This paper reports experiences of health and well-being common to actors in community gardens in Berlin and Paris. Community gardening has become an ever growing phenomenon since the 1990s, and to a larger extend since 2000 in western European cities. Despite the promising research from the US that has shown that community gardens have a potential for health promotion, there is a dearth of evidence from Europe. This study tries to fill this gap and maps the potential of community gardens for health and well-being as explained and experienced by the gardeners. The effect of community garden projects on human health and well-being cannot be reduced to the effect of nature on health alone. This study shows that there are at least two other major mechanisms at play, if we want to understand the phenomenon or evaluate its effects, namely the effects of community and 'free and open spaces'. Gardeners report health-related experiences with green space, such as stress relief and feeling of calm and vitality and increased well-being through sensual experiences and observing nature. Furthermore the garden projects open up a social space, which for many gardeners creates experiences of health through regular social contact, experiences of joy of sharing and having activities together. Furthermore, the community garden project was proposed to create a context and opportunities for flow, creativity and self-efficacy if it is a free and open space. However, not all experiences on well-being in CGPs are postive, and to all these spaces and their effects there are also certain limitations and conditions. Moreover, this study makes a theoretical contribution to the concept of health and well-being on the basis of the fuzziness around the concept of health encountered in the field. I propose that a holistic concept of health might be most suitable to describe health related to bottom-up community action like community gardens. To assess the effects of such projects in terms of well-being, this concepts should be dissentagled into the concept of health and happiness, whereas happiness in turn relates not only to life satisfaction but also to eudaimonian happiness related to meaning and doing good. Although this research project could not be comprehensive enough to provide all necessary evidence to evaluate health effects of community gardens, we believe that it provides viable paths for investigations into community driven health promotion and emerging healthy settings.

The overall goal of this thesis project was to explore principles of sustainable development through planning and design. A 60-hectare site was chosen in Surrey, where two different community plans were designed based on the proposed Clayton general land use plan. The first community plan was based on typical or status quo development principles. The second community plan was based on alternative or sustainable principles of development as described in the East Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan. These two plans were then compared using nine different economic, ecological and social parameters. Further detailed design was then done for two areas on the alternative community plan; Stormwater Park, an integrated park and school site, and the Community Garden. Typical residential and commercial streets were also illustrated in detail. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

When it comes to the topic of environmental sustainability, most of us will readily agree that we face a litany of local and global environmental threats in the twenty-first century. As such, we would largely agree that the need to address climate change and other issues is urgent. Where this agreement tends to end, however, is on the question of whether this urgency is so great that we need not address issues of inequality and environmental justice when organizing sustainability efforts. Some are convinced that, because sustainability efforts are "saving the world for everyone", so to speak, issues of environmental justice are secondary at best. On the other hand, "just sustainability" advocates argue that no such effort is truly sustainable unless it considers winners and losers from the onset. I will argue the latter and demonstrate the potential consequences of a sustainability effort that has failed thus far at engaging those who might benefit most from involvement. This study is an exploration of the City Soil Network (CSN), a community garden organization comprised of seventeen garden sites throughout Portland, Oregon. Thirteen of these sites are in Northeast Portland, an area with a history of racial and ethnic discrimination and both inequalities and boundaries that prevail across the same lines today. A significant number of these residents are food insecure or at risk of becoming food insecure. Furthermore, recent gentrification in Northeast Portland has disproportionately displaced African Americans and members of other historically marginalized communities. As such, these groups tend to view recent neighborhood changes as a new variation on a decades old theme of injustice. Previous research suggests that community gardens can play a role in addressing all of these problems to some degree. However, this body of research has yet to explicitly analyze the relationship between local historical context, gentrification, the conflicting rhetorics of environmental sustainability and environmental justice and outcomes for community garden organizations. This case study includes content analysis of organizational publications, participant observation from four of the CSN's garden sites in Northeast Portland. It also includes interviews with eleven members of the CSN, representing all three levels of involvement with the organization, and six interviews with representatives of community organizations that serve Northeast Portland in some capacity. This study finds that the CSN largely consists of members of a preexisting community of sustainable agriculture enthusiasts. As such, those involved tend not to live near their garden site(s) and are distinct in a number of ways from the diverse neighborhoods that surround many of the CSN's garden sites. The organization has made very few neighborhood-level outreach efforts thus far, and those that have been made have largely been unsuccessful. Understandings expressed by both groups of interviewees help to explain why this has been the case. They also compel me to introduce the potentially adverse impact of gentrification on understandings of neighborhood socioeconomic conditions into the just sustainability debate; we need to consider that unjust sustainability can be the result of not only a lack of concern for inequality, but also a simple lack of awareness of it. Interviewees also provide suggestions for how the CSN or other community garden organizations might be more successful in appealing to marginalized communities.

