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Cultural institutions hold a unique position of influence, serving as hubs of education and knowledge dissemination for the people they serve. Embracing sustainable energy use in buildings in zoos and botanical gardens is a commitment to environmental responsibility that reinforces these institutions as trusted sources of information and community leaders on climate change, one of the most vital issues of our time. Sustainable energy solutions can synergize operations with educational missions, allowing zoos and botanical gardens to lead by example and inspire visitors to adopt eco-friendly practices in their own lives. In this opinion paper, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens President and CEO Richard Piacentini discusses key elements in developing a sustainable building energy plan, reviews potential barriers to implementation, and makes a case for adopting regenerative thinking and new metrics for measuring success—citing example cases from Phipps' Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) project. Additionally, the paper demonstrates how green building certification systems and peer-based resource networks like The Climate Toolkit can help guide institutions in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the use of digital technology for the protection and research of cultural heritage has become a trend in this field. Rockeries in Chinese classical gardens have become an important cultural heritage type because of their unique shape, ingenious skills and rich connotations. Based on relevant historical information and 3D digital technology, this paper puts forward a multi-level quantitative analysis method on the scale, shape and quantity of rockeries in Chinese classical gardens, aiming at exploring the objective description and quantitative analysis path of rockeries at different levels. This method develops four levels: overall, regional, hierarchical, and individual and their corresponding quantitative contents, which in turn enable data extraction and analysis of the rockery through the different levels. The proposed method was applied to seven different Chinese classical garden rockeries, and taking Wanfang Anhe Rockery in the Old Summer Palace as an example for objective and comprehensive quantitative analysis and verification. The results show that this method is feasible and effective for quantitative analysis of the scale, shape and quantity of rockeries, which can help understand the basic background of stone rockeries and enhance a refined understanding of stone rockery construction, thereby providing data for preventive protection and informatization management of stone rockeries. The 3D rockery model database based on the overall, regional, hierarchical and individual quantitative analysis and numbering method brings a good application prospect for preventive protection and informatization management of the rockery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensible or expandable garden hoses have become popular. However, their behavior may be surprising to physicists. In this paper, the stress–strain equations that explain this behavior are derived and compared with experiments. The results clearly demonstrate that, since deformation is very large, conventional definitions of strain and stress are not useful and so-called real definitions are needed instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on case studies in Dublin, Ireland, this paper examines the motives for individuals to establish community gardens therein. The paper also outlines the capacities required for community groups to successfully establish and sustain community gardens in Ireland. These capacities include the involvement of individuals with a range of expertise, the presence of supportive community groups/organisations and state agencies, and access to resources, including land. The research findings, detailed in this paper, indicate that community gardens in urban settings encounter a number of challenges, including the absence of a mechanism for community groups to access land. The article provides a framework for community groups and community organisations to develop community gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the book "John Stokes and Mary's Gardens Collection" which contains the personal papers of author John Stogdell Stokes Jr. and the records of his organization Mary's Gardens, and also include biography of Stokes.

Along with the accelerating urbanization process in China, the problem of urban infrastructure layout has become increasingly prominent. The high density of buildings and the extremely unreasonable distribution of infrastructure make the development face great resistance. This paper reveals the problems in the layout of garden infrastructure by studying and analyzing the theoretical foundations of federal learning and distributed learning and provides an in-depth analysis and elaboration of the problem. The paper uses the shape index and landscape index of green infrastructure (green space, arable land, and water bodies), the average width of roads, road network density, and weighted buildings to conduct a comparative study through the differences in ventilation speed and temperature at different layout garden scales. According to the problems existing in the garden layout in the experimental results, corresponding improvement measures are targeted, and the infrastructure layout of the garden is combined with ecology to make the layout within the garden more suitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common garden experiments are indoor or outdoor plantings of species or populations collected from multiple distinct geographic locations, grown together under shared conditions. These experiments examine a range of questions for theory and application using a variety of methods for analysis. The eight papers of this special feature comprise a cross section of contemporary approaches, summarized and synthesized here by what they tell us about the relationships between climate‐related trait spectra and fitness optima.Four of the eight papers are based on field experiments in prairie, desert, Mediterranean and boreal biomes. Representative of many common garden experiments, these experiments reveal consistent evidence of traits varying with population climate provenance, but evidence of a tradeoff between growth and tolerance traits or of consistent fitness optimization at home is scant, in contrast to trait theory. Two synthesis papers highlight dominant patterns of trait divergence, including for an exotic invasive species. One theoretical paper warned that unknown kinship relationships between populations can result in the misidentification of adaptive trait divergence. A third synthesis paper formulated novel and ambitious goals for common‐garden studies through including measurement of response variables at multiple levels of biological organization.The featured papers discuss multiple avenues for improving common garden studies. Genomic analysis, together with the quantification of kinship relationships, will continue to reveal the influence of environmental drivers on gene selection. Measuring a more complete set of fitness traits, especially for traits related to regeneration, will permit the development of projection models to explicitly link trait spectra, climate patterns and fitness consequences. More standardized data reporting will additionally improve abilities to synthesize findings across experiments. Testing population performance in competition with other species will produce more robust fitness comparisons between genotypes, especially for slower‐growing genotypes in higher‐resource environments. Adding gardens in and beyond climatic edge locations will furthermore strengthen the understanding of population failure and species exclusion. Finally, there is unrealized potential in adding ecosystem‐level observations to common‐garden studies that will enhance integrative analysis across scales of biological organization and scientific domains.Synthesis. With