No abstract

Abstract:In the expanding urban agriculture phenomenon in Europe, home gardens are a traditional form that have kept agriculture within cities, even becoming crucial in certain historical periods (e.g., war periods). However, horticultural practices in home gardens can also have negative consequences. The goal of this paper is to assess the eco-efficiency of home gardens as a type of urban agriculture. To do so, a case study in Padua (Italy) was evaluated following life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. A home garden of 30.6 m 2 and 21 crop cycles were evaluated. The functional unit of the assessment was 1 kg of harvested fresh vegetable at the consumption point, and the ReCiPe method was employed for impact assessment. Environmental assessment indicated that organic fertilization, use of tap water, mineral fertilization and pesticides were the most contributing elements of the entire life cycle. Furthermore, the relevance of garden design and crop selection was a determinant in the eco-efficiency results. The assessed home garden could satisfy the food requirements of between 1 and 2 members of the household. Crop management and design recommendations are provided to improve eco-efficiency and food security potential of home gardens.

Water use efficiency is a main research target in agriculture, which consumes 70% of global freshwater. This study aimed at identifying sustainable water management strategies for the lettuce crop in a semi-arid climate. Three independent experiments were carried out on a commercial variety of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) by applying different irrigation levels based on crop evapotranspiration (ETc), estimated through both the Hargreaves–Samani and Penman–Monteith equations. In the first experiment, one treatment was also guided by soil moisture sensors. In the second and third experiments, a factorial combination was used, combining the different irrigation levels with two soil mulching treatments, namely soil without mulch, and soil mulched with dried rice straw residues. The application of different irrigation levels significantly affected plant growth, yield, and physiology. Both the adoption of sensors for guiding irrigation and the application of mulching with straw promoted higher yield. As the irrigation water level was reduced, the WUE (water use efficiency) increased. WUE was also increased by covering the soil with mulch. The experiments point out that accurate management of irrigation water using a drip irrigation system associated with soil mulching increases yield and improves the WUE of lettuce crops in the Central Dry Zone, Myanmar.

No abstract

The RESearch Centre on Urban Environment for Agriculture and Biodiversity (RESCUE-AB), within the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna, is committed to promote urban horticulture and biodiversity in Europe and in several countries of the Global South, bringing together skills and research expertise in the fields of horticulture, environmental sciences and entomology. Educational activities build upon a range of international projects, specifically devoted to create innovative training tools. These range from adult education for urban gardeners and school educators, to higher education curricula. Lifelong learning instruments addressing the social and environmental functions of urban horticulture have been developed within the framework of LLP-Grundtvig projects, such as the project "HORTIS" (Horticulture in Towns for Social Inclusion and Socialisation, www.hortis-europe.net). Successful application of the developed educational models are already being explored within social projects, such as the Urban Innovative Action "SALUS W SPACE" (Villa SALUS as a new Sustainable Accessible Livable Usable Social space for intercultural Wellbeing, Welfare and Welcoming in the Metropolitan City of Bologna), in which urban agriculture becomes a tool for social inclusion and capacity building among communities of political refugees and immigrants. Specific training on how to design and implement educational gardens in schools is then the main objective of the ongoing project "GARDENS TO GROW" (Urban Horticulture for Innovative and Inclusive Early Childhood Education), funded by Erasmus+. The same funding scheme promoted between 2014 and 2017 the project "URBAN GREEN TRAIN" (URBAN GReen Education for ENTteRprising Agricultural Innovation), with the aim of encouraging the creation of pioneering business initiatives in Urban Agriculture (UA), by reinforcing the so called knowledge triangle among Education, Research and Business. Within the project a partnership of public and private organizations from Italy, France, Germany and The Netherlands, developed, tested and made available to different types of learners a pilot international, crosssectoral, multi-targeted training path on Urban Agriculture Entrepreneurship. Similarly, the ongoing project Erasmus+ "BUGI" (Western Balkans Urban Agriculture Initiative) brings together the most innovative business models in urban agriculture in Europe and support their adaptation and diffusion in Eastern Europe and the Balkan context. Finally, the capacity-building of early-stage researchers was addressed in the project H2020 MSCA "SUSTURBANFOODS" (Integrated sustainability assessment of social and technological innovations towards urban food systems), where innovative research on comparative sustainability assessment of different urban horticulture models across Europe was set in place.