Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
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Landscapes and Wellbeing: Reflections on Two Decades of Research and Practice in Europe
2026Simon Bell · The International Journal of Healthy Space · Europe
This paper reflects on the evolution of research into the links between landscape and human health and wellbeing in Europe since 2000. It charts how the field developed through major initiatives like COST Actions and European research framework projects, coalescing into an established evidence base connecting green and blue spaces with human health, wellbeing, and policy action. The author offers a personal perspective on the trajectory of this research over the past two decades, based on direct involvement and lessons learned.
CommunityHealthPolicyTrace metal extractability and bioaccessibility in urban soils
2026María Roo, Cecilia Herbón, Juan Pedro Martín‐Sanz, María Teresa Barral, Remigio Paradelo Núñez · Journal of Soils and Sediments · Spain (Santiago de Compostela)
This study analyzed the chemical extractability and bioaccessibility of five trace metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr) in 55 urban soils from Santiago de Compostela, Spain, across various land uses. The availability of trace metals in these soils was found to be very low. Plant-available and bioaccessible Cu and Zn were higher in urban garden soils compared to other uses, supporting hypotheses that Cu, Pb, and Zn originate from anthropogenic pollution.
Contamination & food safetyHealthOrganic cycleCensored-Data-Aware Screening of Hazardous Metal(loid)s in Wild Mushrooms from Urban and Peri-Urban Green Spaces: Multielement Fingerprints and Adult Exposure Assessment
2026Antonio Peña‐Fernández, M. Carmen Lobo, María de los Ángeles Peña, Guillermo Torrado Durán, Mark D. Evans, Tiziana Sgamma, Tomás Cámara Pastor, Gurminderjeet S. Jagdev · Journal of Xenobiotics · United Kingdom
This study evaluated hazardous metal(loid)s in 121 wild mushroom fruiting-body units collected from urban and peri-urban green spaces in Leicester/Leicestershire, UK. Copper, manganese, and zinc were detected in all units, while cadmium and lead were found in 117/121 and 106/121 units respectively, indicating the widespread presence of these contaminants. Taxon-level profiles showed marked heterogeneity, and under a 300 g fresh-weight week−1 consumption scenario, cadmium represented 47.3% of the EFSA tolerable weekly intake in the pooled edible population and 50.9% in Agaricus bitorquis.
Contamination & food safetyHealthDesign as a tool for experiential food education: Research into practice through a proximity-based therapeutic garden
2026Anna C. Catania, Carmen Trischitta · Design Studies · Italy
This paper examined the role of design as a catalyst in experiential food education through the Curortò project, a therapeutic garden established within the G. Di Cristina Children's Hospital. Employing a participatory action research methodology, the project involved hospitalized children, healthcare professionals, educators, and local community actors in a collaborative design process. Detailed observation, field diaries, and qualitative interviews provided evidence of significant improvements in children's understanding of seasonal food cycles, resource management, and circular economy principles, accompanied by reduced stress levels and increased operational autonomy.
Food educationHealthCommunityOrganic cycleGrowing food and radical hope in Glasgow: A review of The Practice of Collective Escape
2026Rose Jennings · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United Kingdom (Glasgow)
Helen Traill's book, "The Practice of Collective Escape," presents ethnographic work over six years in Glasgow, Scotland, following two community growing sites. The book critically examines urban agriculture projects as "Petri dishes for individual and community transformation," exploring concepts of inclusion, individual escape, and political activism, and highlighting social complexities and issues of inclusion and exclusion.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyHealthFood sovereignty & justiceJaparé. Il était un jardin…
2026Pascale Darras, Henri Santiago Sanz · VST - Vie sociale et traitements · France (Toulouse)
Since 2014, the "Japaré" shared garden at the Gérard Marchant psychiatric hospital in Toulouse, France, has served as a unique third place. It welcomes a diverse group of volunteers, including patients, professionals, children, and families, offering a space for voluntary market gardening or simply relaxation, without specific programs or obligations.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood educationPhytoremediation potential of selected herbaceous species in vertical gardens for urban air pollution mitigation and integration with the EU Emissions Trading System
2026Agnieszka Klucznik-Tӧrő · Economics and Environment · Europe
This research investigated whether vertical gardens can effectively reduce urban air pollution, using Cracow as an example. Field experimentation, biochemical and laboratory studies, statistical analysis, and quantitative techniques were applied using plant species such as fennel spike, lemon balm, thyme, chives, dill, and common ivy. The analysis proved that a significant level of phytoremediation of air pollutants can be achieved with vertical gardens.
