Kathrin Specht

Farming in and on urban buildings: Present practice and specific novelties of Zero-Acreage Farming (ZFarming)

Consideringglobal trendssuchas climatechange and resourcescarcity,a majorchallenge offuturecities willbeto reduce urban footprints. Moreover, cities have to become or remain livable for their inhabitants and offer social and economic opportunities. Thus, reconnecting food production and cities offers promising potential. The diffusion of urban farming reflectsarisingawarenessofhowfoodandfarmingcanshapeourcities.Agrowingnumberofurbanfarmingprojectsexist in and on urban buildings, including open rooftop farms, rooftop greenhouses and indoor farming. These projects are characterized by the non-use of land or acreage for farming activities. We use the term ‘Zero-Acreage Farming’ (ZFarming) to represent these farms. The objective of this paper is to: (1) illustrate and systemize present practices of ZFarming and (2) discuss specific novelties of ZFarming in the wider context of urban agriculture. We analyzed 73 ZFarms in cities of North America, Asia, Australia and Europe using a set of criteria, and developed a typology of ZFarming,complementedbyin-depthinterviewswithpioneersinrooftopfarminginNewYork.Theresultsillustratethat ZFarminggeneratesinnovative practices thatmay contribute to a sustainable urban agriculture. Besides growing food, it produces a range of non-food and non-market goods. It involves new opportunities for resource efficiency, new farming technologies, specific implementation processes and networks, new patterns of food supply and new urban spaces.

Effects of consumer-producer interactions in alternative food networks on consumers’ learning about food and agriculture

Abstract In the recent literature, Alternative Food Networks (AFN) are discussed as a promising approach, at the urban-rural interface, to meeting the challenges of the current agri-food system. Consumer-producer collaboration is seen as a characteristic feature in this context. What is lacking, however, are general concepts for describing the topics of consumer-producer interactions (CPI). The present study aims (1) to develop an analytical framework relying on six CPI domains and (2) to apply it to investigate CPI effects on consumers’ learning about and appreciation of agriculture. We conducted 26 guided interviews with consumers and producers of the three most frequent AFN types in Germany: community-supported agriculture (CSA), food coops, and self-harvest gardens. The results show that AFN participation enhances consumers’ learning about food (seasonality, cooking/nutrition, housekeeping aspects) and agricultural production (farmers’ perspectives, cultivation). Our results show that consumer’s learning is influenced by certain CPI domains, and each AFN type can be described by distinctive CPI domains. This led to the conclusion that specific AFN types open up specific learning channels and contents, with consumers learning from producers. AFNs at the urban-rural interface exploit knowledge of rurality.

Social acceptance and perceived ecosystem services of urban agriculture in Southern Europe: The case of Bologna, Italy

Urban agriculture has become a common form of urban land use in European cities linked to multiple environmental, social and economic benefits, as well as to diversified forms (from self-production allotments to high-tech companies). Social acceptance will determine the development of urban agriculture and specific knowledge on citizens’ perception is required in order to set the basis for policy-making and planning. The ecosystem services provided by urban agriculture can be determinant in this process. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the social acceptance and the perceived ecosystem services of urban agriculture in the city of Bologna (Italy), as an example of a Southern European city. In particular, we evaluated the preferences for urban land uses, for different typologies of urban agriculture and for the resulting products, the perceived provision of ecosystem services and the willingness to engage in new initiatives. A survey that investigated these topics (including open questions, closed questions and Likert-scale evaluation) was performed on the citizens of Bologna (n = 380) between October and November 2016. Results showed that urban agriculture is widely accepted by the inhabitants of Bologna, particularly regarding vegetable production. Although intensive farming systems were the least preferred forms to be implemented in Bologna, citizens highly accepted a large variety of urban agriculture goods, with preference for those obtained from plants as compared to animal products. The willingness-to-pay for urban food products was mostly the same as for conventional ones, although the participants recognised the social values, proximity and quality of the former. Socio-cultural ecosystem services were perceived as more valuable than environmental ones. Policy-making recommendations can be extracted from the results to facilitate the development of urban agriculture plans and policies.