novel, creative designs, data integration and synthesis, common garden experiments will continue to advance the understanding of trait ensembles interacting with climate across scales of biological organization, provide pivotal data for global change models and guide ecological applications such as restoration of habitats for rare and climate sensitive species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the general architecture and key technologies of the Agricultural Internet of Things and summarizes the latest progress of the Internet of Things system model. On this basis, a general system architecture model suitable for the Agricultural Internet of Things is initially established, and the key technologies of the Agricultural Internet of Things are expounded to provide a reference for the in-depth application and development of the Agricultural Internet of Things. Aiming at the problem that the energy consumption of each node in the network is uneven in the process of monitoring agricultural production environment by wireless sensor network, which leads to the failure of some nodes in the network too fast, an event-driven wireless routing algorithm for agricultural production environment monitoring is proposed. By reducing the number of pieces of control information sent in the cluster, the algorithm selects the next hop forwarding node from candidate nodes according to the forwarding cost function to shorten the data transmission distance, reduce energy consumption, and improve the life cycle of the entire network. The experimental results show that the algorithm in this paper effectively avoids the waste of node energy consumption caused by the active transmission mode and at the same time better balances the overall energy consumption of the network and prolongs the life cycle of the network. The platform satisfies the needs of a local garden bureau to integrate comprehensive landscaping business information and display comprehensive landscaping information in a comprehensive, timely, and dynamic manner. At the same time, it has made useful explorations in the development and integration of landscaping business data interfaces and GIS data interfaces. All system functions of the smart garden information management platform project are reasonably designed and completely correct and basically meet the software function requirements specified in the requirements specification. Some functions were found not realized during the test. After rectification, various systems have been improved. All system interfaces of the smart garden information management platform project have reasonable layout, simple operation, and good ease of use. The smart garden information management platform project meets the business logic requirements and fulfills the requirements of the information construction of the Garden and Greening Administration. All systems of the smart garden information management platform project are simple to install and easy to operate and meet the user's requirements after installation. The system has a strict permission setting function. People with different permissions can only see the content of the fields that they have permission to access, which effectively ensures the security of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historic gardens are often seen in the context of botanical heritage, which emphasizes their aesthetic and botanical value. Yet, their architectural importance as an integral part of the architectural heritage of the bastion castle ensemble is ignored. Finding the relationship between the castle and the garden is presently complicated by considerable changes in the townscape since the 17th century and the lack of details on these gardens' depictions on maps. The paper demonstrates how historical maps, especially military ones combined with modern on-site analyses can reveal the main architectural types of the gardens in the bastion castle ensemble and show their most important architectural features that should be preserved. The results demonstrate three scenarios in the relationship between the garden and the palace component of bastion castle, their main features, and the challenges facing them. This elucidation of the main features can help to conserve and to valorize plans for the gardens in these ensembles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gardens play a key role in the definition of the cultural landscape since they reflect the culture, identity, and history of a people. They also contribute to the ecological balance of the city. Despite the fact that gardens have an historic and social value, they are not protected as much as the rest of the existing heritage, such as architecture and archaeological sites. While methods of built-heritage mapping and monitoring are increasing and constantly improving to reduce built-heritage loss and the severe impact of natural disasters, the documentation and survey techniques for gardens are often antiquated. In addition, inventories are typically made by non-updated/updateable reports, and they are rarely in digital format or in 3D. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive study on the latest technology for laser scanning in gardens. We compared static terrestrial laser scanning and mobile laser scanning point clouds generated by the Focus 3D S120 and the Leica BLK2GO, respectively, to evaluate their quality for documentation, estimate tree attributes, and terrain morphology. The evaluation is based on visual observation, C2C comparisons, and terrain information extraction capabilities, i.e., M3C2 comparisons for topography, DTM generation, and contour lines. Both methods produced useful outcomes for the scope of the research within their limitations. Terrestrial laser scanning is still the method that offers accurate point clouds with a higher point density and less noise. However, the more recent mobile laser scanning is able to survey in less time, significantly reducing the costs for site activities, data post-production, and registration. Both methods have their own restrictions that are amplified by site features, mainly the lack of plans for the geometric alignment of scans and the simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) process. We offer a critical description of the issues related to the functionality of the two sensors, such as the operative range limit, light dependency, scanning time, point cloud completeness and size, and noise level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enrichment is essential for the welfare of many zoo-housed animals, yet the value of enrichment is not well understood for all taxa. As an intelligent, long-lived species, the southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is a good model for enrichment research. A pair of southern ground hornbills, housed at Beale Wildlife Park and Gardens, were observed during study periods in 2014, 2018, and 2019. Three types of enrichment were provided for the birds; these enrichment types were developed based on information on the habits of the species as found in natural history papers. The enrichment types consisted of a pile of twigs, small animal carcasses, and plastic mirrors. Overall, the carcass feeds and the mirrors resulted in the greatest changes in behavior, with hornbills engaging in long periods of food manipulation with carcasses. For the mirror condition, hornbills spent time stalking around and pecking at mirrors, similar to the 'window smashing' behavior seen in wild hornbills. Overall, the research suggests that not only can enrichment modify the behavior of southern ground hornbills, but non-nutritional enrichment may be equally valuable to the animals. Natural history papers may have some value in inspiring novel enrichment items for zoo-housed animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normally, gardens lower the ambient temperature, which would improve air quality, absorb pollutants, and produce oxygen. Trees reduce soil erosion, increase fertility, and help retain soil moisture. Decomposed leaves that fall in the garden become nutrients for tree growth and help microbes to thrive. When it comes to growing trees in a garden, one should try and choose native trees that are naturally found in a particular area. These trees are well adapted to the environment and require less maintenance. Many insects and birds rely on native trees for food and shelter. Therefore, they are best for the environment. However, not all native trees are evergreen trees. Many evergreen trees can be planted in a small garden. In this paper, a microplantation-based model was developed to enhance the biological impacts for a smart garden. Based on the garden requirements, the smart system was constructed. On this basis, the seeds are planted in the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Over 85% of Kibera's population, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, is food insecure. