Gardening Initiatives Research Articles

On the irrelevance of (peat-free) substrates - Qualitative insights into the social practices of hobby gardeners in Germany

Reducing peat consumption in hobby gardening offers considerable potential for reducing CO2 emissions, since peatlands are one of the most important natural carbon sinks. While existing research focuses on the products and their diffusion, we focus on people and their practices of gardening. So we conducted 44 interviews with hobby gardeners in Germany from three different contexts: gardening at home, in an allotment garden, and in an urban gardening initiative. Our findings show that substrates are not a major part of gardeners' social interactions. Purchasing substrates is a utility-driven process with, compared to gardening itself, mostly passive information behavior. Although (basic) knowledge about peat is widespread among hobby gardeners, price is the dominant purchase criterion for substrates; sustainability does not play an important role. Our results suggest that communication campaigns by governments and companies should convey substrate-related messages in those places where gardeners go to seek information, e.g. gardening-related publications. Communication should focus on the functional value of peat-free substrates and not just explain environmental benefits. Lastly, campaigns should target home gardeners rather than urban gardeners and allotment gardeners who rarely buy any substrates but rely on their own production.

Enhancing food security through keyhole gardening in Lesotho

ABSTRACT Keyhole gardens are gaining prominence worldwide due to their sustainable agricultural benefits. Additional evidence is required to inform keyhole gardening policy guidelines for combating food insecurity and poverty. This study employed an endogenous treatment effects estimator with ordered outcomes to assess keyhole gardening impact on food security. The study included data from 2,014 households in Lesotho. Our analysis shows that keyhole gardens have a 30.60% likelihood of achieving food security and reducing moderate and severe food insecurity by 11.02% and 41.62%, respectively. As a result, government and aid agencies should prioritize food-insecure households in keyhole garden initiatives.

A quasi-experimental study to assess the impact of green gardens on elderly anxiety: A socio-ecological perspective

ABSTRACT By 2050, it’s projected that the elderly population will make up approximately 14% of the global populace. United Nations forecasts indicate a notable increase in the average age of Iran’s population, expected to rise from 29.5%–49.4% by 2100, presenting significant societal and environmental challenges for the future. Given this demographic shift, addressing the implications of an aging population in Iran is paramount, underscoring the necessity for a socio-ecological approach. This experimental study seeks to explore the effects of green gardens on the mental well-being of the elderly, employing practical experience and a socio-ecological perspective. The study cohort consisted of elderly individuals residing in eldercare facilities in Kermanshah city, located in western Iran. Utilizing a purposive sampling method, 80 individuals were carefully selected and included in the study. Participants were then randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group (n = 40) and a control group (n = 40), ensuring demographic homogeneity. Adopting a quasi-experimental research design with pre-test/posttest measures and a control group, data were gathered through the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) questionnaire. The results revealed statistically significant differences in anxiety variables—cognitive (p < .01, d = 0.78), arousal (p < .01, d = 1.64), and somatic (p < .01, d = 0.85) aspects—both before and after the implementation of green garden initiatives in eldercare facilities among the experimental group. Conversely, no significant changes were observed in these variables within the control group before and after the intervention. The practical application of the socio-ecological approach has the potential to strengthen the connection between the elderly and their environment, leading to substantial changes in human resources concerning psychological characteristics and contributing to the development of green spaces in urban areas. This research provides valuable insights into addressing the health and well-being of the aging population through socio-ecological interventions. Furthermore, this study has practical and theoretical implications by addressing urban agriculture practices. Overall, this study contributes to urban agriculture practice on one hand and has a significant impact on the health of the elderly on the other hand.

Urban gardening as a risk-reduction strategy – an intersectional analysis of top-down gardening initiatives

In cities around the world, urban gardening is increasingly used as a municipal strategy to tackle both environmental and social risks. In this study we draw on critical and intersectional studies of risk to analyse municipalities’ framing of urban gardening as a way to illuminate how it is entangled with contemporary structures of power. The material consists of strategy documents and information on the municipalities’ websites, and the texts were analysed using critical discourse analysis, which enabled us to integrate a sociocultural, an intersectional and an ecopolitical theoretical approach to risk. We identified two discourses: an eco(no)logical risk discourse where ecological risks were addressed within a capitalist market logic, and a social risk discourse, where focus was on gardening as work training and integration. We found that within these discourses, several gardening subjects appeared, and these could be positioned as either capable of solving and/or mitigating risks, or as at risk and in need of intervention. The results show how the top-down initiating of urban gardens display contemporary inequalities in urban spaces, which are crucial to identify in order to create city spaces that are safe, inclusive and enjoyable for all citizens.

