Sowing social inclusion for marginalised residents of a social housing development through a community garden

Abstract

Issue addressed In addition to food, physical activity, mental health and environmental benefits, community gardens (CGs) provide opportunities for social inclusion and increased social capital. These are particularly important to the socially isolated residents of social housing developments (SHDs). This scoping study explored the feasibility of a CG program for tenants of SHD in inner eastern Melbourne by assessing their interest in, and requirements for, inclusively designed CGs. Methods In this phenomenological enquiry, focus group discussions, supported by photo‐elicitation, were employed. Three focus groups (N = 19) were conducted with self‐selected participants who consented to participate. Two focus groups were conducted with English‐speaking tenants while a third focus group was conducted with Mandarin‐speaking tenants. Results There was a demand for CGs by the English‐speaking participants driven by desire for networking, social connectedness and inclusion; for improved access to fresh produce, connection with nature, physical activity and mental well‐being. Participants expressed interest in a garden located near their SHD with supportive physical and social environments including disability access, plot autonomy, fencing, socio‐cultural events, training programs and management opportunities. However, the Mandarin‐speaking tenants maintained that age, language difficulty and neighbourhood insecurity posed significant barriers to their participation. Conclusion Guided by the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, social inclusion and community development theories, the study recommends that to establish socially inclusive CGs, a dynamic relationship of the design principles of a CG and the socio‐ecological determinants of health should be established to address any barriers and successfully facilitate engagement. In addition, CG programs need to be guided by community development principles. Future research could employ community‐based participatory research models in the implementation and evaluation of a CG program for socially isolated population groups.

Co-Creating Value in Sustainable and Alternative Food Networks: The Case of Community Supported Agriculture in New Zealand

“…In parallel, it is possible to identify other residents on the area. In discussing the CG format, scholars have broadly focused on their role in facilitating access to food resources, strengthening community resilience, particularly in remote or rural areas [45,46], enhancing interpersonal and social relationships and sense of community [47,48] and contributing to people's health and wellbeing [49,50], more strongly than the preservation of natural resources and sustainability [51].…”

Cultural Sets Shape Adult Conceptualizations and Relationships to Nature

“…We compared coded qualitative data from semi-structured focus group discussions against quantitative data derived from NC scoring in the photo exercise to satisfy this approach. Mixed methods have been used in studies of nature, built environments, and health [101,133], though few public health studies were identified that utilized focus group discussion content supported by photo prompts to elicit participants' opinions [134][135][136], as done here.…”

Community gardens as feminist spaces: A more‐than‐gendered approach to their transformative potential

“…Clover, 2002; Walter, 2013), as their practices resonate with the idea of conscientisation (Freire, 1970). The experiential learning in community gardens shows that they can enable communities to identify and address their socio‐economic issues, as well as rethink and envision alternatives (Barron, 2017; Haedicke, 2018; Hite et al., 2017; Mmako et al., 2018; Souza et al., 2019; Yap, 2019). A participant of M. White's (2011, p. 23) study affirmed that ‘growing your own garden is the most popular form of popular education, learning by doing, placed‐based, spiritual, all those things in one and in its resistance’.…”