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The thesis Urban green spaces and its institutional framework attempts to analyze different cases of urban green spaces foundation and administration in which various public and private entities act. Based on these foundations it tries to come with an overview of the most important forms of provision of greenery in cities. Through research of available literature we came to the understanding that greenery in urban environments is not just a result of municipal service provided by a public authority but to its foundation, administration, financing and maintenance contribute also other entities. The overview created in the thesis is not exhaustive but can serve as an inspiration for various subjects at a time when local public authorities do not have sufficient resources to ensure satisfactory range and quality of public green.

The impact of morbidity and mortality on women’s coping strategies has not been explored or documented in South Africa. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of morbidity and mortality on coping strategies among 10 community vegetable garden clubs representing 79 households in the Maphephetheni uplands, rural KwaZulu-Natal. An innovative mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies was used to determine the impacts of morbidity and mortality on women’s coping strategies. Qualitative research methodologies included group sustainable livelihoods analyses. Quantitative methodologies included three annual household surveys conducted between 2003 and 2005. The coping strategy index was also used to determine the levels of food insecurity and understand how morbidity and mortality compromised the coping ability of participating households. The coping strategy index has not been previously used in assessing the impact of morbidity and mortality on coping strategies. Chi-Square tests, Pearson correlation, paired-sample t-tests, and frequency and descriptive statistics were applied to analyse data. The study found that the key contribution of women in community gardening and non-farm activities was compromised by the burden of morbidity and mortality that had negative effects on women’s coping strategies. Findings indicated that the frequency of illness among garden club and household members increased between 2003 (21.2% of household members) and 2004 (25%). Similarly, more households (42% of the sample households) experienced a death in 2004 compared to 7.6 percent of households in 2003. As a result, costs associated with health care and funerals were significantly (P = 0.01) lower in 2003 than in 2004. Most garden club and household members relied on subsidised medication to treat illness. Number of households dependent on subsidised medication dropped from 86 percent of households in 2003 to 66.7 percent in 2004. In 2004, households reported purchasing medication in addition to subsidised medication. Caring for the sick and contributions to household chores were significantly (P = 0.01) correlated in 2003 and 2004. This means that increased caring for sick members resulted in increased workloads for women. Caring for the sick and engagement in community garden activities were significantly (P = 0.01) correlated in both 2003 and 2004, suggesting that caring for the sick reduced participation in community gardens. Analysis showed that reduced labour supply due to increased incidences of sickness and deaths, increased health care and funeral costs, reduced household income and increased care-giving minimised women’s ability to cope with adverse situations. Women used erosive coping strategies such as borrowing money, selling assets, limiting portion sizes at meal times and relying on less preferred and less expensive foods to cushion the effects of morbidity and mortality. Application of erosive coping strategies minimises household resilience to future shocks and stresses. Findings showed that farm and non-farm livelihood activities were critical components of rural livelihoods in Maphephetheni because sample households depended on community gardens, home gardens and small-scale non-farm enterprises for food and income to cushion the negative effects of morbidity and mortality. Community gardening contributed less to total monthly household income (4% of total monthly household income) than wages (41%), social grants (40.9%), home gardens (7%), small-scale enterprises (4.2%) and remittances (2.9%). Even though low, the contribution of community gardens to food security cannot be ignored considering the number of households (about 32% of sample households) that depended upon subsistence agriculture for food. Further analysis indicated that community gardens were themselves a coping strategy in the face of morbidity and mortality. Community gardens provided a risk aversion strategy and minimised risk by providing food resources and social and moral support for households facing hardship. Strategies to enhance household asset bases and promote more productive farm and non-farm activities are needed to improve resilience against the effects of morbidity and mortality. Government and non-governmental organisations need to establish a multi-purpose centre where women can learn agricultural and entrepreneurial skills to help households cope more effectively with shocks and stresses. However, such strategies should ensure that tasks allocated to various activities such as community gardening, non-farm activities and household chores such as fuel and water collection should be distributed equally across household members so that women do not carry excessive workloads since increased workloads reduce women’s ability to respond to livelihood insecurity shocks and stresses. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

South Africa as other African countries has not been spared from the rural poverty. The South African government is trying to address this problem through various government departments. One such ministry trying to address rural poverty is the Ministry of Agriculture, working together with the provincial Ministries of Agriculture in different provinces. The provision of appropriate agricultural extension services is regarded as a tool that may be used to address rural poverty and development in South Africa’s rural areas. Appropriate extension services will depend on the knowledge management system applied by the organisation making it innovative and responsive to the needs of the farmers. The objective of this research was therefore to identify knowledge management systems applied by extension workers to support community garden farmers in the uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. To address the objective, qualitative research methods, namely focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews, were used. In this research, it was evident that the extension workers were not efficiently managing knowledge within their department, among themselves as well as among the farmers. The extension workers have potential knowledge management methods in place, such as departmental meetings. However, the extension workers’ practices do not capture the true essence of knowledge management. There is no evidence that knowledge gained by extension workers during meetings and informal discussions in the organisation is translated into learning, which could lead to the development of new knowledge by the extension workers. The extension workers claimed that they are using appropriate methods to learn from the farmers and to share knowledge with them. However, the farmers do not believe that the extension workers make use of any methods to encourage knowledge sharing and learning. It is thus evident that extension workers do not integrate knowledge gained from the farmers into the improvement of their own agricultural extension practices. Agricultural extension organisations therefore need to adopt methods that encourage learning, reflection and engagement with the knowledge gained from the organisation and the farmers for real knowledge management to take place. This, in essence, will lead to the creation, sharing, utilization, absorption and transformation of knowledge. / Thesis (M.Agric.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