The institutionalisation of urban community gardens in Cape Town, South Africa

AbstractUrban community gardens, once seen as a counter to neoliberal subjectivity, are now perceived as inadvertently reinforcing neoliberal dominance, challenging the progressive goals of urban gardening. This study investigates how the state shapes urban community gardens in alignment with neoliberal principles, potentially diluting their intended advantages. By analysing policies and interviewing state actors supporting urban gardening initiatives and activists, I argue that the state actively cultivates neoliberal subjectivities in these contexts. Unfortunately, state policies and projects often fail to address the root causes of food and nutrition insecurity in urban areas. This neoliberalisation of urban community gardening diminishes their potential to act as tools for advancing food justice in historically disadvantaged communities in Cape Town. Nevertheless, there is hope in the agency of gardeners who are not passive participants in this process. I conclude that relying on the state to implement projects for a more equitable food system may not be a dependable strategy. Instead, urban gardeners must carefully select their allies to effectively pursue their goals.

The urban political ecology of the commons or commoning as a socio-natural process: The case of the Peri-Urban Gardening group in Thessaloniki

This paper casts the foundations for the development of an urban political ecology of the commons, drawing on the case of a guerrilla gardening initiative in Thessaloniki, Greece. In doing so, it draws on the literature of urban political ecology and its ontological and epistemological underpinnings and argues for a reconceptualisation of urban commoning as a socio-natural, productive process. Understanding commoning as inherently socio-natural, the product of discursive and material practices, opens new horizons for both academic research and activist engagement in efforts to imagine and build alternative urban futures. The commoning practices of the Peri-Urban Gardening Group of Karatassou, in Thessaloniki, serve as a heuristic case study for the development of a holistic methodological framework that uncovers the equal significance of discursive and material commoning practices and processes.

The Introduction of Tick-Resistant Gardening Practices Whilst Protecting the Environment

Lyme disease is a vector-borne infectious disease from the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi), which is typically transmitted by ticks. In recent years, Lyme disease has been on the rise in Canada, particularly in Eastern Ontario. As the incidence of Lyme infection is steadily increasing, there is an urgent need for an initiative to help quell the spread by reducing transmission from pathogen-carrying ticks to humans and non-human animals. The challenge lies in implementing an initiative that effectively prevents Lyme transmission without harming the human population, ticks and other non-human animals, or the environment. The proposed solution involves an information booth at a local community market and a gardening initiative that teaches residents the benefits of, as well as how to construct, a tick-repellant backyard in their Kingston, Ontario, neighbourhood, as this region has been identified as a hotspot for Lyme disease. By educating residents with respect to transmission reduction through personal protective strategies and promoting tick-resistant landscaping practices, the hope is that Kingston and the surrounding area will see a reduction in the incidence of Lyme disease.

Dialogic practices of urban gardening in Rome: “Reading for difference” in social innovation

ABSTRACT The paper contributes to the debate on the polyvocal nature of social innovation via the exploration of one of its principal manifestations: urban gardening. Initially, we wonder whether the dualistic reading of urban gardening, as a neoliberal vs revolutionary political initiative, is appropriate and productive, or rather, we should recognize its intrinsic ambiguity and boundary-blurring nature as able to produce novelty. Following Gibson-Graham’s intuition that escaping dichotomies can produce creative socio-political alternatives, we explore the gray area where confrontational stances turn into dialogical practices. We dig deep into the character and agency of three exemplary urban gardening initiatives in Rome, included in the network of Zappata Romana. Our telling shows the inadequacy of a binary reading and sheds light on whether and under what conditions the polyvocal – and contradictory – nature of urban gardening, and social innovation, in general, represents a generative terrain for socially emancipatory and creative practices.

