Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
370 results(1 / 15)
Taming the green gentrification cycle? Evidence from street greening in Vienna
2026· Urban Geography · Austria (Vienna)
Mixed-method analysis (1991–2021) of Vienna street-tree greening and its link to tenure commodification and exclusionary displacement, showing greening drives a gentrification cycle except where housing is heavily decommodified—pinpointing when greening policy backfires.
PolicyWelfarePromoting health and inclusion of people with refugee backgrounds through horticulture: A mixed-methods systematic review
2026Louise Emma O'Connor, Sarah Jay · Social Science & Medicine · Global
A mixed-methods systematic review searching four databases for research published between 2015 and 2024 on horticulture and the health and inclusion of people with refugee backgrounds; 20 peer-reviewed studies were included and integrated using a 'best-fit' framework synthesis. Horticultural activity is reported to support mental, physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, cognitive and economic wellbeing, and to enhance social inclusion through social connections, social capital, collective identity and intercultural exchange. With only 20 studies, mostly qualitative, the review does not quantify effect sizes or identify the conditions under which these benefits do or do not occur.
WelfareCommunityHealthFood is Medicine in Action: Dietary and Food Security Outcomes of a Health Care–Based Community-Supported Agriculture Program
2026Kathryn Colasanti, Flavio Di Stefano, Jae Gerhart, Alison Shores, Katelyn Smoger · Health Promotion Practice · Global
This study explored the dietary intake and food security impacts of a healthcare-based Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with dual referral pathways, collecting 164 pretest-posttest surveys. Findings showed increased fruit and vegetable intake and improved household food security after program participation. However, no correlation was found between changes in food security status and length of participation, nor was there a significant relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and length of participation.
CSA & TeikeiHealthWelfareNIÑEZ, DIVERSIDAD FUNCIONAL Y AGROECOLOGÍA: APRENDIZAJES EN UN HUERTO URBANO INCLUSIVO DE CHILE
2026Josué Martínez-Lagos, Homero Barría Ojeda, Gabriel Peña Peña · · Chile
This study documented an agroecological urban gardening intervention at the Teletón Institute in Puerto Montt, Chile, focusing on children with functional diversity. An inclusive urban garden and workshop program integrated educational and therapeutic processes. Results showed that 71% of participants identified at least ten vegetable species, 64% understood their life cycles, 79% progressed in functional and autonomy dimensions, and 93% perceived the garden as promoting well-being.
Food educationHealthCommunityWelfareACTIVITIES OF AGRICULTURAL LABOR SQUADS OF PUPILS IN THE PSKOV PROVINCE IN 1915-1916 (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE REGIONAL PERIODICAL PRESS)
2026V.V. KARPOVA · History of Everyday Life · Russia
This study, based on regional periodical press, traces the activities of pupil labor squads in Pskov province during 1915-1916, which provided charitable assistance to peasant families during World War I. Field squads had limited reach due to small numbers and insufficient funding, but gardening squads organized in 1916 gained popularity, cultivating public and school gardens to increase vegetable production for hospitals.
Food educationCommunityWelfareAgricultural Functions of Town in Conditions of Low Indicators of Natural Resource Potential
2026A. I. Danshin · Geografičeskaâ sreda i živye sistemy · Russia
This study aimed to identify the agricultural functions of small towns, including their role in providing additional income, in regions bordering Belarus with low natural resource potential and living standards. The current state of agricultural production in small towns was studied based on systematic observations and statistical information verified during 2023–2024 expeditionary studies. Findings revealed that residents use personal utility plots due to traditions, low incomes, insufficient store assortments, and to assist children in other regions.
EconomicsWelfareDIYFood security approach: community experience in urban agriculture, El Mirador community, Usme Locality (Bogotá, 2021)
2026Sonia Patricia Lizarazo Hernández, Lamprea Zona Martha, Cardona Castaño Juan Camilo · Huellas · Colombia (Bogotá)
This research aimed to document the community's experience with urban agriculture from a food security perspective in the El Mirador community, Usme locality, Bogotá, Colombia, in 2021. Workshops, field visits, and collaborative activities were conducted in community-created gardens, and information was analyzed using a participatory approach. Participants highlighted that food security offers economic and well-being opportunities for families, and urban agriculture has become a mechanism for integration and coexistence.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityEconomicsWelfareModelo de Emprendimiento Colaborativo para Adultos Mayores en el Ecuador
2026Wilmer Gustavo Gualotuña Pachacama, Viviana Alexandra Brito Moya, Xiomara Gabriela Zambrano Quimbiulco, Patricia Estefania Aguaiza Loja · Revista Conectividad · Ecuador
This study proposes and validates a collaborative entrepreneurship model to promote social inclusion and integral well-being for older adults in Pichincha province, Ecuador. Through a survey of 2,941 older adults and a pilot experience with 40 participants in Cutuglagua, activities for developing and marketing urban garden kits were implemented. Results showed visible improvements in strengthening social networks, increasing self-esteem, developing entrepreneurial competencies, and a greater perception of older adults regarding social activities.
