés, José Carmen García Flores · Journal of Ethnobiology · Mexico
This study analyzed the multifunctionality of 40 community gardens in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, Nuevo León, México, using literature review, participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, and systematic tours. It recorded 80 species, predominantly used for food and medicine, and found that people possess significant traditional ecological knowledge applied in garden management. The study concluded that community gardens positively contribute to sustainability, food production, self-consumption, and social fabric.
CommunityBiodiversityClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceEvaluación del índice de multifuncionalidad en la agricultura urbana y periurbana en San Miguel Tocuila, Texcoco
2026Alfredo Pérez Guerrero, María Josefina Jiménez-Moreno, Florentino López-Sánchez · Revista Chapingo Serie Agricultura Tropical · Mexico
This research analyzed the multifunctionality of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Tocuila, Texcoco, Mexico, by applying the Multifunctionality Index of Agricultural Production Systems (IMSPA) to 50 agricultural systems through surveys. Indicators were weighted using the Delphi technique with experts and ejidatarios. Results showed that 50% of systems had medium-high multifunctionality (level IV), 48% had medium multifunctionality (level III), and only 2% had high multifunctionality (level V). The majority of agricultural systems exhibited an intermediate level of multifunctionality, with relevant but limited capacities to generate simultaneous benefits across productive, environmental, and social dimensions.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsCommunityBiodiversityUrban and Community Food Forests and Forest Gardens
2026Catherine Bukowski, Kate MacFarland, Katherine Favor · · United States
This Agroforestry Note describes urban and community food forests and edible forest gardens in the United States, which integrate trees, shrubs, and perennial plants with community-driven design. These systems, rooted in traditional ecological knowledge, are found in public parks, vacant lots, and other public-facing spaces, including privately held properties open to the public. They are designed to maximize resources and address community needs, creating ecologically productive and socially engaging spaces.
CommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceAdvancing Resilient Biodiversity through Outreach, Repair, Education, Teamwork, Unity and Mentorship
2026Isaiah Sawyer, Reginald Andre, Yotam Shanun, Brendan Casal · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research · United States
This project, in partnership with the UCF Arboretum in the United States, involved activities such as clearing invasive vines, weeding and remulching beds in a community garden, and documenting local biodiversity across campus areas. Participants documented their service work through a culture audit to analyze the project's impact and leadership strategies. These activities contributed to building leadership skills, analytical tools, and a deeper sense of ownership over the campus's natural beauty.
CommunityBiodiversityFood educationDistinct Socio-Ecological Drivers Shape the Diversity of Plants, Birds, and Lepidopterans in Chicago Community Gardens
2025Domanus A., Smith A., Roberts M., Schnorenberg R., Doane M., Minor E. · Cities and the Environment (CATE), 17(2):9 · United States (Chicago)
A study of 24 community gardens in Chicago measuring not only cultivated crops but also spontaneous (wild/native) plants, birds, butterflies and bees. Gardens supported many spontaneous plant species (mean 8.4 per garden) alongside crops, which underpinned diverse fauna (18 bird species, 13 bee genera, 10 lepidopteran species). Socio-ecological drivers such as management type (allotment vs. communal) significantly shaped cultivated richness, the volume of spontaneous vegetation, and tree/shrub density — showing that how gardens are managed governs urban biodiversity.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityCrop-specialized pollinator drives bee and floral community response to urbanization on small squash farms
2025Roedel J., Szendrei Z. · Urban Ecosystems · North America (urban-suburban gradient)
2025 research showing that squash bees are most abundant on suburban and urban farms compared to rural farms. Demonstrates that small-scale urban farms benefit from urban environment advantages (lower pesticide use, diverse floral resources, landscape heterogeneity), enabling bee and floral community responses to urbanization.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunityStraw cover increases garden soil microbial biodiversity
2025Emory Walker, Mara Welty, Emma Creviston, Jacob J. Adler · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Lafayette)
This project examined how straw cover affects the soil microbiome of a community garden, using EcoPlate carbon-source utilization analysis and 16S rRNA sequencing on samples from the Erie Street GrowLocal community garden in Lafayette, Indiana. Straw cover increased soil moisture content and significantly increased bacterial alpha diversity, with a shift toward carbohydrate preference, though beta diversity showed no difference between conditions. The authors conclude that straw coverage can improve soil microbial biodiversity and moisture, potentially benefiting yields and food quality for communities.