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions, such as sack gardens, have the potential to diversify diets—in turn, improving household food security and diet quality. Furthermore, the sale of extra vegetables may provide an income for program participants. Objectives The aim of this paper was to conduct a feasibility assessment and preliminary impact assessment of a nutrition-sensitive urban agriculture intervention that used sack gardens for women in Kibera. Methods Women, from a women's empowerment program, in Kibera (n  = 36; n  = 21 full program participants, n  = 11 withdrawn, n  = 4 new members) were engaged in a sack garden intervention in June 2018. A mixed-method approach was used to assess the feasibility and preliminary impact of the program. Qualitative semi-structured interviews (n  = 25; n  = 18 full program participants, n  = 5 withdrawn, n  = 2 new members), administered at the end of the pilot phase (March 2019), identified barriers and facilitators (e.g. preferences, inputs, group dynamics) to the production, consumption, and sale of self-produced vegetables. Quantitative surveys (n  = 21 full program participants), administered in June 2018 and March 2019, were conducted to evaluate preliminary intervention impact on food security and diet quality through analysis of the Household Hunger Scale (HHS) and Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W). Results Key barriers included insufficient inputs and group work difficulties, particularly around communication. Facilitators included positive intervention feedback, social bonds and teamwork, participants' self-sufficiency, and preference for sack garden vegetables over market vegetables. Post-intervention, participants reported reduced household food insecurity. Recommendations for program scale-up include investment in additional inputs, a water-collection/irrigation system, additional training, and placing sack gardens closer to women's homes to reduce time constraints. Conclusions This study suggests that sack gardens may provide partial solutions to improve diet quality; however, further research is needed to assess any impact on household income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the connections the authors make between their experiences in the classroom and the powerful work of Robin Wall Kimmerer (2013) in Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants; specifically, her chapter entitled "The Three Sisters." Through Kimmerer's work, we interpret our own experiences within the classroom. We also draw upon Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics in general and his notion of Erfahrung in particular. We were inspired by the author's insights into how she happened upon a "new teacher" for her students. As a result, this paper explores her work, as it provides an image of what it is to be present among students while honouring the topic's own being and becoming--staying open to its future possibilities not yet known. The pedagogical turn away from predetermined outcomes to reciprocity, interconnectedness, and relationships is examined in how they help us understand teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term Byzantium or Byzantine Empire is used for a state creation that existed from die 4th to the 15th century’, more precisely' until 1453 and the fall of Constantinople due to the Ottoman conquests. Regardless of what historical diSRussions and opinions otherwise differ regarding the origin of Byzantium, in this SRholarly work May 11th, 330 AD, was taken as the beginning of die Byzantine Empire, the date when New- Rome came into existence (Greek NeaPcout], Lat. Nova Roma) at the site of the Byzantine Greek colony. The paper will analyze the influence of Byzantine law on the furdier development of the law in the world, as well as the temporal continuity and development of Byzantine law that relies on Roman law. In addition, through a comparison of the Byzantine Code Members and later Dusan’s Code, die theory! of legal transplants developed by Alan Watson will be analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-dimensional reconstruction of outdoor landscape is of great significance for the construction of digital city. With the rapid development of big data and Internet of things technology, when using the traditional image-based 3D reconstruction method to restore the 3D information of objects in the image, there will be a large number of redundant points in the point cloud and the density of the point cloud is insufficient. Based on the analysis of the existing three-dimensional reconstruction technology, combined with the characteristics of outdoor garden scene, this paper gives the detection and extraction methods of relevant feature points and adopts feature matching and repairing the holes generated by point cloud meshing. By adopting the candidate strategy of feature points and adding the mesh subdivision processing method, an improved PMVS algorithm is proposed and the problem of sparse point cloud in 3D reconstruction is solved. Experimental results show that the proposed method not only effectively realizes the three-dimensional reconstruction of outdoor garden scene, but also improves the execution efficiency of the algorithm on the premise of ensuring the reconstruction effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, cultural and creative industry park is becoming a kind of hot industry to promote industrial restructuring and to improve the quality of urban space. For this reason, cultural and creative industrial parks are planning to build across the country. Currently, cultural and creative industrial parks that develop better than others thank to the government's overall planning, construction, marketing, and management. At the same time, the new cultural and creative industry parks face enormous challenges, such as how to have together the cultural and creative industries and related groups or how to have area cultural creativity. And it is frequently regarded as a multiattribute group decision-making (MAGDM) process. Thus, a novel MAGDM process is needed to tackle it. Depending on the conventional grey relational analysis (GRA) method and intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs), this paper designs a novel intuitive distance-based IF-GRA method for development potentiality evaluation of cultural and creative garden. First of all, some necessary theories related to IFSs are briefly reviewed. In addition, since subjective randomness frequently exists in determining criteria weights, the weights of criteria are decided objectively by utilizing the CRITIC method. Afterwards, relying on novel distance measures between IFSs, the GRA method is extended to the IFSs to calculate assessment score of each alternative. Eventually, an application about development potentiality evaluation of cultural and creative garden and some comparative analysis is given. The results think that the designed method is useful for development potentiality evaluation of cultural and creative garden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on Medicinal Plants and Jamu (RISTOJA) in of Papua and West Papua provinces was conducted in November-December 2012 and May 2017 using the purposive sampling and snowball method. The purpose of