BiodiversityHealthClimate change“It’s Only Really When I Put My Hands in the Soil That I Feel at Home”
2026Lucy C. Michaels, María Puig de la Bellacasa · Environmental Humanities · United Kingdom
This article explores how soil care practices in urban gardening contribute to a sense of ecological belonging, focusing on diverse communities of urban growers from uprooted and migrant backgrounds in a city of the British East Midlands. Based on interviews and fieldwork, it shows how material, affective, and ethical relations in soil care may offer a distinct opening to more-than-human relations of belonging to/with land. Growers repair and nourish soil, connect to pasts and futures of urban land, and navigate affective and ethical ambivalences, reconfiguring place, identity, and more-than-human community.
CommunityOrganic cycleHealthDeveloping approaches to promote uptake of nutritionally optimised hyper local living greens for Alder Hey Children's Hospital patients.
2026Beth Myers · University of Liverpool · United Kingdom
This thesis investigates how fresh greens from controlled environment urban agriculture can support children and families at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The study used an action research approach, including observations and playful interventions like recipe cards and tasting events, to understand engagement barriers and promote nutritious food. Evaluation based on fieldnotes, distribution counts, and informal feedback indicated that small, low-cost materials can improve the atmosphere of clinical spaces and facilitate conversations about food.
HealthFood educationGlobal Health as Vector for Agroecology in Collective Gardens in Toulouse Region (France)
2025Wilkens J., Mombo S., Dumat C. · Urban Science · France (Toulouse)
Examines 11 years of collective urban gardens in the Toulouse region through the lens of global health—encompassing human well-being, soil health, and interspecies interactions—as a driver of agroecological transitions among gardeners.
CommunityHealthBiodiversityOrganic cycleEnvironmental factors influence airborne microplastic deposition in the soil of urban allotment gardens
2025Amato-Lourenço L., Bertoldi C., van Praagh M., Rillig M. · Environmental Pollution · Germany (Berlin)
Investigated vertical distribution of microplastics over 90 days in three Berlin allotment gardens; fibers dominated and peaked in surface layers, with deposition increasing with precipitation and PM2.5 and decreasing with wind velocity.
HealthGreen Social Prescribing: A Before and After Evaluation of a Novel Community-Based Intervention for Adults Experiencing Mental Health Problems
2025Darcy · Health & Social Care in the Community · England, United Kingdom
A before-and-after cohort evaluation of nature-based interventions delivered via green social prescribing referral across English 'test and learn' sites, comparing participants' mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
HealthWelfareCommunityCultivating Well-Being: An Exploratory Analysis of the Integral Benefits of Urban Gardens in the Promotion of Active Ageing
2025Noelia Fernández-Salido, Alfonso Gallego-Valadés, Carlos Serra-Castells, Jorge Garcés-Ferrer · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Spain
Analyzes comprehensive benefits of urban gardens for senior active aging. Demonstrates impact on addressing multimorbidity, disability, frailty, and improving mental well-being and social participation.