Challenges of urban garden initiatives for food security in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sustainable urban farming is a strategy to improve food availability and food access, and to support food security for the urban population in Malaysia. However, the development of these activities has been affected by several constraints. This article aims to identify the challenges faced by urban farmers in Kuala Lumpur. The challenges of practicing urban gardening were categorised into five groups (technical, resource-related, economic, social and environmental factors). Data were collected via a questionnaire survey distributed to 106 urban farming practitioners from 17 urban gardens in Kuala Lumpur and were analysed using descriptive analysis by tabulating the frequency and percentage. The result showed that highly fluctuating weather, problems with access to available land and financial problems were the main challenges faced by urban farmers in Kuala Lumpur. Furthermore, difficulty in access to a financial institution, lack of commitment and the increased number of pests were also the problems faced by the urban garden. Availability of technical factors is the least issue in this study. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the challenges of urban gardens and socio-demographics. The result showed that there was a weak correlation between technical factors of educational level (r = 0.225) and race (r = 0.210), respectively, as well as between race and social factor (r = 0.201), while there was a moderate correlation between age and environment factor (r = −0.410). There is a need for further work, and comprehensive research should be conducted to capture what actions can be taken to create a policy-making space for urban farmers.

Community Gardens in Michigan: Demographic Attributes of Managers, Neighborhood Characteristics, and the Impacts of a Pandemic

Community gardens are more popular than ever, yet we know little about how leadership structure and neighborhood characteristics relate to programming. Hence, this paper analyzes how the racial/ethnic backgrounds of the community garden leaders are related to the activities the garden undertakes. What types of initiatives do gardens undertake to reduce food insecurity? The paper analyzes how the location of the garden impacts what it does. The article presents novel findings on the impact of leadership and neighborhood characteristics on community garden operations and outcomes. Hence, the essay examines how the race/ethnicity of garden managers and their sex and neighborhood characteristics, such as poverty rate, household income, and racial composition, are related to garden initiatives. Finally, the paper examines how community gardens responded to increased demands for food and services during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. We studied 53 community gardens in Michigan from the summer 2020 through the winter 2021. Whites manage 66% (35) of the gardens, while People of Color manage 34% (18). Roughly half of the gardens are managed by males and the remainder by females. The gardens, which lack paid staff, rely heavily on volunteers. Almost 53% of the gardens are in low-income census tracts (with median income of $40,000 or less). During the pandemic, 31% of the gardens reduced their staff, 51.4% had fewer volunteers than in pre-pandemic times, and 51.9% had increased amounts of people seeking food.

Towards Sustainable Urban Food Systems: Potentials, Impacts and Challenges of Grassroots Initiatives in the Foodshed of Muenster, Germany

Solving fundamental sustainability challenges in our food systems requires political, institutional and socio-technical transformations. Indeed, sustainability transitions are needed. In this paper, we explore the role of civil society in the form of bottom–up grassroots initiatives in the transition towards a sustainable urban food system and examine their potentials, impacts and challenges in the foodshed of Münster in Germany. To this end, relevant initiatives in Münster have been researched and mapped according to explicit criteria, and case studies have been compiled for two of them using questionnaires, interviews and desk research: a community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm Entrup 119 and an urban gardening initiative GrüneBeete e.V. The results indicate that many initiatives in Münster focus on education and information, i.e., raising awareness, rather than offering material alternatives. Six initiatives were studied in more depth using desk research and a questionnaire. Key leverage points identified by the initiatives are in policy, education, networks and communication. Two of these were studied as cases. We see these transition pioneers as paradigmatic role models, providing room for experimentation, social learning and empowerment.

Enhancing urban nature and place-making in social housing through community gardening

There is a growing body of literature examining the multifaceted benefits of community gardens for environmental and social wellbeing. While there are studies examining the increase of grassroots urban gardening initiatives in low income and vulnerable communities, there remains a need for research that explores the lived experiences of individuals in social housing communities with urban nature and community gardens. Individuals living in urban social housing may experience inequalities in access to green infrastructure both within their housing estates as well as the surrounding community. For the past two decades, the Community Greening program at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Australia, has implemented outreach initiatives to support the development and maintenance of community gardens in social housing communities in New South Wales. This article presents the findings from a study conducted with participants at six new community gardens built in social housing communities, focusing specifically on focus group interviews with residents and staff questionnaires to examine the perceived impact of the Community Greening program. The participants’ narratives highlight program outcomes across the key themes of community gardens as sites for knowledge generation and connection to nature, sense of community, and improving residents' sense of pride and public perceptions of public housing. The findings suggest that community gardens enhance green infrastructure in social housing estates and their broader urban locales by improving access to green space and promoting place-making in social housing contexts. We conclude with a discussion of the recommendations and lessons learned that may help to inform future policies and practices when setting priorities that promote social and environmental sustainability in social housing.

