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This chapter aims to address a dearth of sociological literature pertaining to allotment gardens as place, by exploring them as ‘lived places’, where social relations, experiences, meanings, and a sense of place are developed and visualized within gardens. It argues that allotment gardens offer people the opportunity to engage creatively in the production of place and that the social process of place-making occurs through this active engagement. The Pispala allotment garden in Tampere, Finland, is an example of an urban nature area, which is socially experienced as an extremely meaningful place. Urban livability and place-making can be approached through people’s relations to rurality and to nature. The boundaries within communal gardens and allotment gardens where individuals lease out individual plots within a larger shared space can be viewed as permeable and transient. The process of place-making can also be viewed in relation to social interactions and sense of community that develops in allotment gardens.

This chapter provides an overview of the latest trends of urban allotment gardens from a typological and spatial standpoint. Previous chapters in this book show that recently there has been a resurgence of urban gardening practices (see Chapters 2 and 3). Thus, an investigation into whether this resurgence is supported by new spatial arrangements that can circumvent the ever-rising pressure for urban development and from land values is necessary. Likewise, it is necessary to question whether planning systems are capable of accommodating higher demand for allotment gardens as a result of such resurgence. The chapter shows that, in response to rapidly changing urban conditions and planning systems that cannot reconcile speculative development with social needs, other types of urban allotments are emerging which differ from the conventional forms of the past. A number of case studies from 11 European countries collected by many researchers involved in the COST Action form the evidence base for the identification of new approaches to the design and implementation of allotment gardens which substantially differ from the conventional type on green land. Following the introduction, the chapter is organized in four sections: the first identifies urban dynamics behind the emergence of new ways to approach urban gardening, both as an activity and its spatial manifestations; the second presents a description of such emergent approaches, and the third discusses their cross-cutting and common characteristics, identifying the spatial implications for the urban context. Finally, in the conclusions we establish the need for a reframing not only of spaces suitable for urban gardening or motivations for this particular activity, but more importantly of planning and design processes, and the role of the designer as a facilitator of bottom-up initiatives

In this article the authors explore the need for early childhood practitioners and scholars to engage in joint problem solving to create and support early childhood education and care (ECEC) professional development systems in which all constituents benefit. Primary constituent groups and principal decision-making bodies are defined and analyzed, and the interrelated influences within professional development systems are considered. At the heart of the discussion is how decisions made by all constituent groups are interrelated and affect all parts of the system. For instance, decisions made about professional qualifications have an impact upon pre- and in-service ECEC professionals, current ECEC professionals, children and their families, and individuals within ECEC businesses and communities. Although the discussion in this article is about these issues as they are played out within the USA, the authors believe that the implications raised may be usefully considered by ECEC professionals and those engaged in professional development in other cultures and contexts.

Analysis of the contents of textbooks is a meaningful way to examine individuals, groups and institutions, as they reflect social values, attention and interests of a society. Education as an institution reflects a society's social ideology, and examination of the sociocultural components of schools can reveal the cultural paradigm upon which a society is based. A content analysis of Korean undergraduate early childhood teacher education social studies textbooks was used to illuminate aspects of social change and dominant sociocultural beliefs in Korea. Specifically, textbooks written in 1993 and 2003 were examined in terms of how the authors treated Korean social concepts and pedagogical expectations of early childhood education, the needs of young children, and the roles of teachers over the two time periods, in light of the socio-historical demands of early childhood education in Korea. The primary focus of the textbook written in 1993 was the social and moral development of children, whereas the 2003 textbook stressed multiculturalism and preparation for living in a cooperative, global society. How the textbook authors' areas of emphases reflected the sociocultural realities and expectations of Korean society at the time they are written is discussed.

This article describes a student-led, community-participatory project focused on reducing the burden of childhood lead poisoning in rental housing. A multidisciplinary group of students and faculty worked with community members. We compiled the social, public health, economic, and policy information on the human and fiscal costs of childhood lead poisoning. This analysis was done for community advocates to use to persuade policymakers to enact a local law strengthening the prevention of childhood lead poisoning in rental property. In conducting this work, the students gained experience in qualitative research methods, quantitative data analysis, the health consequences of lead exposure, health policy, urban health, science writing, and public presentation.