Crisis Gardening by Kingsley, Jonathan; Egerer, Monika;

Short description:

Gardening during times of crisis can have significant benefits to individuals and populations in terms of health, wellbeing, social and economic outcomes. In this book crisis gardening is explored to better define, describe and provide recommendations about this activity globally.

Long description:

Gardening during times of crisis can have significant benefits to individuals and populations in terms of health, well-being, social and economic outcomes. So-called ‘crisis gardening’ can even be linked to transformative change in food systems through socio-ecological aspects of agroecology. In this book, crisis gardening is explored to better define, describe and provide recommendations about this activity globally. Diverse perspectives are offered from scholars around the world, providing an overview of gardening during crises with ties to agroecology. Such a perspective is critical as we grapple with food system crises, pandemics, climate change, biodiversity loss, mental health issues and political conflict globally.

• The first section defines and explains crisis gardening in relation to agroecology, transformative change in food systems and public health


• The second section describes case studies from around the world of crisis gardening from various social-ecological perspectives


• The third section provides policy and practice recommendations and how to scale up the lessons from crisis gardening to transform food systems, public health systems, and policy and landscape planning processes

Bringing together leaders and experts (academics, policy makers and practitioners) from around the world, the book provides case studies of crisis gardening and develops recommendations to harness the lessons from this practice.

Table of Contents:

Section 1. Crisis gardening in relation to agroecology, transformative change in food systems and public health 1. Gardening as a Response to Food Insecurity During Acute and Chronic Crises: A Narrative Review from the United States 2. How Gardening can Work Towards Combating the Biodiversity Crisis: A Landscape Perspective 3. Opportunities of Urban Gardens for an Agri-food transition in the Context of Structural Crises in Argentina Section 2. Case studies from around the world of crisis gardening from various social-ecological perspectives 4. Growth in Adversity: Exploring Crisis Gardening in African Cities from a Decolonial Perspective 5. The Langa Agri-Food Hub in Cape Town, South Africa: Strengthening Farmers’ Networks and Transforming Food Systems in Crisis 6. From Crisis to Opportunity: Exploring Urban Food Growing in the UK During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic 7. Combatting the Crisis of Social Isolation and Loneliness through Gardening 8. Meaningful Activities During the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis: Benefits and Challenges of Home Food Gardening in Santiago, Chile 9. ‘A Sweet and Quiet Lesson in Motion’: The Pleasures of Pandemic Gardening 10. Mitigating a Public Health Crisis: Exploring the Benefits of Gardening for People Living with Dementia through Collaborative Autoethnography Section 3. The potential of gardening during crisis: scaling up the lessons from crisis gardening to transform food systems, public health systems, policy and landscape planning processes 11. Community Gardens as a Source of Social Capital for Earthquake Preparedness: Case Studies from Old Neighborhoods in Kobe, Japan 12. Homegardens in the Crises of Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation, and Gender Equity: Perspectives from Bangladesh 13. Towards Urban Resilience: Urban Gardening in Post-Earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand 14. Response Options related to Health Benefits of Gardening in Times of Crisis. Conclusion