S09 - Session O3 - Urban community garden practices as indicators of community social resilience

Authors: Candice Shoemaker, Kristin Harrison Taylor *, Eleni Pliakoni, Huston Gibson, Matthew Sanderson

Resilience is a simple concept m bouncing back after adversity. However, defining resilience, analyzing, and understanding it is far more complex. The COVID-19 pandemic brought unexpected challenges that rippled through the food system, the social system, and the worldwide economy, exposing many vulnerabilities. It has also illuminated areas of resilience, creativity, and strength. Studies indicate that the act of caring for urban green space (urban environmental stewardship) helps mitigate the social and ecological effects of a system shock. The work done in an urban community garden is an example of urban environmental stewardship. Benefits of urban environmental stewardship and community gardens overlap considerably as both enhance the social, economic, and environmental value of neighborhoods. This mixed-methods study investigated how community gardens, as an example of urban environmental stewardship, contribute to community social resilience, particularly after a system shock. Garden leaders in the Kansas City metropolitan area participated in an online survey, a series of online asynchronous discussion questions, and an online focus group. Discussion questions text and focus group transcriptions were qualitatively analyzed for emerging themes and were guided by the following indicators of community social resilience: place attachment, collective identity, social cohesion, social networks, and knowledge exchange and diversification. We discuss findings from the research and the potential contribution of urban community gardens to community social resilience.