Community and Social Justice Aspects of Rooftop Agriculture

This chapter examines the community and social justice aspects of rooftop agriculture (RA), focusing on cities in the Global North. The goal is to provide an overview of the social aspects of diverse RA typologies and the potential community and social justice effects, from the individual level to the city scale. We show that, like urban agriculture overall, RA may have multiple benefits in the urban setting (such as improving community food security, providing educational opportunities, or fostering neighborhood participation). However, we argue that, like urban agriculture overall, RA is not in and of itself a sustainable or socially just practice. The chapter discusses these dynamics with examples from several Global North cities. We conclude with generalizable policy, funding, and design recommendations for RA that advances community well-being and social equity goals. While focused on the Global North context, the principles behind these recommendations are also applicable in Global South regions.

Städtische Landwirtschaft in, an und auf Gebäuden: Möglichkeiten für die Stadtentwicklung, Handlungsfelder und Akteure

In den Diskussionen um eine nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung blieb das Thema der Lebensmittelproduktion und -versorgung lange Zeit ein wenig beachtetes Randthema. In den letzten Jahren hat diesbezuglich eine starke gesellschaftliche Veranderung stattgefunden und das Thema ‚Nahrung‘ ruckt als Baustein einer nachhaltigen Stadtentwicklung immer mehr in den Fokus. Die starkere Integration von Lebensmittelproduktion in stadtische Raume wird auf vielen Ebenen als eine Strategie anerkannt, Stadte der Zukunft besser und nachhaltiger zu versorgen und deren Anpassungsfahigkeit an den Klimawandel zu verbessern. Als eine neue und visionare Sonderform urbaner Landwirtschaft wird das Thema der gebaudegebundenen urbanen Landwirtschaft (ZFarming) in dem folgenden Kapitel vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse basieren auf Arbeiten, die im Kontext des Forschungsprojektes ‚ZFarm‘ durchgefuhrt wurden1. Mit einem Fokus auf der Stadt Berlin wurden die Moglichkeiten fur stadtische Landwirtschaft in, an und auf Gebauden untersucht. Das Kapitel gibt einen Uberblick uber verschiedene Typen von ‚ZFarming‘, sowie uber die Handlungsfelder fur die Einfuhrung und Umsetzung der Innovation. Daruber hinaus wird die Rolle unterschiedlicher Akteure dargestellt und mogliche Konfliktfelder aufgezeigt.

Innovation in urban agriculture: Evaluation data of a participatory approach (ROIR).

The data in this article represent an evaluation of a participatory process called Regional Open Innovation Roadmapping (ROIR). The approach aims at the promotion of regional development. In this case, it was carried out to develop a specific innovation in the field of ‘Zero-acreage farming’ (ZFarming), which is a building-related subtype of urban agriculture. For the evaluation of the process, an online survey was sent to the 58 participants of the ROIR on March 4, 2014. The survey ended on April 8, 2014, and a response rate of 53.54% resulted in a sample size of 31 respondents. The survey was divided into seven different blocks. We analyzed the ROIR process׳s contribution to knowledge generation, the establishment of networks among the participants, the implementation of new projects related to ZFarming, and the increase of acceptance of ZFarming and the selected ZFarming innovation. Furthermore, other remarks, and personal information were collected. Hence, the objective of the survey was to assess whether ROIR is a useful tool to promote the aforementioned innovation drivers, and thereby, the selected innovation, which was developed throughout the process. The data were used in the research article “Application and evaluation of a participatory “open innovation” approach (ROIR): the case of introducing zero-acreage farming in Berlin” (Specht et al., 2016) [1].

Rural India as Key Factor to Cope with Climate Change

The global climate pattern has been changing fast and observational evidence indicates that high carbon emissions and climate changes in the 20th century have already affected a diverse set of physical and biological systems (IPCC 2001; IPCC 2007a, b).