Biocultural Restoration in the Urban Green Commons

Abstract

Biodiversity and habitat loss, affective social-ecological disconnection, and a lack of community cohesiveness are complex, interwoven problems, partially stemming from widespread cultural shifts toward unsustainable values and practices. One proposed solution is biocultural restoration – a place-based, process-oriented approach to ecological restoration that explicitly builds local knowledge and ownership through holistic, land-based relational practices. However, there has been little research into its application in urban spaces, where increasing development pressures and concomitant ecological disconnection present new challenges and meaningful opportunities for the approach. To help address this gap, I explored community-led land co-management of neighbourhood parks and gardens in the City of Guelph, Ontario using a biocultural lens, with the expectation that an understanding of the facilitators of urban co-management practice and biocultural identity development could inform future urban biocultural restoration efforts. Ten interviews were completed June-August 2025 with neighbourhood park stewardship and garden coordinators, followed by reflexive thematic analysis. I found that many coordinators were overburdened with labour for their groups, which generally had low participation for collective maintenance and leadership responsibilities. Additionally, the establishment of a biocultural identity relied on practical and sensory experiences over declarative ecological knowledge. This establishment was complicated by negative sensory associations with the urban environment, like pollution. Though a potentially transformative practice in community green spaces, the results from this case study suggest that engagement, identity development, and potentially overburdening under-supported coordinators are challenges for urban biocultural restoration that require consideration.