Environmental behaviour of urban allotment gardeners in europe

Abstract

Across Europe, urban gardening is receiving an emerging interest from the public as well from planning authorities. Urban allotment gardens have a particular role integrating social benefits, recreation, health, food, and urban ecology issues. Differences are seen in the historical context, local regulations, gardener´s motivations, and knowledge which result in different gardening behavior. This behavior, i.e. the use of fertilisers or pesticides, has effects on the quality of soil, water and the habitat. We report on the results of a series of questionnaire surveys undertaken between 2012-2015 by members of the COST Action (TU1201) “Urban Allotment Gardens in European Cities” which addressed motivations, environmental attitudes and ecologically relevant behavior. Urban regions in Poland, Austria, Portugal, Estonia and West of Scotland were studied. In Austria and Poland about 80€ of the respondents identified recreational motivation dominated over food production. These results confirm former studies on Central Europe. In contrast, the supply of fruits and vegetables is the most important motivation in our Estonian, Scottish and Portuguese Cases. Also in Poland and Austria food production is still of importance for those gardeners who are interested in a healthy food. Since in some cities (e.g. Warsaw, Salzburg), the majority of respondents use chemical fertilisers and pesticides, this is not the case in our Scottish and Estonian case studies. Even with this use most gardeners believe that their grown products are healthier than store bough and that their gardens are sustainable and environmental friendly. Results show the need for deeper investigation of the relation of environmental relevant garden practices, environmental risks and environmental attitudes.