Tonia Gray received a grant from The NSW Department of Family and Community Services as well as The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust to conduct the independent study.
Danielle Tracey received funding from the NSW Department of Family and Community Services as well as The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust to conduct the independent study.
Kumara Ward received funds from the NSW Department of Family and Community Services as well as The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust to conduct this research on her own. Study.
Studies have shown that time spent in the natural world provides mental, physical, and social advantages. This includes stress reduction, improvement in mood, faster healing, improved attention productivity, enhanced imagination, and creativity.
The increase in urbanization has made it harder to be in touch with the natural world. People from lower socioeconomic and ethnic minorities, as well as people older than 65 and people with disabilities, have a lower likelihood of exploring green places. This may be due to the difficulty of accessing facilities or safety concerns.
A gardening program designed for the most disadvantaged groups, which has been running throughout New South Wales since 1999, aims to eliminate the disparities in accessibility to parks and green areas. It is known as “Community Greening. The program has benefited more than 100,000 people and has established 627 gardens for youth and community groups throughout the state.
Read more: The science in gardening is good for you.
Our independent evaluation explored the program’s impact on new participants and communities in social housing by tracking six new garden sites in 2017. Around 85% of participants told us the program had a positive effect on their health, and 91% said it benefited their community. And 73% said they were exercising more, and 61% were eating better. One participant said engaging in the program even helped them quit smoking.
These findings have improved the understanding of how gardening for the community enhances the physical and mental health of Australians who live within social housing communities within our cities.
Our research
Changes in urbanization and the loss of green spaces have raised concerns about the wellbeing and health of the population. This has resulted in a growing amount of studies on the effects of the community garden on both adults and children.
This community Greening Program is funded through the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney in collaboration with Housing New South Wales. The anecdotal feedback collected from the botanic gardens over the last two decades has proven that gardening enhances well-beingwellbeing and cohesion, fosters the feeling of belonging, eases stress, and improves living skills.
Community Greening provides gardens for residents of social housing.
Based on this assumption, Community Greening aims to:
Improve mental and physical health
decrease the risk of antisocial behavior
Build community cohesion
to combat the issue of economic inequalities
Help to understand the indigenous food plants
Help to protect the natural environment
offer training in skills to allow future job opportunities
Share your knowledge and expertise about the garden.
Our study examined the outcomes of participants and whether they changed throughout the program. We gathered data through questionnaires that were administered over seven months (before and after the program). Additionally, focus group discussions with participants as well as open-ended questions for staff on community sites.
