Community Gardening Initiatives Attitudes and Behaviors Towards Community Gardening Participation in Sydhavn
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Community gardening initiatives Attitudes and behaviors towards community gardening participation in Sydhavn Mihaela-Adriana Nițu Sofia Christina Thordin Main field of study – Leadership and Organization Degree of Master of Arts (60 credits) with a Major in Leadership and Organization Master Thesis with a focus on Leadership and Organization for Sustainability (OL646E), 15 credits Spring 2020 Supervisor: Chiara Vitrano Abstract The waterfront community of Sydhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark is architecturally praised, but also criticized for its lack of public green space. Residents in the area have self-organized a community gardening initiative to combat this lack of greenery. The thesis aims to explore this occurrence by providing an analysis of the attitudes and behaviors towards social and environmental aspects of sustainability and individual residents’ resistance or support towards community gardening initiatives. The research design is based on quantitative methods with an exploratory purpose, using an online survey methodology. The main findings show that there is an association among knowledge of sustainability concepts, sustainable attitudes and behaviors, and interest in community gardening participation in the study population. Moreover, individuals who indicate no interest in community gardening lack a desire to join in the future, although they may be encouraged to do so with more education and advertisement. Generally, the study population feels positively towards community gardening and feels there is a need for it in the area. Further research may investigate aspects such as politics and policies related to community gardening and replicate a similar study in a different sociodemographic context to see how the results differ. The results of this study have practical implications for academics, built environment practitioners and community gardening organizers. Keywords: community gardening, grassroots initiatives, community engagement, social capital Acknowledgment This paper would have not been possible without the support of a few people who we would like to express gratitude towards. We would firstly like to thank our thesis supervisor, Chiara Vitrano, for her time, dedication, and support whenever we ran into a challenge or had a question about our research or writing. She was truly always there when we needed her help. We would also like to thank our research participants and contact person from the study area. Without their participation and input, this study could have not been successfully conducted. Finally, we would like to thank each other. Sofia, I would like to thank my research partner Adriana for proposing an exciting, grand vision at the beginning of our process and maintaining her contagious optimism the whole way through. It has been a pleasure brainstorming, working, and video-chatting together over the past 2 months. Despite closed borders and global lockdown, we never felt closer! Adriana, I am grateful for Sofia’s the patience, expertise and understanding. Even in these difficult corona times, we still managed to do the most out of everything, “seeing” each other every day, and celebrated small successes when we had them. I am grateful for the writing process and for how the entire project went. I truly do not think there could have been anyone else I could have gone through this with in such a short time and really enjoy the process too. Table of contents List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................5 1.1. Background ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 1.1.2. Historical development of community gardens……………………………………………………………………… 7 1.1.3. Definition of community gardening……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7 1.2. Research problem ............................................................................................................................................................... 8 1.5. Aim .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.6. Research questions ............................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.7. Structure of the thesis ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 2. Literature review and theoretical framework ............................................................................... 11 2.1. Literature review .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 2.1.1. Benefits and challenging facets of community gardening………………………………………………. 11 2.1.1.1. Social and community..................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1.2. Environment and green space ............................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1.3. Economic facets of community gardens ....................................................................................... 13 2.1.3. Attitudes and behaviors on sustainability concerns of communities………………………… 14 2.1.3.1. Activism and volunteerism in community gardens ............................................................... 15 2.1.3.2. Grassroots leadership .................................................................................................................................. 17 2.2. Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................................................. 17 2.2.1. Sustainable development…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 18 2.2.2. Community engagement and participation………………………………………………………………………….. 21 2.2.3. Social capital………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23 2.3. Sub-conclusion and theoretical framework ................................................................................................ 23 3. Methodology and Methods .................................................................................................................. 25 3.1. Research design ................................................................................................................................................................. 25 3.1.1. Methods for data collection……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26 3.1.2. Measures for data analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 27 3.1.3. Methods for data analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 29 3.1.4. Reliability, Replicability, and Validity…………………………………………………………………………………………. 29 3.2. Object of study ................................................................................................................................................................... 30 3.2.1. Historical and cultural context………………………………………………………………………………………………………..30 3.2.2. Situation appraisal………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 34 3.2.3. Informal communication…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..39 4. Analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 41 4.1. Sample ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 41 4.2. Results ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 42 4.3. Analysis of the results ................................................................................................................................................... 49 4.3.1. Attitudes and behaviors ................................................................................................................................. 49 4.3.2. Participation .......................................................................................................................................................... 50 4.4. Practical implications for community gardening organizers ....................................................... 52 4.5. Limitations .............................................................................................................................................................................. 53 5. Conclusion and Discussion ................................................................................................................... 54 List of references .............................................................................................................................................. i Appendix ............................................................................................................................................................