the review in this paper is to find out the patterns and trends in species used, and to discuss the factors that cause the vulnerability of declining plant species due to harvest pressure. In this paper, RISTOJA's data is primary data and a review of the data is carried out by searching literature online and offline. From the results of RISTOJA in Papua and West Papua (Western New Guinea) in 2012 and 2017, there were 2929 numbers of medicinal plants, and it is estimated that from the 2929 numbers there were 983 species of medicinal plants, and from the estimated 983 species of medicinal plants there were 444 species of medicinal plants not yet identified, because most species do not have generative parts and there are 529 medicinal plants identified to species level (2.1% of the total flora of Papua and West Papua). From these data, one species of medicinal plants was included in the category of Critically Endangered (0.19%), two species of Endangered (0.38%), and four species of Vulnerable (0.76%), two species Near Threatened (0.38%), 61 species of Least Concern (11.53%), six species of Data Deficient (DD). Threatened status is more commonly found in species recorded as harvested by traditional healer not from gardens (forests and others). Thus, the continuous exploitation of harvests from the forest and the wildlife can lead to an increase in the future Red List status of some species which are at risk threatened condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to evaluate the potential efficacy of a community gardening intervention on the Navajo Nation to increase gardening and healthy eating behaviors behaviors, which are potentially important in preventing obesity and related health conditions. Rates of obesity are high among American Indians, including those living on Navajo Nation land. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is part of healthy eating. However, availability and access to fresh fruits and vegetables are severely limited on the Navajo Nation, due to distance and cost. One way to increase both availability and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is through community gardening, yet many on the Navajo Nation have limited knowledge and capacity to garden. Methods Methods: We used a quasi-experimental pre-post study design to estimate the effect of a community gardening intervention. Primary outcomes of interest were gardening frequency and fruit and vegetable consumption. Community gardens were constructed and planted in two communities on the Navajo Nation. In addition, a series of gardening workshops were held in each community. Community members were recruited to complete surveys at time points before and after the workshops. The time between baseline and follow-up was approximately one year. Results: We surveyed 169 participants at one time point at least, across both communities, and 25 of these participated in the gardening workshops. Within the 169, there was a cohort of 32 participants completing both baseline and follow-up surveys. For this cohort, interest in gardening increased from 78% to 97% (p=0.014), but none of the changes in gardening selfefficacy, knowledge or gardening frequency reached statistical significance. There were no measurable changes in reported fruit and vegetable consumption, self-efficacy or knowledge. Overall, the reported financial barriers to gardening increased from baseline to follow-up from 4.6 to 5.5 (p=0.035). Altogether 52 participants completed follow-up. In this group, those who attended at least one workshop gardened more frequently at follow-up than those who did not attend any workshops (21 times per month compared to 10 times per month (p=0.07). Conclusion: Despite enthusiasm for the community garden in both the communities studied and the increased interest in gardening, workshop attendance and participant retention in the study were low. These factors limited our ability to evaluate the potential efficacy of the intervention on gardening and healthy eating behaviors. Nonetheless, we found some evidence that participating in gardening workshops may lead to increased gardening frequency. Future studies should augment the intervention to include explicit efforts to reduce barriers to long term engagement and extend intervention reach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the conceptual implications of using Smart Farming Technologies and digitalisation in small-scale food production, exemplified by the Austrian start-up "myAcker". The company runs a hybrid system of gamified, remote-controlled agriculture, where its customers assume the role of "online gardeners" and take care of their own vegetables. Conceptually, it combines two different logics, namely the technology focus of vertical farming and algorithm-based control over operational processes, and the participatory, values-based elements of Alternative Food Networks like connectivity, sustainability, and ownership developed by online gardeners. Consequently, the dividing lines between producers, customers, and technology, as well as between virtual and physical, become blurred. Thus, the agency of technology becomes a co-constituent of agricultural work, life, and identity, which is itself co-constituted by human actors in a network of social relations. The case study shows the new potential and pitfalls of small-scale smart farming and digitalisation, making it necessary to conceptually revisit human–environment relations in the Actor Network Theory by more explicitly including technology as a bridging element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional agrobiodiversity (FAB) has severely declined during the last decades. Current efforts to reinforce FAB are mainly focused on single-actor, parcel-based measures, whereas multi-actor landscape approaches are supposed to be more effective. In this paper, we propose a social–ecological framework that structures how different land users at both the parcel and landscape level interact with FAB as a natural resource. Furthermore, we introduce 1 m2 FAB gardens as an interactive multipurpose measurement tool to gather data on ecosystem services in collaboration with land users. The presented action research approach provides new insights on motivations and interests of different land users in FAB and how knowledge exchange can result in a higher motivation to invest in FAB. Using a case study in Flanders, we illustrate the FAB-garden concept and highlight its strengths and necessary considerations to properly complement other research approaches in this social–ecological system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper was to determine the effects of environmental factors and soil fertilizers (Universol Blue and Ferticare I, applied for 3 weeks), upon production parameters of garden pea (Pisum sativum). In this regard, there were analysed: soil pH and soil temperature at the moment of sowing. The garden pea, Bördi variety, was randomly sown in early April, on 18 plots, which formed 6 experimental variants (three plots on variant). First variant V1 was the control. Variants V2, V3 and V4 have been fertilised with Universol Blue (337.5g; 421.875g; 506.25 g/variant), and V5, V6 have been fertilised with Ferticare I (540g; 607.5g/variant). After harvesting, there were determined the statistical estimates of the peashells number/variant, estimates of total peashells weight/variant and individual peashells weight/variant. The results showed that soil pH values were in the weak acid range, pH of variants V2, V3 and V4 being slightly more acidic (6.59) than pH of V5 and V6. Soil temperatures was between 60 and 70 C all over the plots. The number of peashells was increased in all variants, relative to the control (control and V3 exhibited a high variability 26.12%, respectively 21.77%). Ferticare I fertilizer was more effective than Universol Blue (938.17 vs. 907.89 peashells). The t values were insignificant between variants, concerning most parameters. The evolution of pH to alkaline domain and the increase in soil temperature, favored the increase in the total weight of peashells (r=0.789*, respectively