Reviewing University Community Gardens for Sustainability: taking stock, comparisons with urban community gardens and mapping research opportunities

Pedersen, Rebecca Laycock; Robinson, Zoë

doi:10.1080/13549839.2018.1463210

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Student-led food gardens (spaces growing edible plants mainly self-organised by undergraduate or postgraduate students) are even more impacted by the effects of transience given that food-growing is an activity that is knowledge-intensive and requires long-term, place-based engagement. Short-term, irregular, and low participation caused by transience are thought to cause problems in student-led food gardens [5][6][7]. For example, these modes of participation can result in inadequate upkeep of the gardens [5], and inefficiencies which can create tensions between students and non-students [7].…”

Section: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crakementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Short-term, irregular, and low participation caused by transience are thought to cause problems in student-led food gardens [5][6][7]. For example, these modes of participation can result in inadequate upkeep of the gardens [5], and inefficiencies which can create tensions between students and non-students [7]. While students' transience is inevitable in student-led food gardens, the short-term, irregular, and low participation it causes, and their effects, can be mitigated.…”

Section: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crakementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the literature about student mobilities deals with how students' transience affects individual students and the more permanent (non-university) communities that they move into [8], rather than initiatives from within the student community. Given this gap in the literature and the prevalence of student volunteering, there is a need for research to better understand participation in student-led initiatives [4,5]. Therefore, in this paper we answer the following questions:…”

Section: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crakementioning

confidence: 99%

“…University community gardens, of which student-led food gardens are a subset, contribute to a wide range of benefits, including education [5], increasing pro-sustainability attitudes and behaviours [9,10] community building [11,12], and improving access to fresh foods [13,14]. This said, food provision by these gardens is often marginal, and it is the first two benefits mentioned that are especially notable.…”

Section: Benefits Of Community Gardens At Universitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Transience and Participation in University Student-Led Food Gardens

2019

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In an increasingly mobile world, transience is becoming the norm. Sustainable community food initiatives, therefore, must organise to withstand high turnover of volunteers. Using a case study of the United Kingdom’s National Union of Students’ food growing scheme in universities, this paper aims to map the causes and effects of short-term, irregular, and low participation using a causal loop diagram to understand how to mitigate their negative impacts and improve participation. Data was gathered through interviews, workshops, photovoice, a fishbowl discussion, and a reflective diary. We found three amplifying feedback loops increasing short-term, irregular and low participation, their causes, and their impacts. These feedback loops were precariously buffered by a continuous in-flow of new potential participants each academic year. We also found that the stakeholders of these gardens conceptualised time akin to both temporary and permanent organisations, and these differing conceptualisations were a source of tension. Furthermore, although ‘organisational amnesia’ was a problem, the gardens were still learningful spaces. We recommend both upstream and downstream solutions are implemented to buffer the impacts of transience and suggest that university and students’ union staff could play a crucial and subtle supporting role.

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Section: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crakementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crakementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crakementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Benefits Of Community Gardens At Universitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Transience and Participation in University Student-Led Food Gardens

2019

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“…Student transience can cause problems for student-led projects, both in terms of students leaving universities, but also in terms of students reducing their involvement whilst remaining at their institution due to competing interests and commitments from academic deadlines (Leung et al, 2011) or other co-curricular commitments, leading to the depletion of the pool of volunteers (Nesbit et al, 2017). This can lead to the loss of knowledge retention and continuity in a project (Laycock Pedersen and Robinson, 2018), which can cause further disengagement, slow down progress or halt a project. Collaboration between students, the University and SU teams can help to address some of these issues, and help develop a legacy of student-initiated projects, as can be seen with "The Great Donate", "Keele Food Co-op" and the "Student Sustainability Bungalow".…”

Section: Stakeholder Transiencementioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of university, students and students’ union partnerships in student-led projects

Briggs

Robinson

Hadley³

et al. 2019

IJSHE

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Purpose This paper aims to explore a single-institution case study of partnership working between students, the University and Students’ Union, through four student-led sustainability projects. The paper analyses the role and value of these partnerships and provides advice for other institutions on effective partnership working between these stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach A single case study of partnership working with multiple embedded units of analysis (four projects) is presented based on reflections of practitioners involved in the projects who have different roles within the University and Students’ Union. Findings The longevity and effectiveness of student-led projects, and disciplinary-breadth of students engaged, can be enhanced by greater collaboration with, and integration into, University and Students’ Union systems. Partnership working between different stakeholders is key to overcoming challenges and the success of student-led projects, helped by key staff “enablers”. These projects provide myriad learning opportunities for developing change agency skills, even where projects are relatively short-lived and could be seen as failures in terms of longevity. Research limitations/implications This analysis is based solely on practitioner reflections, with limited direct quantification or qualitative data on the projects’ impacts on the students themselves. Originality/value This paper draws together the experiences and reflections of four practitioners with different roles within the University and Students’ Union across four different projects and provides advice to generate student-led sustainability projects which have longevity and impact for wider student populations and future generations of cohorts.

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Potential for urban agriculture to support accessible and impactful undergraduate biology education

Kay

Chapman

Cheruiyot

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Active learning in STEM education is essential for engaging the diverse pool of scholars needed to address pressing environmental and social challenges. However, active learning formats are difficult to scale and their incorporation into STEM teaching at U.S. universities varies widely. Here, we argue that urban agriculture as a theme can significantly increase active learning in undergraduate biology education by facilitating outdoor fieldwork and community‐engaged education. We begin by reviewing benefits of field courses and community engagement activities for undergraduate biology and discuss constraints to their broader implementation. We then describe how urban agriculture can connect biology concepts to pressing global changes, provide field research opportunities, and connect students to communities. Next, we assess the extent to which urban agriculture and related themes have already been incorporated into biology‐related programs in the United States using a review of major programs, reports on how campus gardens are used, and case studies from five higher education institutions (HEIs) engaging with this issue. We found that while field experiences are fairly common in major biology programs, community engagement opportunities are rare, and urban agriculture is almost nonexistent in course descriptions. We also found that many U.S. HEIs have campus gardens, but evidence suggests that they are rarely used in biology courses. Finally, case studies of five HEIs highlight innovative programming but also significant opportunities for further implementation. Together, our results suggest that urban agriculture is rarely incorporated into undergraduate biology in the United States, but there are significant prospects for doing so. We end with recommendations for integrating urban agriculture into undergraduate biology, including the development of campus gardens, research programs, community engagement partnerships, and collaborative networks. If done with care, this integration could help students make community contributions within required coursework, and help instructors feel a greater sense of accomplishment in an era of uncertainty.

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Reviewing University Community Gardens for Sustainability: taking stock, comparisons with urban community gardens and mapping research opportunities

Abstract: This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Cited by 16 publications

References 85 publications

Understanding Transience and Participation in University Student-Led Food Gardens

Understanding Transience and Participation in University Student-Led Food Gardens

The importance of university, students and students’ union partnerships in student-led projects

Potential for urban agriculture to support accessible and impactful undergraduate biology education

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