BiodiversityOrganic cycleCommunityGarden as society: exploring the values embedded in community garden aesthetics
2025Azucena Lucatero, Madeleine Fairbairn · Agriculture and Human Values · United States (California)
Using a photovoice project and semi-structured interviews with community gardeners on California's central coast, this study investigates the values that drive community garden aesthetics. It finds that "tidiness" remains the hegemonic aesthetic, upheld by formal and informal governance and personal taste, while an alternative aesthetic the authors term "wildness" offers an ecologically valuable counterpoint—though tidiness and a sustainability orientation are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
CommunityBiodiversityFood diversity and environmental aspects of home and community gardens in highly urbanized areas of Sao Paulo megacity
2025· Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Brazil (Sao Paulo)
Analyzes food diversity and environmental aspects of home and community gardens in highly urbanized areas of the Sao Paulo megacity.
BiodiversityCommunityHealthPolinizadores de huertos urbanos y periurbanos en la ciudad de Morelia (Michoacán, México)
2025Sergio Osorio Cañadas, Ek del Val de Gortari · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Mexico (Morelia)
This study investigated pollinators in seven urban and periurban orchards in Morelia, Mexico, during an annual agricultural cycle from October 2022 to June 2023. Monthly 5-hour censuses at each site revealed a considerable diversity of pollinators, with an average of 60 different species including bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, beetles, and hummingbirds, visiting the orchard flowers. It was also observed that each plant species attracted different pollinators.
PollinatorsBiodiversityPeri-urban agricultureCarbon and nitrogen cycling in an urban constructed technosol: The artist-led carbon sponge pilot study
2025Sara Perl Egendorf, Maha Deeb, Brooke Singer, Nkwi Flores, Marisa Prefer, Zhongqi Cheng, Peter M. Groffman · Geoderma · United States (New York City)
The Carbon Sponge pilot study, conducted at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York City, evaluated the effects of different plant communities on constructed Technosol formation and carbon and nitrogen cycling through an artist-led collaboration. Soils were constructed from NYC Clean Soil Bank sediments and urban municipal composts at a 2:1 ratio, creating 24 beds under 8 different planting regimes. Over the 21-month study duration, soils changed significantly in microbial biomass nitrogen content, sunflowers increased soil carbon and ammonium, and cover crop mixtures increased nitrate and ammonium.
Organic cycleBiodiversityCommunityEspaços Públicos Periféricos e Soluções Baseadas na Natureza (SbN):
2025Joabson Almeida Freitas Souza, Liza Maria Souza de Andrade · Periódico Técnico e Científico Cidades Verdes · Brazil
This study analyzed the role of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in revitalizing public spaces in Brazilian peripheral areas through a systematic literature review. Findings indicate that interventions like community gardens and green roofs can reduce heat islands, improve drainage, and strengthen community bonds. The research also identified Brazilian public policy advances, such as the National Policy on Climate Change, supporting NbS integration in urban planning for vulnerable territories.
CommunityClimate changeBiodiversityTrabajar la tierra, el ‘cultivo’ de sí y del ambiente
2025Iriana Sartor, Giovanna Paccillo · Ciencias Sociales y Religión · Brazil, Argentina
This paper analyzes the everyday practices and attributed meanings of participants in community gardens in Brazil and Argentina. Based on 34 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2021 and 2022, it explores human-nature and human-society relationships, and the role of food sovereignty and agroecology. The study argues that these practices contribute to a shared ethic, reconfiguring relational modes grounded in respect, care, and self-recognition as part of nature.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversitySpatiotemporal variability and functional redundancy obscure effects of urbanization on strawberry pollinators
2025Kyla D. Schulte, Caleb J. Wilson, Anna Tawril, Mary A. Jamieson · Ecosphere · United States (Michigan)
A three-year study across 10 strawberry farms along a rural-urban gradient in Michigan, USA, characterized bee abundance, diversity, and community composition. The study found that urbanization, measured as impervious surface cover, had no consistent effect on overall bee abundance and diversity. While urbanization differentially influenced specific taxa (Halictini positively in year one, Ceratinini negatively in year three), the overall impact was limited, with wild bees, especially native species, being important pollinators in urban agriculture.
