Integrative Model to Measure and Improve Urban Agriculture: Food-Energy-Water Meter, 2019-2020

The FEW-Meter project aimed to investigate and compare the efficiency of different types (community gardens, allotments, micro-farms) of urban growing in the UK, France, Germany, Poland and the US. This was done through the collection of input and harvest data on a sample of sites in the case study countries as well as the measurement of fixed resources on-site (such as raised beds, greenhouses and office space) and the inclusion of tools used and consumables (such as petrol and heating fuel). The study also looked at the motivations of volunteers for working at these gardens/farms and the benefits they accrued from their involvement in the case studies.

The project aims to: create a truly comprehensive system to understand the contribution of existing types of Urban Agriculture (UA) to the sustainable development of cities; measure the quantity of produce as well as related energy and water usage associated with UA; expand knowledge about possible health risks, and use this system to ascertain and identify approaches to advance the performance of UA in terms of Food / Energy / Water (FEW) nexus. This will be done through extensive case study analysis from a transdisciplinary perspective, which encompasses key factors of urban food production and consumption systems. Resulting data will be elaborated through modelling of flows (of energy, water and other resources), with a methodology also based on urban metabolism. Objectives of the project include: the development of an innovative and comprehensive system (FEW-meter) to measure UA from a FWE nexus perspective; the establishment of an on-line community of growers that will help gather data; the development of scenarios of optimal use of urban resources, based on an expansion of UA at city scale; and the generation of digital tools to support urban growers optimising the urban metabolism of their agricultural practices. The project thus contributes to the transformation of cities towards sustainability.