This book investigates the urban crises of food insecurity and vacant land by examining how community gardens in Berlin and Rio de Janeiro serve as vital mechanisms for realizing the human right to food. Through a comparative study conducted between 2019 and 2023 involving 40 participants, the research explores urban commons practices and how they address dimensions of food availability, accessibility, acceptability, and sustainability. The findings reveal distinct motivations and effects shaped by local socioeconomic contexts: while Berlins gardens are primarily driven by socialization and environmental concerns, Rio de Janeiros gardens focus on food security and social empowerment. Despite the differences, both cities demonstrate a shared commitment to agroecological production as a tool for urban resilience. Ultimately, the study confirms that urban food-sharing practices in these spaces advance the right to food across various dimensions, highlighting the urgent need for urban governance that protects community gardens to foster a global social-ecological transformation.
Introductory Guidelines to the Investigation of Community Gardens in
Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.- The Precedents and the Current Crises of Urban
Food and Land.- Standards towards a Social-Ecological Transformation of Urban
Food and Land.- Profile of Investigated Community Gardens and Interviewees in
Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.- The Human Right to Food in Community Gardens of
Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.- Conclusions and Policy Recommendations.
Felipe Jardim holds a Doctoral degree in Law (Dr. Jur.) from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Brazil with a focus on City Law, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Friedrich-Schiller University Jena (FSU), Germany (2024). He earned a Masters degree in Urban Development, specializing in Urban Planning and Management, from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil (2018), and a Bachelors degree in Law from the Catholic University of Pernambuco, Brazil (2015). He completed a fellowship on Environmental Humanities at Rachel Carson Center/Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany (2025). The doctoral study was affiliated with Mentalities in Flux Junior Research Group (FSU), and the Public Policy and Territory Research Group (UERJ). Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher in Public Law and Governance/Law School at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He works in partnership with the Community for Action, Research, and Learning (CIAPA/UFPE), Brazil, and the Working Group on Developed-orientated International Agricultural Research (DIA) at Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany.