r=0.882*). Fertilization have reduced the variability, caused by environmental conditions. The application of fertilizers did not increase the weight of peashells, but increased the total number of peashells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Japanese garden is a poetic expression of the universe, containing everything embracing the environment and all life forms that are ever-changing. It subtly reflects the microcosm and macrocosm that are inside and outside of humans, and their inter-relationship. Indeed, the relationships between the universe and humans are poetically deepened in Japanese gardens. Humans have explored the universe in various ways. Particle physics, for instance, has allowed humans to unveil the universe through fundamental theories and experiments. Yet, what humans have discovered is but a small fragment of the whole structure of the universe. In quantum mechanics, the theory forming the basis of particle physics, nothing is certain within this universe. In other words, everything is uncertain. Believing that this uncertainty would bring freedom of thoughts, fertilizing the creativity of humans, the authors would like to challenge this question: how can we approach the essence of the universe through the idea of 'uncertainty' together with the art of creating a Japanese garden? This is addressed through the design of the Uncertain Garden at IdeaSquare, the R&D innovation platform at CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), and Zojo-ji, a temple in Tokyo. The basic characteristics of IdeaSquare can be found in its concept of openness – an acceptance of others having different values in an international, interdisciplinary environment. This project creates a space where visitors and collaborators at CERN can think about and realize the richness of uncertainty, leading to positive effects in their works and lives. Furthermore, this garden is expected to open up a new way of innovation at the fundamental level, finding subtle beauty in uncertainty. For instance, its design will be influenced by the uncertain aspects of nature, such as the shapes of water waves and effects of lighting. This paper describes the creative process and realization of the Uncertain Garden. • A new type of garden is realized through the idea of uncertainty and Japanese gardens. • The Uncertain Garden is designed for renovating a space at IdeaSquare, CERN. • A prototype of the Uncertain Garden was presented at Zojo-ji in Tokyo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the dominant form of urban agriculture (UA) in Australia, existing home food gardens potentially represent a significant resource in the context of future urban food security and sustainability. However, a severe lack of in-field data has hindered our understanding of the form and function of home food gardens which in turn may hinder innovation and improvement. We investigated the productivity, resource efficiency and potential financial savings of home food gardens in South Australia. A group of 34 citizen science participants measured and recorded inputs and outputs from their gardens. Inputs included time spent on various gardening activities, financial costs, and water use. Outputs included crop yields, from which retail value and nutritional content were then derived. The paper outlines a field-demonstrated, comprehensive methodology for continued and consistent data collection for all forms of UA. We found smaller gardens to be more intensive than larger gardens, requiring higher inputs, but also returning higher outputs per unit area. Both productivity and resource efficiency varied among the gardens, and labour requirements were significantly lower than previously estimated. Water use efficiency of the gardens were calculated and found to have comparable water use efficiency to commercial horticulture. Of the gardens involved, we calculated that 65% should break even in five or less years and save money. After applying a minimum wage almost one in five gardens were financially viable. The results represent the most comprehensive measurements on home food gardens to date, and allow practical, evidence-based recommendations for diversification, time saving and smart irrigation practices to improve garden productivity and enhance the viability of UA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The position of urban allotments in the rural-urban spectrum is evaluated in this paper, which contributes to literatures on urban gardening, as well as contemporary rural-urban dynamics. Historically, European allotments can be seen as a product of urbanisation. At the same time, they embody a number of "non-urban" characteristics that create the impression of "the countryside in the city". This research project investigates how the urban and the rural are materialised, represented and practised in five allotment sites in Brno, Czech Republic. We follow three main lines of enquiry where the urban and the rural seem to meet: the physical environment of the allotments; the social life of these spaces; and food production as one of their core functions. Critical reflection of the rural-urban perspective advances our understanding of urban gardens, while, at the same time, allotments offer an example of hybrid spaces, which, in turn, contribute to discussions on current cities and countrysides. Overcoming the urban-rural dichotomy could facilitate the inclusion of urban gardening in contemporary cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing demand for urban agriculture (UA) can be perceived as a global phenomenon. In some parts of the world its main function is to feed the rapidly growing population while in others it is more associated with lifestyle and environmental issues. Undeniably, UA provides opportunities for sustainable city development. UA can support all pillars of sustainable development: ecological, economic, and social. However, depending on existing circumstances certain pillars may be influenced more than others. In this paper we concentrate on urban allotments in Andalusia and take Baeza as an example of a city with an interesting approach to urban gardening. We attempt to answer the question how urban allotments in Baeza affect the city's sustainable development and what remains to be done to make this influence more effective. Our study showed that allotment gardens in Baeza endorsed all three pillars of sustainable city development. However, developing broader community relations on the city scale, revival of declining local grocery market and dissemination of environmental initiatives which allotment gardens may also promote and facilitate was missing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aim at discussing Virginia Woolf's short story "Kew Gardens" from an intermedial perspective, so as to value the articulation between image and word, cinematic and literary structure. In order to achieve this objective, we support the investigation with Woolf's own reflections on the "flirtations of the arts", a notion which proves productive in some of her texts; and on theories of intermediality - RAJEWSKY (2012); RIPPL (2015); HALLET (2015), among others -, whose approach connects literary studies with other arts and media. The results show the intense dialogue between Woolf and the visual arts and reveal that the modern nature of her literature is also a substantial response to the interchange between different arts, being a source of aesthetic and cultural learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted in Yemang, Yongsu Dosoyo -at the northern site of Cyclops moutains, in Depapre District, Jayapura, Papua. Twenty-four traps were randomly set in 4 trap stations per habitat (garden and forest) with 10 m distance between stations. Each trap stations consist of three traps with three different type of baits during four on four consecutive nights. This paper presents results of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood overweight/obesity has been associated with environmental, parenting and socioeconomic status (SES) factors. This paper assesses the influence