Rural gardens as experiences of widespread social farming: The case of Polesine

Journal title WELFARE E ERGONOMIA
Author/s Laura de Angeli, Samuele Montibeller, Giorgio Osti, Maria Zamperetti
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/1
Language Italian Pages 15 P. 191-205 File size 94 KB
DOI 10.3280/WE2025-001013
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

In Italy, so-called 'urban' gardens are widespread, yet they can also be found in predominantly rural areas. This paper presents the results of a study on social gardens in the province of Rovigo. Eleven of them were surveyed, showing a good diffusion in the provincial territory and a high variety of organizational forms. The working hypothesis starts from Granovetter’s theoretical assumption that weak ties, which are formed in gardens, produce a sociality capable of opening up to third parties and to local services. The results, obtained through a qualitative methodology, indicate that some gardens in Polesine, thanks to a flexible and subtly institutionalized organization, are able to provide care and support to vulnerable segments of the population

Keywords: social garden; rural areas; Polesine; social ties.

  1. Arena G. e Sorbello M. (2022). Gli orti urbani: Resilienza, socialità e sostenibilità. Humanities, 21: 1-22. DOI: 10.13129/2240-7715/2022.1.1-22
  2. Armstrong D. (2000). A survey of community gardens in upstate New York: Implications for health promotion and community development. Health & Place, 6(4): 319-327.
  3. Baudry S. (2012). Reclaiming Urban Space as Resistance: The Infrapolitics of Gardening. Revue Française d’ Études Américaines, 131: 32-48.
  4. Bellia C., Granata M. F. e Scavone V. (2014). Aree dismesse ed orti urbani: Un ‘valore sociale complesso’ nelle città. Agribusiness Landscape & Environment, 17(2): 65-74.
  5. Berg N., Hallberg D., Portacolone E., Stack S., Kearney G. e Fisher L. (2010). Community gardens: A catalyst for community change?. Social Work in Public Health, 25(3-4): 258-270. DOI: 10.1080/19371910903070417.
  6. Bonow M. e Normark M. (2018). Community gardening in Stockholm: Participation, driving forces and the role of the municipality. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 33(6): 503-517. DOI: 10.1017/S1742170517000734
  7. Brino F., a cura di (1982). Orti urbani a Torino. Un’esperienza di autogestione. Firenze: Alinea.
  8. Castagnoli D. (2021). Orti urbani in Italia oggi: una molteplicità tipologica per supplire a carenze strutturali. Geography Notebooks, 4(2): 181-192.
  9. Castagnoli D. (2019). La gestione collettiva degli orti urbani in Italia tra entusiasmo e criticità. GEOTEMA, 62: 88-96.
  10. Certomà C. (2016). ‘A New Season for Planning’: Urban Gardening as Informal Planning in Rome. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 98(2): 109-126.
  11. Christensen S., Malberg Dyg P. e Allenberg K. (2018). Urban community gardening, social capital, and “integration” – a mixed method exploration of urban “integration-gardening” in Copenhagen, Denmark. Local Environment, 24(3): 231-248. DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2018.1561655
  12. Cognetti F. e Conti S. (2012). Milano, coltivazione urbana e percorsi di vita in comune. Note da una ricerca in corso. Territorio, 60: 33-38. DOI: 10.3280/TR2012-060006.
  13. Corrigan M. P. (2011). Growing what you eat: Developing community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland. Applied Geography, 31(4): 1232-1241.
  14. Firth C., Maye D. e Pearson D. (2011). Developing “community” in community gardens. Local Environment, 16(6): 555-568. DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2011.586025.
  15. Giardullo P. e Pozzato C. (2024). Orti urbani tra sostenibilità e partecipazione: Un’esplorazione delle iniziative nei capoluoghi del Veneto. Sociologia Urbana e rurale, 46(133): 117-138. DOI: 10.3280/SUR2024-133008.
  16. Glover T.D., Parry D.C. e Shinew K.J. (2005). Building Relationships, Accessing Resources: Mobilizing Social Capital in Community Garden Contexts. Journal of Leisure Research, 37(4): 450-474. DOI: 10.1080/00222216.2005.11950062.
  17. Glover T.D., Shinew K.J. e Parry D.C. (2005). Association, Sociability, and Civic Culture: The Democratic Effect of Community Gardening. Leisure Sciences, 27(1): 75-92. DOI: 10.1080/01490400590886060.
  18. Granovetter M.S. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6): 1360-80. -- http://www.jstor.org/stable/2776392.
  19. Hou J. (2018). Governing urban gardens for resilient cities: Examining the ‘Garden City Initiative’ in Taipei. Urban Studies, 57(7): 1398-1416. DOI: 10.1177/0042098018778671
  20. Korolova A. e Treija S. (2018). Urban Gardening as a Multifunctional Tool to Increase Social Sustainability in the City. Architecture and Urban Planning, 14(1): 91-95.
  21. Kuo F.E. e Sullivan W.C. (2001). Environment and Crime in the Inner City: Does Vegetation Reduce Crime?. Environment and Behavior, 33(3): 343-367. 10.1177/0013916501333002.
  22. Merlo V. (2007). Nascita della società neorurale e conseguenze sull’agricoltura. Accademia dei Georgofili, Firenze. Lettura tenuta il 22 marzo. -- http://www.georgofili.it/contenuti/evento/641.
  23. Milligan C., Gatrell A. e Bingley A. (2004). ‘Cultivating health’: Therapeutic landscapes and older people in northern England. Social Science & Medicine, 58(9): 1781-1793. DOI: 10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00397-6
  24. Okvat H. e Zautra A. (2011). Community Gardening: A Parsimonious Path to Individual, Community, and Environmental Resilience. American Journal Community Psychology, 47: 374-387.
  25. Owen-Smith J. e Powell W.W. (2008). Networks and Institutions. The Sage Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, 596-623.
  26. Prince H.E. (2017). Outdoor experiences and sustainability. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 17(2): 161-171. DOI: 10.1080/14729679.2016.1244645
  27. Sigelman L., Bledsoe T., Welch S., Combs e M.W. (1996). Making Contact? Black-White Social Interaction in an Urban Setting. American Journal of Sociology, 101(5): 1306-1332.
  28. Sullivan W., Kuo M. e Depooter S. (2004). The Fruit of Urban Nature: Vital Neighborhood Spaces. Environment and Behavior, 36: 678-700. DOI: 10.1177/0193841X04264945
  29. Visoni C. e Nagib G. (2019). Reappropriating urban space through community gardens in Brazil. Field Actions Science Reports, 20. -- http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/5778.
  30. ‘Yotti’ Kingsley J. e Townsend M. (2006). ‘Dig In’ to Social Capital: Community Gardens as Mechanisms for Growing Urban Social Connectedness. Urban Policy and Research, 24(4): 525-537. DOI: 10.1080/08111140601035200.
  31. Wakefield S., Yeudall F., Taron C., Reynolds J. e Skinner A. (2007). Growing urban health: Community gardening in South-East Toronto. Health Promotion International, 22(2): 92-101.
  32. Zhou C. e Zeng C. (2023). The Role of Horticultural Therapy in Promoting Physical and Mental Health. Research in Health Science, 8(3): 43-54.

Laura de Angeli, Samuele Montibeller, Giorgio Osti, Maria Zamperetti, Gli orti rurali come esperienze di agricoltura sociale diffusa: il caso del Polesine in "WELFARE E ERGONOMIA" 1/2025, pp 191-205, DOI: 10.3280/WE2025-001013