While South Africa is nationally food secure, the m ajority of rural households are food insecure. Community and home gardens are widel y promoted to alleviate food insecurity. Households in the Maphephetheni Uplands , KwaZulu-Natal have come together to cultivate community gardens, producing food crops for consumption and selling surpluses. This study evaluated the contrib ution of community gardens towards alleviating food insecurity in the Maphephe theni Uplands. A survey was conducted among 53 participants of community garden s and their households. A questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to evaluate the following household food security measures: anxiety and uncer tainty about food supply; consumption of a variety of preferred foods; consum ption of sufficient quantities of food; and the prevalence of food insecurity. Eighty percent of the participating households had insufficient food intake, 72% consum ed food of inadequate quality and 89% were anxious and uncertain about food suppl ies. Among the households surveyed using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, 88.7% were categorised as severely food insecure, often going a day withou t eating, going to bed hungry or running out of food for more than ten days in a mon th. Eight percent of households were moderately food secure, and three percent were mildly food insecure. No households were food secure according to the classi fication. Only 11% of the household food was sourced from community gardens, while 83% was purchased and six percent was sourced from home gardens. Limited community garden sizes, drought, floods, theft, pests and diseases were ide ntified by community gardeners as factors limiting the contribution of community gard ens to household food security. Community gardens have not alleviated food insecuri ty among the participating households. It is recommended that an investigation should be carried out on how productivity could be improved through appropriate crop husbandry practices to reduce crop loses. Since purchasing is the main sou rce of food among community gardeners, alternative income generating activities need to be investigated. / Thesis (M.Agric.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This study evaluated the contribution of urban agriculture (community gardens) to food security in Emfuleni Local Municipality in Gauteng province. The objectives were to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of farmers in urban community gardens; followed by determining contribution of urban community gardens to food security with specific reference to food availability, food accessibility, food utilisation and food stability; evaluating the factors that influence food utilisation of the farmers in urban community gardens and lastly conducting SWOT analysis of urban community gardens. The sample size of 254 farmers was randomly selected from 418 farmers located in 30 urban community gardens in Emfuleni Local Municipality. Furthermore, the study adopted purposive sampling for deliberately selecting one key informant from 30 urban community gardens that participated in the study. Quantitative research approach was employed using a survey design. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured survey questionnaire. Quantitative data was analysed by the use of Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23.0. The analysis included both descriptive (mean, standard deviation, standard error or mean and others) and inferential statistics and table frequency. Qualitative data was analysed using code and themes; and converted into frequencies. The study revealed that there were more females (71.3%) that participated in the community gardens than males (28.7%); only 23.2% of youth (<35 years) participated in community gardens. Majority (59.4%) of respondents spoke Sesotho while majority (53.5%) were not married (single). The main source of income of most (78.7%) respondents was farming activities precisely urban community gardens. The study found that community gardens contribute to food availability with regards to providing freshly produce vegetables, high consumption of vegetables and ensured that families of the beneficiaries ate sufficient vegetables produced from the gardens. Although there is uncertainty among some of the respondents that vegetables produced were not sufficient, only few respondents were concerned. Majority (96.7%) of community gardens produced vegetables for selling and consumption. It was therefore found that, in relation to food accessibility, an average of 47% did not experience anxiety, uncertainty and had consumed sufficient quantities of vegetables from the community gardens. With regards to food utilisation, majority of the respondents were consuming vegetables as a relish whereas others consumed vegetables for various reason such salad, health reasons and others as presented in the results section. On vegetable consumption pattern, it is concluded that gender, age group, level of education, participation period in community gardens, family size, number of family member working, number of working hours in the community garden per day, number of day working in the community garden per month and annual income from community garden influenced vegetables consumption pattern of the respondents (utilisation) in the study area. Coping strategies which were mostly adopted by the respondents to ensure food stability were: reducing vegetable intake to ensure that children ate enough, purchasing of vegetables on credit, reducing vegetables in the daily meals and borrowing money to buy vegetables. Some of the challenges that hindered vegetable production in urban community gardens were theft of garden tools and crops produce, lack of fencing and eating of vegetables by stray animals. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

No description available.