Healthy and Biodiverse Edible Cities: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess the Effects of a Biodiversity-Focused Community Garden Intervention on Biodiversity and Health in Adults (HEBEDI)

Urbanization is a defining feature of the 21st century in Germany and internationally. While cities confer many benefits to their inhabitants as centers of innovation and education, urban living is also associated with multiple health risks including noise, heat stress, adverse food environments, limited opportunities to be physically active, increased risk for mental illness, loneliness and a growing alienation from nature that disproportionately affect urban dwellers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Observational evidence points towards the potential of biodiverse urban green spaces including biodiversity-focused community gardens (BFCGs) to attenuate the aforementioned risk factors by providing a wide range of health-relevant ecosystem services, including climate regulation, water cycling, improved air quality or contact to nature, and to contribute to healthy and sustainable food production. The project focuses son Impacts of biodiversity friendly Community Gardens on provision of health relevant ecosystem services, environmental justice and health.