ElderlyCommunityWelfareEconomicsCommunity Gardens as a Strategy to Address Food Insecurity: A Community-Based Qualitative Study
2026Agaezi Sonya · Community Medicine & Public Health Care · Global
This qualitative study explores community gardens as a strategy to address food insecurity, which disproportionately affects low-income and marginalized communities. Community gardens are presented as local spaces that may enhance access to nutritious foods and promote social connection and cultural continuity.
CommunityWelfareHealthCultivando inquietudes nos mantenemos vitales: una experiencia de participación de personas con deficiencia visual grave en un huerto urbano
2026N. Bueno Pulido · RED Visual Revista Especializada en Discapacidad Visual · Global
This 2026 study describes an activity for older adults with severe visual impairment or blindness, affiliated with ONCE, who moved from rural areas to cities and experience loneliness. Recognizing their nostalgia for rural life and gardening, the project connected them with community urban gardens managed by neighborhood and environmental associations. The activity, part of the "Somos vitales" initiative, involved three sessions focused on active collaboration, interaction, and sharing, aiming to revitalize participants and foster new connections.
CommunityElderlyHealthWelfareThe Narratives of Community Garden Beneficiaries of Gawad Kalinga ERH Village: A Social Behavioral Change Evaluation
2026Joshua Eusebio Jr · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Philippines (Bacolod City)
This study assessed the social and behavioral changes of Project Kauswagan, a youth-led community garden initiative in Gawad Kalinga ERH Village, Bacolod City, Philippines, implemented from May 2024 to March 2025. Data from focus group discussions with key community leaders revealed six major themes, including empowerment, formation of community habits, shifts in attitudes toward sharing and collaboration, and positive impact on food security. The project strengthened collaboration and enhanced food accessibility for marginalized groups, particularly women.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareFood educationDIYPerceptions of a community-gardening program: Insights from the TRIOWell pilot with low-active, middle-aged African American women
2026Canton I., Harris S., Jakachira V., Aguinaga S. · Journal of Health Psychology · 米国
A qualitative study of 11 low-active, middle-aged African American women who took part in an eight-week culturally tailored community-gardening intervention, interviewed afterwards. The intervention included a "Black History Knowledge" (BHK) component intended to make it more salient, and its acceptability was examined. Inductive coding produced three themes: preparing for and actively making behaviour changes; a newfound opportunity for community engagement and camaraderie; and opportunities to reconstruct and enrich the intervention's components. The authors argue community gardening may support health-behaviour change among Black women, with relationships central, and discuss scaling up. The sample is small (n = 11) and the findings are qualitative and at pilot stage.
HealthWelfareCommunityThe Role of Urban Planning Decisions in the Formation of Food Deserts: From Structural Causes to Justice-Oriented Holistic Strategies
2026Büşra Gül KARACA, Duygu GÖKCE · Kent Akademisi · Global
This study comprehensively examined 26 scientific studies published between 2008 and 2025 from a spatial perspective, demonstrating that food desert formation is a multi-layered structural problem directly related to spatial planning processes and urban planning decisions, rather than individual socioeconomic deficiencies. The literature review revealed that food deserts are systematically produced by planning-based practices such as single-function zoning decisions, single-centered urban development models, and the absence of urban agriculture in legislation, not solely by a lack of physical access. Access disadvantages persist, particularly in peripheral neighborhoods and areas with high concentrations of low-income groups, and a significant gap exists in developing applicable policies for medium-sized cities due to the literature's focus on metropolitan areas.
Equity & displacementPolicyHealthEconomicsWelfareImpact Study of the Community Project in Purok 21, Barangay Mintal, Davao City
2026Matias Jr. Mercado, Glessie Jean Langtad, Martin Corador · International Journal of Sustainability and Advanced Integrated Research · Philippines (Davao City)
This study evaluated the perceived impact and overall success of the Holy Cross of Mintal (HCM, Inc.) community extension program in Purok 21, Mintal, Davao City, Philippines. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design, utilizing surveys from 150 respondents and in-depth interviews with 15 participants, was employed. Findings revealed a very high level of perceived program impact (M = 4.66) and overall success (M = 4.65) across five program dimensions: Education, Livelihood, Feeding, Urban Gardening, and Catechism. All dimensions significantly predicted success, with the Feeding program being particularly impactful, and qualitative results highlighted themes such as spiritual strengthening, improved health, knowledge development, environmental awareness, and economic empowerment.
CommunityFood educationWelfareConceptualizing indigenous food sovereignty in Aotearoa New Zealand
2026Nikki Renall, L. Te Morenga · Global Perspectives on Nutrition · New Zealand
This study, guided by Kaupapa Māori research principles, explored how the revitalization of mahinga kai practices (traditional foodways) in Aotearoa New Zealand can advance wellbeing, socioeconomic equity, and food sovereignty for Māori. Conducted in two phases, the research identified three themes explaining how mahinga kai enhances Māori wellbeing: reclaiming mātauranga, reconnecting to ancestral whenua, and restoring Papatūānuku. Food sovereignty was understood as an adaptive system where cultural meaning lies in how food is produced, shared, and sustained within Māori values and knowledge systems, leading to the development of "The Mahinga Kai Framework: Enacting Food Sovereignty."
