Table 1 List of Variables Selected for the Study.
SES variable name | Variable name | Operationalization | |
|---|---|---|---|
O Outcomes | |||
O1 Self-perceived outcome measures | Social benefits | A composite of 4 self-perceived social benefits received from box gardening – stand in the community, quality time with friends or family, community feeling and education of children. For each benefit, the respondent stated whether they had received it; no = 0, a little = 1, a lot = 2. Value 0 (did not receive any of the 4 benefits) – 8 (did receive a lot all of the 4 benefits) | |
Individual benefits | A composite of 4 self-perceived individual benefits received from box gardening – nature connection, know-how, mental relaxation and physical recreation. Value as above | ||
Ecological benefits | A composite of 4 self-perceived ecological benefits received from box gardening – create biodiversity, self-sufficiency, beautify the area and fresh vegetables. Value as above | ||
O2 Ecological outcome measures | Species diversity | Number of cultivated species per box | |
Economic value | Economic value of cultivations per box (€). Economic value of cultivations is equivalent to being bought from a shop × quality × number / area | ||
quality | Quality of all cultivations per box (0 dead plant – 5 excellent condition) | ||
weeds | Coverage of area of weeds per box (%) | ||
number of cultivations | Number of individuals of the cultivated species per box | ||
area of cultivations | Area of all cultivations per box | ||
Expected effect on O1 and O2 | |||
RS Resource system | |||
RS3 size of the resource system* | Box number | Gardening box number per group | Positive on O1 & O2 due to more sufficient resource amount36,40,however collective action is more challenging when size is very large3,66 |
RS4 human-constructed facilities | effort | Extra effort observed during field inventories (insulation, support built for the plants, boxes painted, weed prevention by garden cover etc., watering system) | Positive on O1 & O2 due to higher motivation and knowledge32,38 |
RS5 productivity of system* | shade | Box location`s exposure to sun < 50% of the day or > 50% of the day | Positive on O1 & O2 due to higher productivity41 |
RS9 location | privacy | Box was located in a more private area (quiet neighborhood, city forest) or less private area (city center, road side) | Positive on O1 & O2 due to lower risks outside the urban center42 |
Governance system GS | |||
GS5 Operational rules* | rules | The respondent stated the group had made a plan for the work beforehand (they had separate boxes or other plan) or the group had not made a plan | |
GS8 Monitoring / sanctioning processes | involvement | The respondent`s view if everyone was involved enough in taking care of the cultivations or not | Positive on O1 & O2 due to trust in more equal participation43,44 |
Actors A | |||
A1 Number of relevant actors* | group size | Number of people in each group | Negative on O2 due to higher costs of self-organizing3, positive on O1 due to aggregate contributions41 |
Others number | Number of people not belonging to the respondent’s group but were box gardening in same location (park / other area) | ||
A3 history or past experiences | Starting year | The year the respondent had started box gardening (2016 = 0–2019 = 3) | Negative on O1 & O2 due to less experience in solving challenges41 |
damage | The respondent had experienced some kind of damage done to the boxes during previous years or not | Negative on O1 & O2 due to negative experiences (conflicts)3,43 | |
worries | The respondent`s worries beforehand about vandalism, animal damage or other causes (not at all and just a little = 0 / to some extent and very concerned = 1) | Negative on O1 & O2 due to feeling of inability to control the resource state44 | |
A6 norms / social capital* | Social capital | A composite of 8 variables related to social capital—help from others, help towards others, meeting new people, meeting other gardeners, positive or negative feedback from passers-by and a community feeling in the neighborhood or in the gardener`s Facebook group | Positive on O1 & O2 due to norms of reciprocity, trust and positive experiences2,3,43 |
Evolutionary theory E | |||
E1 Repetition of interactions | Group meetings | The frequency of the group meetings during the summer; less than once a month – everyday | Positive on O1 & O2 due to reciprocity and higher efficiency2,23 |
E2 relatedness | relatedness | Respondent`s relatedness to the group members. Their description if people in their gardening group were their family members (children and/or parents), other family members, friends, neighbors or other | Positive on O1 & O2 due to shared benefits between family members22 |
E3 stability of groups | stability | The group composition`s changes over the summer and/or previous or future summers | |