HealthWelfareElderlyCommunityFrom Crisis to Opportunity
2025Chris Blythe, Silvio Caputo, Michael Hardman, Paul Milbourne, Mina Samangooei, Victoria Schoen · · United Kingdom
This chapter provides a narrative review of how urban food growing in the UK responded to past crises and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses the positive impacts of urban food growing on individual, household, and community resilience, well-being, environment, and local food systems during the pandemic. The chapter suggests that further recognition and support for urban food growing would improve its ability to respond to future crises.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeAsyl, Gemüse und Nachhaltigkeit: Urban Gardening in einer Unterkunft für geflüchtete Menschen
2025Juliane Forßmann, Simon Goebel · Zeitschrift für Flüchtlingsforschung · Germany
An urban gardening project in a residential facility for up to 230 refugees in Germany aims to counteract precarious living conditions. While the garden offers a low-threshold space for knowledge exchange on resource-saving cultivation, biodiversity, and health promotion, this paper also reflects on the project's limits.
Limited or null effectCommunityWelfareHealthBiodiversityFood educationClimate changeBiochar–Compost blends modulate trace element and nutrient dynamics in rooftop farming systems under Mediterranean conditions
2025Medina Veliu, Hugo López-Romano, Giuseppe Picca, Marco Panettieri, Eduardo Moreno‐Jiménez, Denis Courtier‐Murias, Liliane Jean‐Soro, Johnny Gaspéri, Laura L. de Sosa · Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety · Spain (Madrid)
This study investigated the impact of biochar-amended composts on trace element and nutrient dynamics in rooftop farming systems by cultivating tomatoes, lettuce, and Swiss chard for three years on a Madrid rooftop. Six substrates derived from spent coffee grounds, coffee silverskin, and seaweeds, with and without biochar, were used. Results showed that biochar reduced plant uptake and leaching of trace elements, lowering arsenic uptake by up to 40% in seaweed-based composts. Biochar also improved nutrient retention, reducing phosphorus and nitrogen losses by 40% and 25% respectively.
CompostOrganic cycleHealthProefGroen (Taste Green/Test Green):A healthy diet can also be tasty and sustainable
2025Coosje Dijkstra, Jutka Halberstadt, Jaap Seidell, Arnoud Verhoefff · VU Research Portal · Netherlands (Amsterdam)
In a school garden in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, children were amazed when their teacher pulled a radish from the ground and ate it. Most children followed suit and discovered that their self-harvested salad was tasty without dressing.
Food educationHealthCommunityInvestigation of inorganic nutrients and pollutants in private gardens in central Germany using citizen science
2025Christoph Koch, Maria da Glória Arrais Peter · Environmental Challenges · Germany
This citizen science study analyzed inorganic pollutants in private garden soils in central Germany, including front and backyards. Elevated levels of lead and copper were found in one-third of the samples, and zinc in two-thirds. Chromium and nickel concentrations were also elevated in a quarter of the samples, with some readily available substances exceeding limit values.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthBuilding evidence regarding nature-based solutions indicators and their implications for policy – the case of air quality
2025Corina Başnou, Geovana Mercado, Åsa Ode Sang, Thomas B. Randrup, Verónica Fabio, Adrián Cabezas, Arnau Lluch, Marc Montlleó, Juan Miguel Kanai, Riccardo Saraco, Olívia Bina, Tom Wild · Nature-Based Solutions · Europe
An overview and guidance for air pollution indicators in nature-based solutions (NBS) for urban green planning and public health were provided, using three case studies in Europe and Latin America. The study noted that approaches including multidimensional indicators in research, planning, and policies are limited, and national standards for some air pollutants are missing with little evidence for health effect thresholds. Findings also indicated that knowledge of pollutant uptake in edible plants can suggest potential human exposure risks.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPolicyClimate changeCooling benefits of Urban agriculture to inhabitants—mapping cooling potential of allotments in European functional urban areas
2025Grzegorz Budzik, Marta Sylla, Catharina J.E. Schulp · Journal of Environmental Management · Europe
The cooling potential of allotments across European Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) was assessed. Allotments provide cooling services to 4.1 million people within FUAs, including 1.7 million in Germany. Each square kilometer of allotments cools an average of 8,221 people, with the cooled area being, on average, 2.8 times larger than the allotment size. Urban agriculture was 23% more efficient than peri-urban agriculture, but only 5% of allotments cooled areas with the highest heat risk.