Limited or null effectPollinatorsBiodiversityUrban–rural linkagePlant facilitation in rooftop agriculture: disentangling plant interactions for sustainable crop production on extensive green roofs
2025Adriano N. Roberto, Andrés G. Rolhauser, J. Scott MacIvor, Marney E. Isaac · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · Canada (Toronto)
This study investigated plant facilitation in rooftop agriculture in Toronto, Canada, testing whether live Sedum could improve bush bean performance on 48 extensive green roof (EGR) modules under high and low watering regimes. Water availability had a greater influence on bean performance than planting design, with beans grown with artificial Sedum under high watering showing the highest yield, while performance declined significantly under low water, particularly with live Sedum. Contrary to hypotheses, live Sedum did not consistently facilitate bean performance, suggesting potential competitive interactions may have outweighed any stress-ameliorating effects. These findings indicate water management is the main management variable for crops on EGRs.
DIYCommunityBiodiversityClimate changeDescripción de los estadios larvarios de Chrysoperla exotera (Navás, 1914) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) y nuevo registro de distribución en México
2025María del Rosario Rivera Landa, Rodolfo J. Cancino López, Miguel Aragón-Sánchez, Agustín Aragón‐García, Arturo Huerta de la Peña, Atilano Contreras‐Ramos · ACTA ZOOLÓGICA MEXICANA (N S ) · Mexico (Puebla)
This study aimed to identify a Chrysopidae species present in an urban garden plot in Puebla State, Mexico, and describe its larval stages. Collections were made in the study area, followed by laboratory rearing, identification, and description of the larval stages of Chrysoperla exotera (Navás, 1914). This species is reported for the first time in Puebla State, and an update to Tauber (1974)'s identification key for Chrysoperla larval stages was performed.
BiodiversityOrganic cycleArborização urbana, corredores ecológicos e agricultura urbana em áreas públicas, projeto Santo Antônio da Patrulha, RS
2025Marcelo Silveira Badejo, Calebe de Hebrom Livistom da Silva, Joana Josiane Andriotte Oliveira Lima Nyland, Afonso Henrique da Silva Júnior, Juliano da Rosa Justim, Cassiano Ranzan · OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA · Brazil
In Santo Antônio da Patrulha, Brazil, a tree inventory was conducted in the Cidade Alta and Centro neighborhoods to support an urban afforestation project. The survey revealed a lack of trees in 5 out of 41 streets in Cidade Alta and 2 out of 28 streets in Centro, with high rates of unidentified trees (53% and 12% respectively). Furthermore, pedagogical practices tested in schools and universities raised challenges regarding the management of flowerbeds in urban areas.
Governance failureCommunityFood educationBiodiversityEcosystem services of urban food forests and their contributions to health and sustainability of North American cities: a narrative review
2025Sara-Charlotte Cayen, Kesnamelie-Ann Outha, Pierre Paul Audate · International Journal of Environmental Health Research · North America
This narrative review synthesized the ecosystem services of urban food forests and their contributions to urban health and food sustainability in North American cities. Based on 13 studies published between 2018 and 2023, it identified that food forests provide services such as sustainable food production and climate regulation. However, their implementation faces challenges including public space governance, maintenance costs, regulatory barriers, and ecological risks like invasive species.
Governance failureBiodiversityClimate changeHealthCommunityGermination and propagation of sweetgrass ( Anthoxanthum nitens (Weber) Y. Schouten & Veldkamp [Poaceae]) for growing in Mi’kmaq community gardens
2025Rachel A. Kendall, John A Francis, Mathew R. Vankoughnett · Native Plants Journal · Canada
This study assessed sweetgrass germination and propagation for Mi’kmaq community gardens, testing seed storage, additives, dormancy methods, and seedling outplanting. Removing seed coverings and soaking seeds increased germination success up to 46%, while cold storage, biological additives, and growth enhancers showed no improvement. Organic fertilizer (7-5-0) enhanced rhizome development, synthetic fertilizer (20-20-20) led to taller leaves, and both increased leaf count.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversity