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.

摘要

社区园艺的积极成果有​​助于实现与粮食和营养安全，城市可持续性以及环境教育有关的若干议程。在这种前提下，公共或非营利部门的几个伞形组织一直在支持社区花园项目。自下而上获得政治和/或行政支持是社区园艺中的一种治理模型，在该模型中，社区在政府或非政府组织的支持下计划，实施和管理花园。加拿大多伦多的几个社区花园都遵循这种治理结构，该治理结构通常与这些花园在城市中的举措的成功（成长和长寿）相关。本文提供了对该治理模式下社区园艺项目日常需求的更好理解，并提出了在不同开发阶段的典型支持需求。通过参与式观察和访谈，我们探讨了在具有不同经济，社会和文化特征的社区中开展的社区园艺活动。我们采访了园丁，花园协调员，非政府组织的代表和政府成员。从主观角度来看，可以得到行政支持的治理结构似乎有利于社区花园的长寿，主要是在低收入地区。尽管我们研究的项目多种多样，但在这些花园中，土地的获取，资金，人力资源的帮助和受教育的机会是典型的需求。