Inholland graduate research community farm

“My name is Jonas Hartman and I am graduating from the Landscape and Environment Management study at Inholland University of Applied Sciences with a research project on urban agriculture. I am doing this at Local2Local because they would like to do an exploratory study on the possibilities for a so-called community farm.”

“In the future, a community farm should be a place where people come together to grow food, eat together and enjoy being outdoors. Participation is an important goal but community farms should also start contributing to food security of the city, restoring biodiversity around the urban area and the farms should have some recreational value for visitors.”

“I am now exploring what is possible for a community farm to meet these diverse goals. I am doing this by visiting existing initiatives and interviewing experts. The final recommendation will include three scenarios consisting of different elements that produce food, stimulate nature value or have recreational value. The best part, of course, is if these functions can be combined! An example of this can be seen in the picture, this neighbourhood garden in Rotterdam (green oasis on south) combines food production with the creation of nature value and offers day care for pensioners and the disabled.”