A Critical Reflection on the "Deficits to be Overcome" in Urban Agriculture in Bulgaria

What are the real vs. the potential effects of urban agriculture (UA) on the welfare of communities living in the city and the close-by areas – this is amongst the main queries posited by the book "Urban Agriculture for Improving the Quality of Life. Examples from Bulgaria", edited by Donna Pickard. A multidisciplinary study that leans on scientific data and unravels the interplay between the impact of UA practices and the quality of life. Content-wise, this research involves multi-layered analyses on the subject – UA has been viewed through social, educational, economic, spatial, and ecological aspects. At the beginning of the book, there is a text about the historical dimension of UA in Bulgaria, revealing curious information about what urban agriculture looked like in the 1930s in Sofia. An intriguing find, for instance, is that people working in the newly established National Assembly raised poultry in a parliamentary annex building during the first years of their service. The book has been awarded the scientific and applied achievement of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IPhS-BAS) for 2022 after the General Assembly of Scientists vote in January 2023. The values of this scientific work are listed below.