Rethinking the Native American medicine wheel garden: from an outdoor classroom to celebration and land acknowledgement

The Native American Medicine Wheel is a powerful tool to bring alive curricular connections from science and history to mathematics and civics as part of schoolyard gardening initiatives. As a living lab these gardens also serve as valuable tools to reinforce lessons on habitat enhancement. However, deeper lessons connected to the cultures of Native Americans and land acknowledgement are embedded throughout and serve as a progressive investment to campus greening initiatives that raise awareness to contemporary social issues.

What motivations drive foreign gardeners to cultivate? Findings from urban gardening initiatives in Lombard municipalities

This paper examines the motivations that drive foreign gardeners to cultivate a garden in Lombard municipalities.Motivations underlying urban gardening are inspired by social, health, environmental and food-related benefits. Several studies document these benefits with reference to the entire population of gardeners, while ignoring the specific perspective of each social subgroup, mainly because of a lack of data. This scarce knowledge is particularly evident for the subset of foreign gardeners, i.e., migrants moving to Italy for work and/or family reasons who decide to cultivate an urban garden in the municipality of their residence. In turn, this prevents municipalities from adopting urban gardening projects that are consistent with the specific requirements of this group.As the regional government has legally recognized the importance of urban gardens and financed their realization, the Lombard municipalities have promoted many of these practices in their territories over recent years. However, neither the region nor the municipalities have created a database of these practices or collected information on the motivations that lead people in general – and foreign citizens in particular – to cultivate locally.This paper aims to fill that gap by presenting some results gained from the elaboration of two questionnaires sent to both the municipalities and the gardeners themselves.Findings indicate that about 21 % of the responding municipalities promote urban gardening initiatives. Of these municipalities, less than one in five have at least one foreign gardener. Foreign gardeners come mainly from North Africa and Eastern Europe, most of them are over 40 years old, and have usually lived with their families in Lombard municipalities for more than five years. Their motivations consist of a growing interest in participation in local communities, breaching multiple relationships and enforcing participation. Conversely, they attribute little importance to sharing values and strengthening personal and social identities, or to preserving the social ecological memory of ancient practices. Finally, they frequently highlight the contribution of garden cultivation in reducing pollution and in reconnection with food practices, making access to good food a priority.

Making locals through local agriculture: citizenship and urban gardens in Rock Island, Illinois, 1913-2018

ABSTRACT Our research explores the historical continuities and changes in urban gardening through a case study of a small post-industrial city in the Midwest. We argue that although the recent interest in urban gardening is unique in some ways, it follows previous garden initiatives in many of its approaches and goals. While urban agriculture was most visible during political and economic crises in the early and mid-20th century, it has been a constant presence in the city even as the location of gardens and farms have shifted. Settlement house gardens, Victory Gardens, and community gardens today all share a common logic that promotes solutions to poverty by expanding access to healthy foods and green spaces while seeking to improve individual behaviors in marginalized neighborhoods. At the same time, local food movements have always been shaped by understandings of community and citizenship at scales beyond the local. While gardening programs have often failed to acknowledge the deep-seated factors that produce food insecurity, we suggest that present-day local food initiatives offer the possibility of a more inclusive food system based on embodied relationships with agriculture and place, both in the city and beyond.

Models of governance in community gardening: administrative support fosters project longevity

ABSTRACT Positive outcomes from community gardening contribute to the fulfilment of several agendas related to food and nutrition security, urban sustainability, and environmental education. Under this presupposition, several umbrella organisations in the public or nonprofit sectors have been supporting community garden projects. Bottom-up with political and/or administrative support is a governance model in community gardening in which the community plans, implements, and manages a garden with support from the government or non-governmental organisations. Several community gardens in Toronto, Canada, follow this governance structure, which is frequently associated with the success (growing and longevity) of these gardens’ initiatives in the city. This paper provides a better understanding of day-to-day needs in community gardening projects under this governance model, presenting the typical demands for support in different development stages. Using participatory observation and interviews, we approached community gardening initiatives spread in neighbourhoods with diverse economic, social, and cultural features. We interviewed gardeners, garden coordinators, representatives of non-governmental organisations, and government members. Considering the emic perspective, the governance structure that counts with administrative support seems beneficial to the longevity of community gardens, mainly in low-income areas. Despite the diversity of the projects that we studied, land access, funding, help with human resources, and educational opportunities are typical needs in these gardens. Future studies could specify the tradeoffs between bottom-up and top-down governance models in community gardening in distinct political and socio-economic contexts.