of the amount of green space, accessibility to a garden and neighbourhood condition on being overweight/obese. It investigates whether parental behaviours moderate or mediate this influence and evaluates the interaction of SES with environmental context. Methods: 6467 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study living in England were analysed. We estimated logistic regressions to examine the initial association between environment and overweight. Subsequently, parenting determinants comprising: food consumption, physical activity, rules and regularity were evaluated as moderators or mediators. Lastly SES related variables were tested as moderators or mediators of the associations. Results: Statistically significant associations were found between low levels of green space, no access to a garden, run down area and childhood overweight/obesity [odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] respectively: 1.14 (1.02-1.27), 1.35 (1.16-1.58), 1.22 (1.05-1.42)]. None of the parental constructs mediated or moderated the relationships between environment and childhood overweight/obesity. Including SES, parental education moderated the effect of environmental context. Specifically, among lower educated households lack of garden access and less green space was associated with overweight/obesity; and among higher educated households poor neighbourhood condition influenced the probability of overweight/obesity respectively: 1.38 (1.12-1.70) OR 1.38, 95% CI (1.21-1.70). Conclusions: This study suggests that limits on access to outdoor space are associated with future childhood overweight/obesity although the ways in which this occurs are moderated by parental education level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vienna is a green city. Around 50% of the urban area is green space, which includes 630 farms and a constantly growing number of community gardens. Not only do activists try to reclaim the city by cultivating vegetables on fallow land, but even the new urban development plan presents urban gardening as an "innovative impulse" for the city. At the same time, agricultural spaces are increasingly under pressure due to population growth and a construction boom. This paper offers a thorough analysis of the implications of neoliberal urban development for agricultural spaces and practices in Vienna. Combining theoretical work on urban neoliberalization with a governmentality approach makes it possible to focus not only on transnational transformations, but also to shed light on specific developments and concrete acts of governing at the local scale. The Donaufeld, a district known for vegetable production and currently defined as an urban development area, is an instructive case study for analyzing the selective preservation and implementation of specific kinds of urban agriculture and the use of participatory politics in urban development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community gardens in the canton of Geneva (Switzerland) are predominantly organised through municipal programmes. Because of their highly regulated character, they are at odds with dominant depictions of community gardens as contestatory, grassroots spaces. They, however, do not map perfectly either onto the accounts of institutional "organised garden projects" deemed to accompany municipal entrepreneurial strategies and/or the implementation of neoliberal governmentality. Critically engaging with municipal involvement in community garden and urban agriculture development, this paper draws attention to the contradictory ways in which municipal actors frame and govern these issues. Drawing upon a case study in the municipality of Vernier, it argues that the municipality's integrated urban agriculture programme serves different and contradictory functions and is simultaneously progressive and neoliberal. Indeed, while Vernier's programme clearly attempts at reversing processes of space privatisation and nature commodification, its focus on individualised action and choice contributes to reinforcing neoliberal modes of subjectification. This analysis, I hope, will encourage urban agriculture scholars to question their reliance upon a dichotomy between benevolent civil organisations and profit-oriented public institutions, and to account more precisely for the singular processes of neoliberalisation at play within the boundaries of their case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with an example of the Italian garden applied as a type in the Czech lands. Villa Kratochvíle is one of the very few cases of an independently created Renaissance villa in the territory of the Czech Republic. Its author was an Italian builder coming from the area around Como Lake -- Baldassare Maggi and he was commissioned by a significant Czech nobleman, William of Rosenberg. Villa Kratochvíle together with the surrounding landscape is compared with the landscape of lakes around Mantua and Palazzo Te, which is typologically similar. Especially the use of large water bodies is what these two places and their surrounding landscape have in common. Italian arts came to the Czech lands directly with Italian artists -- one of them was the garden design. However, it was transformed there by the cultural tradition as well as the geographical location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most people live in urban environments and there is a need to produce abundance indices to assist policy and management of urban greenspaces and gardens. While regional indices are produced, with the exception of birds, studies of the differences between urban and rural areas are rare. We explore these differences for UK butterflies, with the intention to describe changes that are relevant to people living in urban areas, in order to better connect people with nature in support of conservation, provide a measure relevant to human well-being, and assess the biodiversity status of the urban environment. Transects walked under the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme are classified as urban or rural, using a classification for urban morphological zones. We use models from the Generalised Abundance Index family to produce urban and rural indices of relative abundance for UK butterfly species. Composite indices are constructed for various subsets of species. For univoltine and bivoltine species, where we are able to fit phenomenological models, we estimate measures of phenology and identify urban/rural differences. Trends in relative abundance over the period 1995–2014 are more negative in urban areas compared to rural areas for 25 out of 28 species. For the composite indices, all trends are negative, and they are significantly more negative for urban areas than for rural areas. Analysis of phenological parameters shows butterflies tend to emerge earlier in urban than in rural areas. In addition, some fly longer in urban than in rural areas, whereas in other cases the opposite is the case, and hypotheses are proposed to account for these features. Investigating new urban/rural indicators has revealed national declines that are stronger for urban areas. For continued monitoring, there is a need for an urban butterfly indicator, and for this to be evaluated and reported annually. We explain how this may be interpreted, and the relevance for other monitoring schemes. The results of this paper, including the phenological findings, shed new light on the potentially deleterious effects of urbanisation and climate change, which require suitable monitoring and reporting to support policy and management, for example of urban greenspaces and gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using primary data collected at the national and local levels in France, this paper shows how water price increase, initially intended to generate environmental benefits through reducing water use, has produced economic incentives for households to drill their own garden boreholes. The paper first presents the results of a national survey which identifies the increasing number of garden boreholes as an issue of concern in a majority of the