CEI Nourishing Gardens installation at CEI’s Freetown Farm location in Columbia, Maryland. Credit: Courtesy of CEI
A new review published in Current Opinion in Psychology focuses on the potential of community gardens to support individual wellness and community resilience. The article was authored by Dr. Chiara D’Amore, Executive Director of CEI, along with Loni Cohen, Justin Chen, and Paige Owen (all of CEI), and Dr. Calvin Ball, County Executive of Howard County, Maryland.
Synthesizing findings from 50 recent studies, the review article underscores how community gardens are far more than spaces for growing food—they are powerful hubs for building psychological resilience, fostering social connectedness, and strengthening civic engagement.
Using social capital theory, the authors highlight the role of community gardens in cultivating bonding (relationships within groups), bridging (connections across diverse groups), and linking (relationships with institutions and resources) forms of social capital—key drivers of individual well-being and community resilience.
“At a time when our society faces escalating ecological, public health, and social crises, community gardens offer a hopeful and tangible path forward,” said Dr. D’Amore, Ph.D. “Our research shows that these shared green spaces nurture not just plants, but also the empathy, trust, and civic spirit needed to weave stronger, more resilient communities.”
“Howard County is a leader in environmental protection, and we are home to so many vital and unique programs that help us preserve our environment for current and future generations. This is possible because of our efforts to promote community gardens as spaces for healing and nurturing more than just our environment,” said Ball. “By linking people and nature together, we are fostering an environment that is bound by well-being and resilience.”
This article reflects CEI’s commitment to advancing knowledge and practice at the intersection of people, place, and planet. CEI’s work is rooted in the research of its founder, Dr. D’Amore, who has identified three formative life experiences that foster an environmental ethic: time spent in nature, environmental mentorship, and opportunities to make a positive local impact.
These principles guide CEI’s programs at its two community farms—Freetown Farm and the Green Farmacy Garden—and through its Nourishing Gardens initiative, which creates community gardens in public spaces across Howard County, as well as CEI’s other programs and offerings.
More information:
Chiara D’Amore et al, Community gardens and the cultivation of social capital, Current Opinion in Psychology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2025.102149
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Community Ecology Institute
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Community gardens highlighted as engines of social capital and resilience (2025, September 10)
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