The promise and challenges of vegetable home gardening for improving nutrition and household welfare: New evidence from Kasese District, Uganda

Nearly eighty percent of Kasese District residents in Western Uganda pursue subsistence farming on the slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains where soil erosion and poverty contribute to declining agricultural yields, food insecurity, and high rates of stunting and wasting in children. In 2017, the Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy(RCRA) began a pilot home garden program aimed at sustainably improving nutrition for vulnerable households in Kasese. In 2019, the research team investigated whether a home garden intervention for nutritional benefit is an effective entry point to achieve broad household welfare. Data were collected from fifty randomly selected households in four sites with varied degrees of exposure to the garden intervention. Methods included a questionnaire, innovative card sorting game (CSG), 24-hour recall nutrition survey, in-depth interviews, and case stories of diverse Kasese women. Findings show that households experience diverse garden benefits and challenges depending upon baseline conditions, such as access to land, water, and money, as well as the quality and consistency of the technical and material support received.The frequency of vegetable consumption per day showed the most consistently positive results across households,while a 24-hour nutrition survey displayed increased consumption of leafy green vegetables high in iron and vitamin A among families with gardens, leading to ‘stronger children’ (CSG scenario) and improved family health. Further, over seventy percent of families generated income from their gardens, though varying widely in capacity to sell year-round. The garden income earned by women gardeners is spent almost entirely on child welfare. On average, more than ninety percent of garden households save ten percent of their income, primarily through Village Savings Groups. Therefore, regarding our research question, there is evidence to affirm that a home garden intervention for nutritional benefit can be an effective entry point to achieve broad household welfare. This conclusion is supported by numerous previous studies on garden initiatives for improved nutrition around the world.

Community Garden Initiatives Addressing Health and Well-Being Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Infodemiology Aspects, Outcomes, and Target Populations.

Previous research has suggested that activities such as community gardens could offer a wide range of health benefits. The aim of the article is to systematically review the available literature to analyse the magnitude of the phenomenon, the geographical distribution, and the main characteristics in terms of health outcomes and target populations. The search addresses the question whether the activity in community gardens improves health and well-being outcomes of individuals. From the total amount of 7226, 84 selected articles showed that:(1) up to 50% are published by U.S. universities or institutions; (2) up to 44% of the studies considered “community gardens” as the main activity of the research focus; (3) one-third of the studies included adults; (4) almost 25% of the studies used “general health” as the main outcome when investigating the benefits of community gardens; (5) the percentage of studies that achieved their outcomes was heterogeneous among the different health dimensions. In conclusion, while a certain degree of heterogeneity in the used definition and outcome still exist, community gardens may be a viable strategy for well-being promotion in terms of psychological, social, and physical health and may be considered as an innovative urban strategy to promote urban public health.

Community gardening in Hellinikon as a resistance struggle against neoliberal urbanism: spatial autogestion and the right to the city in post-crisis Athens, Greece

ABSTRACT In this paper, we aim to explore how community gardening can embed and foment grassroots resistance to the privatization of urban space in the current configuration of a prolonged socio-economic and ecological crisis in European cities. We focus on the emblematic case of the Hellinikon self-organized garden; a case of guerrilla gardening that emerged as part of a social movement against the real estate development of the former International Airport of Athens. Community gardening in Hellinikon emerged as a resistance struggle against a controversial urban regeneration plan that combined green gentrification with unsustainable development and as a prefigurative politics of radically different sociospatial and socionatural relationships. We argue that community gardening initiatives that are part of broader urban struggles and grassroots activism denote a radical practice that has the potential to challenge crisis-driven dispossessions and claim the right to the city through spatial autogestion. This theorization of community gardening can shed light on the emergence of a new era of urban politics where demands for the re-appropriation of urban space by its inhabitants coalesce with demands for radically different urban socionatures in crisis-ridden megacities linking struggles for the right to the city to struggles for the right to urban nature.

Community gardening during times of crisis: Recommendations for community-engaged dialogue, research, and praxis

Using ongoing reflections from our recent work as members of a community gardening initiative, we outline relevant priorities for researchers, policy­makers, and community practitioners to examine the role of community gardens in addressing the effects of COVID-19 on the lives of intersection­ally diverse growers. To understand how COVID-19 has influenced the practices of community-led urban agricultural spaces, we suggest that future efforts take into consideration three essential areas of focus: uses of community gardening in com­bat­ing food insecurity during a pandemic, changes in community garden operations in response to crises, and community garden­ing’s role in nurturing emotional well-being.