French counties. It then presents a microeconomic model which represents the households' decision to construct a borehole. The model is used to simulate the impact of various water pricing scenarios on tube well development and residential water demand at regional level. The paper ends with a discussion of the social impact of emerging independent supply strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper combines spatial poetics, landscape architecture theory and humanistic geographical ideology, analyzing Tang Dynasty Poet Bai Juyi’s . . . aesthetics of multi-layer landscape architecture on the waterscape of his Lü-dao Garden . . . This paper is divided into five parts. Part One discusses Bai Juyi's Lü-dao Garden as the typical “Dream Home;” the poet projected his subjective values and conducted multi-layer landscape architecture to shape his wooded garden, and waterscape is a crucial element in this project. Part Two discusses the aspect of the material environment in landscape architecture. Livi-dao Garden, with a pond in the center surrounded by meandering water paths, creates a focal point to showcase variations and can be appreciated from 360 degrees. It also offers a space allowing for wandering endlessly in loops. Thirdly, discuss the aspect of the artistic scene which Bai Juyi's created with the arrangement of surrounding waterscapes under the bed, producing the exclusive delight of “comer space” and symbolic imagery of lounging gestures above water. The reflection in the water is used to establish a microcosm, liberating conventional relationships when viewing the space. By re-organizing sceneries from South of the Yangzi River, he created a miniature homeland based on his memory; a transcendental angle is used as if lying on a boat to review the self's perspective. Part Four discusses landscaping actions involved in accordance with the ultimate spiritual principles. Bai Juyi applied a method of contemplative investigation in researching matters and efforts in meditative Zen practices to create a deep, distilled and lucid state for Lu-dao Garden as the ultimate spiritual principle, constructing a blissful condition of self-containment and perfection. Part Five is the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main characteristics of the rural-urban fringe is the rapidly transforming hybrid landscape. This mixed land use is changing fast and is conspicuous since the early 1990s' in Hungary. Before the transition, the development process was regulated and determined by the national government. In the post socialist transition, the market economy transferred the peri-urban areas to other context. The aim of this paper is to present how the ruralurban fringe of a post-socialist country has developed during different regimes among different conditions. Furthermore not only the different regimes among different conditions determine the transformation of the peri-urban area in post socialist countries, but also the special administrative and historical urban space is productive of other location and development ways than as usual. Thus, the second aim of this paper is to discuss how the regional (The Great Hungarian Plane) characteristics of the cities can determine the changes of the rural-urban fringe. The "small hobby garden' is an important urban space of the peri-urban areas. They were created in the 1960s'. The gardens had agricultural and recreational functions. Before 1989 they were a significant part of the Hungarian economy and social life. People had their own land property and the owners could sell their grown vegetables during the socialism. After the transition the hobby gardens lost their roles, thus they are important "only' in local. In the last one and a half decade the gardens have undergone various changes. The functions and the land use of the small hobby gardens have become wider. The rural-urban fringe zone of Szeged has more, various garden zones than it is usual in the Great Hungarian Plane. Thus, Szeged is suitable to present the development of rural-urban fringe, especially to present the transformation of the small hobby garden zones in Hungary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has seen many calls for the development of unified ‘world historical archaeologies’ of the past 500 years. While the field benefits from growing international exchanges and collaborations, retaining the diversity of regional traditions is a major and emerging challenge. As the field increasingly tests the temporal, geographical and interdisciplinary limits of archaeological perspectives, engaging with the diversity of modern material, these complexities remain little discussed, and the situations and contingencies of disciplinary narratives, priorities and interactions remain unproblematized. Exploring these matters, this paper considers transatlantic interactions between British and North American traditions of historical archaeology over the past two decades, journeying between two garden landscapes – in Annapolis and Bristol. After considering Mark Leone's 1984 study of the William Paca garden in Annapolis, Maryland, and its subsequent reinterpretations, the paper discusses an eighteenth-century ‘eclectic’ garden at Goldney in Bristol. The paper argues that situational and ‘symmetrical’, rather than interpretative, approaches to archaeological material would aid the development of multi-vocal and inclusive ‘world historical archaeologies’, acknowledging and celebrating the archaeological complexities that are encountered in the past and the disciplinary present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their obvious functional and stylistic differences, hedge mazes and English landscape gardens have salient symbolic and structural similarities which make them fruitful objects of comparative analysis. Both invert the norms expected of interior and exterior spaces, of human cultivation and "wilderness", creating landscapes of semiotic uncertainty. Being at once natural and cultural, both types of space present a "problem to be solved" either by reaching a centre or understanding a layout. Both "play" with the notion of boundary by constructing uncrossable and at times oppressive walls from seemingly fragile plant matter or by hiding their boundaries. At the same time there are important differences which make this comparison of boundary spaces even more interesting: hedge mazes and landscape gardens are distinguishable by their respective structural levels, the presence or absence of a centre, their relation to other parts of gardens and connected human habitations. Using Juri Lotman's notion of hybrid and transitional objects characteristic of boundary mechanisms, this paper explores the semiotically dense nature-culture boundary which these mazes and gardens both inhabit and create. The objects of our analysis are 17th-century English mazes and early English gardens dating from the beginning of the 18th century: mazes at Longleat and Hampton Court, and landscape gardens such as Rousham and Stowe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries signified the appearance of a new trend in art called Art Nouveau in England, Stile floreale in Italy, and in Poland - secesja. It was an attempt to escape from the style that copied historical forms and set a new direction of development. The main inspiration for the creators of this period became nature, its asymmetry, variety of textures, subtle colors or smooth, and wavy lines. Artistic motifs were drawn from the richness of native flora and fauna. Flowering shrubs, perennials and creepers were especially inseparable decorative and compositional elements of a garden. Secession had a significant impact on painting, sculpture, architecture, and garden design. The space surrounding people was treated comprehensively by blurring the boundaries between different arts. A multitude of shrubs - especially roses and lots of perennials such as Lilium, Iris, and Phlox, gave the impression of architecture immersing in the surrounding garden. The aim of the paper was to briefly analyze the Art Nouveau style and present the diversity of