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityHealthWelfareRewilding the animal who lives with the city: belonging through growing
2026Andy Harrod · Urban Eidos · Global
This creative-relational inquiry explores how community gardens can address the declining sense of belonging and increasing loneliness in Western cities, attributed to hyper-individualism. It argues that community gardens, as growing third places, offer affective environments that support participants' wellbeing, belonging, and interconnectivity. The inquiry emphasizes the need to co-create free, accessible, and available affective environments to counter loneliness.
CommunityHealthWelfarePractical Application of Ethical Research Principles: Developing and Implementing Grassroots Food Security Research With the Yarrabah Aboriginal Community
2026Judith Maher, Derlene Gray, Kirby Murtha, Muriel Bond, Kora Uhlmann, Kristen Tulloch, Sarah Burkhart, Tricia King, Lynne Stuart · Health Promotion Journal of Australia · Australia
This paper describes the development and implementation of a home gardening project with the Yarrabah Aboriginal Community in Australia, which aimed to promote food security, health, and wellbeing. The research team demonstrated how ethical principles, including spirit and integrity, responsibility, respect, reciprocity, equity, and cultural continuity, were practically integrated into the project, which unfolded in an iterative, nonlinear fashion prioritizing community connections.
Food sovereignty & justiceHealthCommunityWelfareUrban Gardening in der Sozialen Arbeit und in Bildungseinrichtungen – ein Leitfaden aus dem Wassermelonengarten
2026Juliane Forßmann · OPUS der Technischen Hochschule Augsburg · Global
This guideline extracts successful urban gardening strategies and effective pedagogical interventions from a three-year social community garden project, "Wassermelonengarten," located on the grounds of a family collective accommodation for refugees. The garden served as a laboratory for social work students and residents to explore simple, cost-effective urban gardening techniques and group relationship and project design, aiming to improve the quality of life for all involved. The guideline is intended as a resource for those developing urban gardening projects in social work and educational settings, focusing on strengthening social cohesion and preserving healthy soils and biodiversity.
CommunityFood educationWelfareBiodiversityRevisiting the secret garden: (de)territorialising student transience through stories from a university garden
2026Kirsten Lambert, Janene Sproul · International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education · Global
This research explored the experiences of university students participating in a university community garden project during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, using qualitative semi-structured interviews. The study found that the garden became a home for transient and often marginalized students by decentering normative conceptions of university space. It also highlights that community gardens offer divergent spaces for neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ students.
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityWelfareCultivar saberes na EJA: uma revisão sistemática sobre educação, trabalho e sustentabilidade
2026Manoel Hélio Sousa Santos, Bruno Matos de Farias · RCMOS - Revista Científica Multidisciplinar O Saber · Global
This systematic qualitative literature review, following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, analyzed 20 documents to understand how recent academic production articulates education, work, and sustainability within Youth and Adult Education (EJA), focusing on school gardens. The literature recognizes gardens as a social technology that integrates ecological knowledge, cooperative practices, autonomy-building, and income generation, especially in socioeconomically vulnerable contexts. Gardens are concluded to be a powerful pedagogical device for EJA, contributing to critical environmental education, popular economy, and emancipatory practices.
Food educationWelfareCommunityEconomicsCommunity-supported agriculture and allotment gardens as collective forms of food production – Investigating the effect of social capital on perceived benefits
2025Neumann V., Schmid B., El Benni N., Finger R. · Land Use Policy · Switzerland
Survey of 500 members of community-supported agriculture and allotment gardens in Switzerland showing social capital has a significantly positive effect on members' perceived benefits, highlighting the social value of collective urban food production.
CommunityEconomicsWelfareUrban Agriculture Interventions in Refugee and Immigrant Communities: A Scoping Review
2025Langerman S., Juarez N., Magan I. M. · Journal of Urban Health 102:857-871 · Global
Scoping review of 42 studies (1990-2024) on urban agriculture interventions for refugees and immigrants, identifying five domains (well-being, physical health, ecological, economic, sociological), with social outcomes most common.
WelfareCommunityHealthUnderstanding community garden volunteers' well-being transformation: an exploratory study from a liminality perspective
2025· Leisure Studies · Global
Conceptualizes community gardens as liminal spaces, showing that volunteering suspends everyday roles and opens avenues for psychological and emotional reorientation and well-being transformation.
WelfareHealthCommunityCrop-Livestock Integration in Urban Agriculture: Implication for Urban Food Security in Ghana
2025· Food and Energy Security · Ghana
Examines how integrating crop and livestock production within urban agriculture affects urban food security in Ghana.
Organic cycleEconomicsWelfareCultivating resilient communities: The role of home/community gardening in the Illawarra–Shoalhaven region of Australia
2025Pickles, J. · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Australia
Situational analysis of civic gardeners in peri-urban region of Australia showing food gardening contributes to health, environmental sustainability, and more equitable local food systems
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityWelfare