Search Results (9)

Increasing attention has been paid to the therapeutic effect of gardens on older persons in long-term care homes. However, problems on set up and reliability of implementation were still of concern in studies. This study investigated residents’ experiences of Virtual Zen Garden in Hong Kong. Twenty-four residents were interviewed using semi-structured interviews based on the phenomenological research approach in two long-term care homes. This study aligns with the COREQ (Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research Checklist). Nine theme clusters were organized that described the influence of Virtual Zen Garden on residents’ quality of life in long-term care homes. They are ‘staying engaged despite no change in physical condition’, ‘embracing current physical functioning’, ‘being the one to exercise autonomy’, ‘fostering a sense of relaxation and acceptance to the past, current and future lives’, ‘fostering a sense of satisfaction, purpose and mastery’, ‘open to companionship with staffs’, ‘feeling a sense of connection with other residents’, ‘perceiving a sense of security and identity in the living environment’ and ‘accepting the place they stay as a home in the rest of life’. Virtual Zen Garden demonstrated positive beneficial effect on quality of life in physical, psychological, social, and environmental perspectives. The findings were encouraging for the introduction of Virtual Zen Garden as an innovative intervention, into long-term care homes. Full article

This paper presents a case study of Green Social Prescribing (GSP) in Walsall, a medium-sized urban area located in the West Midlands, UK. GSP is a means of enabling health professionals to refer people to a range of local non-clinical nature-based activities, e.g., community gardening and conservation volunteering. As a new practice to address multiple challenges in health and sustainability, GSP has been promoted by the UK government and the NHS in the past few years. There is as yet limited evidence and knowledge about how this approach is implemented at a local level. This paper addresses this gap of knowledge, by exploring how GSP is implemented in Walsall as a case study. Based on extensive engagement and research activities with the local partners to collect data, this paper reveals the local contexts of GSP, the referral pathways, and people’s lived experience, discussing the challenges, barriers, and opportunities in delivering GSP at the local level. This study suggests that a more collaborative and genuine place-based approach is essential, and alongside GSP, investment into infrastructure is needed to move the health paradigm further from ‘prevention’ to ‘promotion’ so that more people can benefit from what nature can offer. Full article

Climatic changes during the Pleistocene were responsible for dramatic redistributions of plant species worldwide. On the rugged southern hemisphere island of Tasmania, temperature increases following the last glaciation saw upslope migration of climatically suitable species from lowland refugia and the expansion of eucalypt-dominated forests and woodlands in the Central Highlands. We integrate multiple lines of evidence (chloroplast and nuclear DNA markers, seedling morphology, and survival in common garden experiments) from a group of closely related endemic eucalypts (the alpine white gums) to argue that (i) the Central Highlands of the island were colonised by multiple glacial refugia with hybridisation among species and previously separated populations, and (ii) natural selection has filtered the admixed populations, resulting in local adaptation to the harsh sub-alpine environment. Chloroplast haplotype diversity decreased and nuclear microsatellite diversity increased with altitude, chloroplast sharing among taxa was common, and nuclear DNA differentiation of morphologically distinct taxa was lower in the Central Highlands compared with lowland regions. Local adaptation in the highlands was signalled by evidence from (i) a glasshouse trial in which directional selection (Q_ST > F_ST) had shaped seedling morphological trait variation and (ii) population survival differences in 35-year-old reciprocal plantings along the major environmental gradients. We conclude that the evolutionary response of these island endemic trees to past climate change has involved the interplay of both hybridisation and natural selection, highlighting the importance of maintaining species interactions under future climate change. Full article

Horticultural trade is considered the most important pathway for the introduction of non-native plant species. Numerous horticultural plants are spreading from private gardens and public green space into natural habitats and have the potential to alter native biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We assessed the invasiveness of the horticultural plant Lamium galeobdolon subsp. argentatum. We documented its spread in semi-natural habitats in the surroundings of Basel, Switzerland, over the past decades. We compared the performance of L. g. argentatum with that of the native subspecies Lamium galeobdolon galeobdolon based on surveys in forests and a pot experiment under standardized conditions. We also assessed whether the two subspecies differentially affect native forest vegetation and various physical, chemical and biological soil properties. The horticultural L. g. argentatum has tripled its occurrence in forests in the region of Basel in the last four decades. Lamium g. argentatum had both a higher growth rate and regeneration capacity than the native subspecies. Furthermore, L. g. argentatum reduced native plant species richness and changed the species composition of the ground vegetation, in addition to altering several soil properties in deciduous forests. Lamium g. argentatum should therefore be considered an invasive taxon. Full article

