Urban Agroecology:Risks and Benefits

Thesis context and potential impact:

The EU Horizon 2020 Upsurge project aims to test nature-based solutions in urban areas with the goal of implementing and sharing knowledge of effective environmentally-centred practices. As part of the scheme, Belfast City Council has proposed the development of a local site: Lower Botanic Gardens, into a community crop-based plot to support local educational programmes, improve rewilding/biodiversity, human health and social well-being, climate change and air pollution effects, and crucially, support food production. The proposed location is currently an unused derelict brownfield site and will require regeneration and repurposing using applied corrective soils and composts to achieve appropriate chemical conditions for agroecological use. This thesis will aim to aid the development of the site into a functioning agroecological system by assessing the potential risks and benefits associated with geochemical remediation of the site, looking particularly at the transfer of site-specific inorganic contaminants through the crop system and at the potential carbon transfers across the soil. Broadly this will determine the efficacy and applicability of such solutions and their outcomes, and, as part of an international urban development project, the conclusions from this thesis may then be used to determine the potential success of applied nature-based solutions at geochemically-similar urban sites.



Aims:

This project aims to develop an unused derelict brownfield site into a functional agro-ecological system. Specifically, this research aims to investigate the use of in vitro bioavailability testing and the use of carbon transfer methodology to determine the movement of elements within the system. This will support the broader project aims of identifying the risks and benefits of urban agroecology applied to a specific setting, and of supporting research into the application and efficacy of nature based solutions to counter general urban issues.



Objectives:

Specific research objectives include undertaking chemical characterisation of the site soil; measuring contaminant bioaccessibility in soils and plants using laboratory-based in vitro methodology to determine the impact of soil contamination on human health; and measuring carbon sequestration and transfer. Finally, the results of these will be contextualised against the suitability, or risks and benefits, of the agroecological system in this setting.



Research methodology:

Soil characterisation of the Lower Botanic Gardens, Belfast, will be conducted according to the BS 10175 site investigation code of practice. Oral bioaccessibility of toxic elements in soil and plants will be determined using the Bioaccessibility Research Group of Europe (BARGE) in vitro Unified Bioaccessibility Method (UBM). Carbon sequestration methodology is to be determined.



Alignment to EPSRC's strategies and research areas:

This project is linked to EPSRC research themes related to living with environmental change in urban areas, infrastructure and urban development, and chemical biology. Chemical biology and biological chemistry will be utilised to determine the risks of urban brownfield sites as renovated agroecological sites on human health. From there, research into site-specific remediation and green space improvement for human health, social, and economic benefit, both presents the opportunity for an applicable improvement in short term site specific conditions and also provides the basis for enhanced current and future urban infrastructure sustainability and resilience on a broader geographical scale.



Companies and collaborators:

Belfast City Council