Climate changeCommunityHealthFair food futures UK: Protocol for a mixed methods study exploring what approaches adopted by community food organisations are more likely to prevent the need for emergency food in two multicultural communities in Northern and Southern England
2025Laura Sheard, Giorgia Previdoli, Wendy Burton, Rachel Benchekroun, Maddy Power, Bob Doherty, Philip Hadley, Ariadne Beatrice Kapetanaki, Shahid Islam, Sairah Mirza, Claire Cameron, Kate E. Pickett, Angela Hutton, Charlotte Edwards, Maria Bryant · PLoS ONE · United Kingdom
This research protocol describes a mixed-methods study aiming to understand which approaches adopted by community food organizations are most likely to prevent the need for emergency food in two multicultural communities in Bradford and Tower Hamlets, England. The study will create a typology of community food organization approaches through surveys, system mapping workshops, and stakeholder interviews, and will conduct a 12-month ethnographic study in up to 10 organizations and longitudinal qualitative research with up to 35 families.
CommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceHealthHow do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods
2025Juan Diego Torres, Sara R. Jaeger, Patricia Puerta, Amparo Tárrega · Applied Food Research · Spain
This study investigated Spanish consumers' perceptions of five lettuce cultivation systems using explicit and implicit methods with 105 participants. Local/small agriculture was most favorably regarded, while urban community gardens were perceived as less safe for lettuce production. High-tech greenhouses were considered safer but less sustainable, and vertical indoor farming elicited a surprise reaction due to low familiarity.
Limited or null effectCommunityHealthEconomicsQuality of Constructed Technogenic Soils in Urban Gardens Located on a Reclaimed Clay Pit
2025Dariusz Gruszka, Katarzyna Szopka, Cezary Kabała · Land · Poland (Wroclaw)
This study in Wroclaw, Poland, investigated the quality of constructed technogenic soils in urban gardens located on a reclaimed clay pit. Despite beneficial physicochemical properties and high fertility in the topsoil layers, the soils were seriously contaminated with trace elements, including zinc (up to 1700 mg kg−1), lead (920 mg kg−1), copper (740 mg kg−1), cadmium (5.1 mg kg−1), mercury (7.4 mg kg−1), and arsenic (5.1 mg kg−1). This contamination, likely from industrial and urban waste used for mine infilling, compromises soil quality and poses potential health and ecological risks.
Contamination & food safetyHealthFrom crisis to opportunity: exploring urban food growing in the UK during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
2025Chris Blythe, Silvio Caputo, Michael Hardman, Paul Milbourne, Victoria Schoen · Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) · United Kingdom
This chapter examines the impact of urban food growing on individual, household, and community resilience, well-being, environment, and local food systems in the UK during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on survey and research data. It discusses the potential role of urban food growing in post-pandemic food security, environment, health, and society, and considers how "crisis gardening" experiences are leading to calls for new approaches to urban food growing in the UK.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeGreening for meaning: Sense of place in green citizen initiatives in the Netherlands
2025Mellany N.C. van Bommel, Marthe L. Derkzen, Lenneke Vaandrager · Wellbeing Space and Society · Europe
This mixed-methods study aimed to understand the meanings attributed to green citizen initiatives in the Netherlands by using the concept of sense of place and to investigate which factors predict this sense of place. Surveys (n=130) were used alongside interviews with 38 participants from ten green citizen initiatives. Findings demonstrate a strong sense of place among participants, which was significantly predicted by meaningful experiences, a sense of safety within the initiative, and length of involvement. Participation in green citizen initiatives appears to create meaning across place attachment, place identity, place dependence, and a broader societal meaning of place.
CommunityHealth