Water management among the Chagga people of Kilimanjaro has involved community collaboration in the construction, ownership and management of water infrastructures. Since the second half of the second millennium AD, the Chagga settlement on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro significantly transformed the landscape to reflect an agrarian society characterised by decentralised forms of socio-political and economic organisation. Such organisation involved conception, construction, and post-construction management of water distribution systems, synonymous with high levels of socio-political complexity. The study employs ethnography and archaeological surveys to document the construction of water infrastructures on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. An ethnographic survey among Chagga elders generated primary data on water furrow construction. This information was then used to aid archaeological surveys in mapping irrigation furrows (mfongo) in the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. The ethnography also provided data on how Chagga chiefs and clan leaders governed the construction, use and maintenance of water infrastructures in the past. Such approaches highlighted Chagga lived experiences of traditional irrigation technologies and infrastructures and how these developed a complex agrarian society. Results show that community collaboration was key in the management of water infrastructure vital for their home gardens, and this sustained Chagga society for centuries. Full article

Over the past few decades, development in China (including Shenzhen) has been led by the State, meaning that the government has been responsible for major decisions in urban construction and management. However, the current enormous contradiction between people’s demand for livability and Shenzhen’s unequal and inadequate urban development means that leaving all the administrative work to the government alone has become unsustainable. Since 2020, Shenzhen has introduced a new urban management approach called “We Garden”, in which the government supports public participation aimed to transform idle public lands into green spaces in the form of community gardens. Because this ongoing but novel community garden experiment is a recent development in China, literature investigating the phenomenon context, especially the associated motivations and governance structure, remains scarce. This paper aims to clarify the governance structure and operation mechanism of the Shenzhen community garden program through all stages: from planning and design through construction or implementation to management. Fieldwork with active participation, direct observation, and semi-structured, qualitative interviews as participant in a nonprofit organization revealed that the Shenzhen experiment was driven by urban environmental public governance rather than individual needs. The community garden development approach is a new top-down governance structure that expands on existing governance types in the literature, while emphasizing the key role that nonprofit organizations play in the process. Therefore, this new governance approach expands beyond the environmental improvement of urban communities, serving as a new mechanism for sustainable public participation in urban environmental protection. Full article

Studies on participation in community gardens have revealed that gardeners’ participation is driven by functional and emotional motives. Most studies, however, have failed to recognize gardeners’ diverse characteristics. To fill this research gap, this study examined the moderating effect that variations within gardeners has on their participation, particularly as in the case of past gardening experience. The data for this study were obtained through a survey administered in three plot-based community gardens in Austin, Texas. Results revealed that increased gardening experience bolsters the effect of emotional motivations on garden participation, while no effect was shown in the relationship between functional motivations and participation. The importance of gardeners’ past gardening experience on emotional motivations is discussed as it relates to sustained participation in gardening. Full article

An evaluation of landscape tradition, in Near and Middle East area, could emphasize a profound past of agricultural experience, as well as of landscape and garden art. In reference to this common past, Byzantine and Arabic landscape and garden art paradigms appear to be geographically and culturally correlated, as proved by a Byzantine 12th century folksong, presenting the construction of a villa, with its surrounding gardens and landscape formations, in the territory of Euphrates River. This song refers to Vasilios Digenes Akritas or ‘Border Lord’, a legendary hero of mixed Byzantine-Greek and Arab blood; ‘Digenes’ meaning a person of dual genes, both of Byzantine and Arabic origin, and ‘Akritas’ an inhabitant of the borderline. At the end of the narration of the song, contemporary reader feels skeptical. Was modern landscape and garden art born in the European continent or was it transferred to Western world through an eastern originated lineage of Byzantine and Arabic provenance? Full article

Despite growing numbers, the nutrition practices and attitudes of skipped‑generation(s) kinship caregivers regarding feeding the dependent children in their care have not been examined. In this qualitative study, transcriptions of semi-structured interviews with 19 female and four male skipped-generation(s) Kansas caregivers (ages 47 to 80, 92% non-Hispanic whites, 83% female, 78% grandparents and 22% great-aunt or great‑grandparent caregivers; caring for a range of one to four children, ages three to 18, for an average of nine years) were content analyzed for how their nutrition-related practices and attitudes had changed since parenting the first time. Sub-themes regarding practices included: being more nutrition and food safety conscious now, and shifting their child feeding style. The children seemed to be adversely affected by an on-the-go lifestyle and the use of more electronics. Caregivers described their sources for child feeding advice as being based mostly on information from their mothers, physicians, and their past parenting experiences. Sub-themes for attitudes included opinions that nutrition and safe food handling are important and that nutritious food is expensive. They preferred printed or video nutrition education materials and wanted to receive information through organizations they trusted. This population could benefit from education on: infant, child, adolescent, and sports nutrition; feeding “picky eaters”; healthful recipes, “fast foods” and packaged foods; quick, inexpensive meals and snacks low in fat, sugar, and salt; limiting sedentary time; family meals; using food thermometers; and intergenerational gardening and cooking. Full article