Building ‘soil-darity’: Identifying personal priorities to facilitate greater participation in community composting initiatives to enhance urban resilience in Singapore

Abstract

More than half the global population lives in urban areas that account for the majority of natural resource consumption, waste generation, and greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing the interconnected challenges to urban resilience – including climate regulation, food security, and urban health – requires a holistic and integrated approach. Urban green spaces hold huge potential in this effort, but maximizing their contributions depends on enhancing soil security, which encompasses both soil health and, importantly, promoting essential urban human-soil interactions. In this context, urban soil stewardship such as community composting plays a crucial but often overlooked role in fostering a more integrated and regenerative approach to achieving greater urban resilience. Using Q methodology and qualitative methods, this study investigates perceptions of individuals participating in community composting in the densely-populated city-state of Singapore. The Q study identified three distinct motivational ‘personas’ prioritising: (a) the ability to act, (b) personal satisfaction and growth, and (c) a personal sense-of-duty to the environment and future generations. Participants also shared reasons for their initial and continued participation and identified key required participation ‘enablers’. Based on the findings, recommendations are proposed to inform multistakeholder policies, strategies and governance arrangements able to unlock soil stewardship’s potential as a strategy to enhance resilience in the country. Whilst focused on the Singaporean context, findings are nonetheless relevant to diverse stakeholders attempting to promote multistakeholder policy and practice required to build urban resilience and address commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement.