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Evaluation of Urban Learning Garden Education and the Impact on Sustainability

Huerta, Angelica M
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376998754

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
Urban learning gardens (ULGs) are a type of urban agriculture where the priority is education over food and fiber production. The prevalence of ULGs, including the emergence in higher education, arises often as sustainability-driven projects aimed at improving ecological, economic and social issues. However, education's measurement and contribution to garden sustainability has remained largely qualitative. Using a university ULG established in 2012 as a case study, emergy analysis measured education and its impact on garden sustainability. The sustain process from the Information Cycle (Odum, 1996) produced a garden-based education transformity of 1.71E8 sej/J. An extracurricular transformity was also calculated, 4.80E7 sej/J, representing public education. Incorporating education into the emergy analysis resulted in mixed results. Emergy indices for year one, which included the design and construction materials, was negatively affected by the addition of education from instructional materials and the 90% non-renewable fraction of US labor. The environmental loading ratio increased from 9.45 to 12.3; the emergy yield ratio remained constant at 1.11; and the emergy sustainability index decreased from 0.12 to 0.09. Over time, though, the 10% renewable fraction of US labor improved garden sustainability with the normalization of design and construction materials. A five-year projected emergy sustainability index improved from 0.09 to 0.10 and the environmental loading ratio decreased from 12.31 to 11.1. The emergy yield ratio decreased from 1.11 to 1.09. Human services from labor, a garden coordinator and education feedback are responsible for the variability in results. The 10% renewable fraction increases system renewability over five years but productivity is largely reliant on low concentrated energies from the biosphere. Overall, results from this study recommend ULGs judicially use instructional materials, specifically paper, while maximizing attendance and workshop frequency. Education improves garden yield when measured with the Information Cycle but education's benefit to sustainability requires patience because of the large non-renewable fraction originating from human services.
Larry Brown (Advisor)
Jay Martin (Advisor)
127 p.
Engineering
urban learning garden; education; emergy; information cycle; urban agriculture

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Huerta, A. M. (2013). Evaluation of Urban Learning Garden Education and the Impact on Sustainability [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376998754

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Huerta, Angelica. Evaluation of Urban Learning Garden Education and the Impact on Sustainability. 2013. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376998754.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Huerta, Angelica. "Evaluation of Urban Learning Garden Education and the Impact on Sustainability." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376998754

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1376998754
710
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.