Edited book “School Farm: Toward a Healthy Community” (Routledge)- Call for contributions
Editors
Alshimaa Aboelmakarem Farag, Zagazig University, Egypt
Samaa Badawi, Mansoura University, Egypt
Maya Kamareddine, Effat University, KSA
The editors are pleased to invite interested researchers for valuable contributions (chapters) to be included in the edited book “School Farm: Towards a Healthy Community”, that is intended to be published by Routledge, following a successful peer review process.
Proposals’ abstracts (max 300 words) should be sent by August 15th., 2020
Full chapters ( 6000 /8000 words) should be sent by November 21st.2020
Book Description
This book tackles the contemporary challenge of hunger due to poverty and the depletion of natural resources that humanity witnesses nowadays, and is expected to be a major threat for the human being in the future with the accelerating increase of urban population. The agricultural lands have been sacrificed for the development and extension of the built environment. Now there is a severe shortage of cultivated land, which has led to insufficient food, especially for young students, and has made them more vulnerable to poor nutrition. In the COVID19 period, the problem of hunger and food insecurity has been exacerbated due to transportation challenges and reduced labor availability during the lockdown. The United Nations has set the second goal to fight hunger around the world as part of its 2030 sustainable development goals. However, there is an urge for comprehensive and interdisciplinary effort to redefine the relationship between humans and their food resources.
This book discusses the educational institutions' integral role in restoring the balance between men and nature. Within the book chapters, the authors will represent several role models of school farms that introduce young generations to better nutrition, enhanced education and livelihood, and eventually resilient and sustainable communities. The readers will recognize that school farms can play an important role in contributing to students' inclusive education. They provide hands-on learning experiences by showing students how to grow, increase preference for, and consume fresh fruits and vegetables, in addition to its environmental, social, and psychological benefits.
This book emphasises on the integration of green vegetated spaces to grow food crops that will achieve the school members' sufficiency of pesticide-free organic food, in addition to creating a healthy interactive environment, that promotes the culture of gardening and raises awareness and perception among students toward the aesthetic, environmental, and economic potentials of school farms. This book tackles an interdisciplinary topic which links different specialties to provide the readers with a guideline for establishing the school farm as a community-based gardening project.
Authors are invited to submit both contributions that engage with the topic on a more theoretical level and chapters based on case-study research.
Book Objectives
1. It sheds light on the danger of hunger and shortage of essential needs of food for the coming generation and highlights the importance of confronting such challenges by increasing the unconventional vegetated areas.
2. It reveals the role of educational institutions in addressing the present and futuristic challenges by providing the required resources and training to young students.
3. It suggests reforming the educational system and updating the school timetable and courses to assure students' involvement in the process of producing food, which results in students' awareness of sustainable responsibility, and food sufficiency.
4. It spreads the culture of farming among micro-communities and discusses the possible challenges and solutions.
5. It shows several case studies from different countries and contexts that adapted school farm initiatives with different and innovative approaches.
6. It presents innovative eco-friendly strategies, techniques, and tools in gardening, harvesting, watering, and monitoring processes.
Keywords
Kitchen garden; Green urbanism; Self-sufficient micro-community; Community participation; Hands-on learning environment; Environmental responsibility; Sustainable community; Fighting hunger; Sustainable food system; Modern agricultural techniques; Resilient community.
Recommended Topics
This book’s contributions may include, but are not restricted to, the following topics:
1. Problem- focused topics.
Hunger, consuming resources, contaminated food, and children's nutrition.
COVID 19 impact on the food system sustainability and community resiliency.
Education quality limitations to promote farming and hands-on learning practices.
2. People-focused topics.
Promoting the vibrant and sustainable community through school farms.
Improving health and horticultural therapy in the school's outdoor areas.
Activating community participation.
Creating a productive, self-sufficient micro-community.
Supporting local business and small enterprises.
3. Process- focused topics.
Offering innovative and stimulating education.
The innovative techniques of operating the school farm.
Waste management of the school kitchen.
Water management of the school farm.
Growing produce on-school to save energy and transportation cost.
4. Place-focused topics.
School Design Adaptation and Innovation.
The visual aesthetic value of the school farm.
Reducing Urban Heat Island effect.
Important Dates
August 15, 2020: Proposal Submission Deadline
September 21, 2020: Notification of Acceptance
November 21, 2020: Full Chapter Submission
December 21, 2020: Review Results Returned
January 21, 2021: Revisions due from Authors
February 21, 2021: Final Acceptance Notification
Inquiries
For any further information, please contact the book editors at :
Alshimaa Aboelmakarem Farag, AATantawi@eng.zu.edu.eg
Samaa Badawi, samaa@mans.edu.eg
Maya Kamareddine, maya.ormrod@gmail.com