Edible Cities Network Global Lunch Talk #10

Biodiversity-focused community gardens and public health: potential effects, mechanisms of impact and relevant contextual factors - with Michael Eichinger from Heidelberg University and Ina Säumel from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Urban living is associated with multiple health risks including air pollution, heat stress, limited opportunities to be physically active and increased risk for mental illness. Observational evidence suggests that biodiversity-focused community gardens have the potential to attenuate these risk factors by providing health-relevant ecosystem services including climate regulation, improved air quality or contact to nature.
Building on limited prior intervention studies, the HEBEDI project aims to provide experimental evidence on the causal effects of biodiversity on health in the context of biodiversity-focused community gardens by conducting a cluster randomized controlled trial. Moreover, the project will develop an integrated framework for mainstreaming biodiversity-focused community gardens in municipalities.
Based on a comprehensive literature review, we will summarize (1) potential effects of biodiversity-focused community gardens on species richness and health, (2) mechanisms of impact linking different realized levels of biodiversity in community gardens to health effects and (3) contextual factors potentially moderating implementation and effectiveness in the first part of the Lunch Talk. In the second part of the Lunch Talk, there will be time for members of the Edible City Community to provide input on further potential effects, mechanisms and contextual factors that should be addressed in future research. This refined overview will provide a comprehensive conceptual foundation for the HEBEDI project in Germany and other studies developing and evaluating community garden interventions internationally. The results of the workshop will be made publicly available online.
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