Exploration of the functions and potentials of urban forest gardens in Sweden

Forest gardens are multilayered intercropped systems with perennial and mainly, edible crops. They have recently begun to be regarded as edible green infrastructure of cities in temperate regions. This study was aimed at: i) making a national inventory of Swedish urban forest gardens, ii) identifying the drivers that led to their establishment and iii) understanding their contribution to urban sustainability policies. A total of 30 forest gardens were identified in 10 different cities. Site visits and interviews to relevant stakeholders, highlighted the presence of three main types of origin of forest gardens initiated firstly by grassroot movements, followed by schools and municipal officials. These actors were informed and trained by so-called knowledge hubs, namely associations, education centres and professionals. A social network analysis emphasized that knowledge hubs were pivotal in supporting the establishment of forest gardens and circulate information, whilst few connections were found among other actors. More collaboration and integration among all stakeholders might be a key factor to increase the number of forest gardens and improve their quality. Stakeholders stressed the prominence of cultural ecosystems services provided by urban forest gardens by assigning high scores to education, enhancement of community building, recreation and aesthetic values (8.7/10) as compared with regulating services such as biodiversity and climate regulation (7.9/10) and provisioning services (6.5/10). Urban forest gardens were acknowledged to actively engage citizens in public green spaces management and planning, to improve environmental awareness and to promote intergenerational connections. However, the interviews underlined also the presence of legal burdens on land management and use, financial sustainability of both bottom-up and top-down forest gardens and lack of skilled labour. This study offers guidance to urban planners, public officials, education centres and activists on how highly multifunctional forest gardens could improve the green infrastructure thus contributing to cities’ sustainability.