species used in the gardens of that period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the list of flowering plants from the Theosophical Society campus (TS), Chennai. The Theosophical Society campus is the second largest green patch in the city of Chennai, next to Guindy National Park. A total of 449 taxa have been recorded comprising 161 trees, 84 shrubs, 179 herbs and 25 climbers that are distributed in 353 genera, represented in 85 families, 11 super orders and 35 orders as per the APG III classification. Superorder Fabids and Lamids account for about 49% of the taxa. Paleotropical elements (66%) dominate the TS campus followed by Neotropical elements (31%). The present study reveals that TS campus has a rich and diverse exotic flora. The garden department of this protected campus takes care of conserving the floral diversity. Hence, Theosophical Society campus can be considered as a major biodiversity heritage site and an indispensible lung space for the city of Chennai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the audio-visual interaction and perception of water features used over road traffic noise, including their semantic aural properties, as well as their categorization and evocation properties. The research focused on a wide range of small to medium sized water features that can be used in gardens and parks to promote peacefulness and relaxation. Paired comparisons highlighted the inter-dependence between uni-modal (audio-only or visual-only) and bi-modal (audiovisual) perception, indicating that equal attention should be given to the design of both stimuli. In general, natural looking features tended to increase preference scores (compared to audio-only paired comparison scores), while manmade looking features decreased them. Semantic descriptors showed significant correlations with preferences and were found to be more reliable design criteria than physical parameters. A principal component analysis identified three components within the nine semantic attributes tested: "emotional assessment," "sound quality," and "envelopment and temporal variation." The first two showed significant correlations with audio-only preferences, "emotional assessment" being the most important predictor of preferences, and its attributes naturalness, relaxation, and freshness also being significantly correlated with preferences. Categorization results indicated that natural stream sounds are easily identifiable (unlike waterfalls and fountains), while evocation results showed no unique relationship with preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to justify the conditions for saturation of the walnut domestic market and export development, analysis of the domestic market conditions, outline problems and prospects for industrial nuts production, development of a number of measures for the competitive development of the industry in Ukraine. The current state and tendencies of supply and demand formation are considered, the level of production and consumption of walnuts is estimated, the norms of labour and money costs for the creation and use of marketable plantations are determined, the investment needs for the development of the domestic branch of nuts production and the expected socio-economic effect are determined. The validation of the proposed valuation methodology has confirmed that agricultural enterprises can make adequate management decisions for the efficient management of nut businesses by farmers. It is proved that laying of industrial walnut gardens in Ukraine will increase the level of their production and will promote its export growth. In this regard, determining the priority of economic efficiency of nuts production, becomes of particular importance, which determines the relevance of the chosen topic and the importance of the results obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout Latin America, from architecture to literature and the visual arts, the landscape has been a key expression of modernity-as-crisis, unsettling earlier traditions of deploying the landscape-form in order to forge an image of pristine American nature. Instead, twentieth-century landscape is both expression of and intervention into, the critical reconfigurations of space and place underpinning the urbanization of Latin American societies, until then predominantly rural in nature. Luis Barragán's and Roberto Burle Marx's garden designs offer two very different expressions of modernism in the landscape-form, as a way of emplacing the abstract space of modern architecture in American nature and culture. This paper tries to re-assess their work in the context of the landscape- form as a site and expression of the crisis of space/place constellations in twentieth-century Latin America. The biometric curve which Burle Marx's gardens introduced into the formal vocabulary of architectural modernity, will be read here as the formal inscription in the design itself of the tensions between space and place which the latter attempts to negotiate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the close links between botany and archaeology, using case studies from the ancient Mediterranean. It explains the kinds of palaeobotanical remains that archaeologists can recover and the methods used to analyse them. The importance of iconographic and textual evidence is also underlined. Examples of key research areas that focus on ancient plants are discussed: diet and palaeoeconomy; medicines, poisons, and psychotropics; perfumes, cosmetics, and dyes; and prestige. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aspen naturally grows in large, single-species, even-aged stands that regenerate clonally after fire disturbance. This offers an opportunity for an intensive clonal forestry system that closely emulates the natural life history of the species. In this paper, we assess the potential of genetic tree improvement and clonal deployment to enhance the productivity of aspen forests in Alberta. We further investigate geographic patterns of genetic variation in aspen and infer forest management strategies under uncertain future climates. Methodology/Principal Findings: Genetic variation among 242 clones from Alberta was evaluated in 13 common garden trials after 5-8 growing seasons in the field. Broad-sense heritabilities for height and diameter at breast height (DBH) ranged from 0.36 to 0.64, allowing 5-15% genetic gains in height and 9-34% genetic gains in DBH. Geographic partitioning of genetic variance revealed predominant latitudinal genetic differentiation. We further observed that northward movement of clones almost always resulted in increased growth relative to local planting material, while southward movement had a strong opposite effect. Conclusion/Significance: Aspen forests are an important natural resource in western Canada that is used for pulp and oriented strandboard production, accounting for ∼40% of the total forest harvest. Moderate to high broad-sense heritabilities in growth traits suggest good potential for a genetic tree improvement program with aspen. Significant productivity gains appear possible through clonal selection from existing trials. We propose two breeding regions for Alberta, and suggest that well-tested southern clones may be used in the northern breeding region, accounting for a general warming trend observed over the last several decades in Alberta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ants in the tribe Attini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) comprise about 230 described species that share the same characteristic: all coevolved in an ancient mutualism with basidiomycetous fungi cultivated for food. In this paper we focused on fungi other than the mutualistic cultivar and their roles in the attine ant symbiosis. Specialized fungal parasites in the genus Escovopsis negatively impact the fungus gardens. Many fungal parasites may have small impacts on the ants' fungal colony when the colony is balanced, but then may opportunistically shift to having large impacts if the ants' colony becomes unbalanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]