Urban horticulture and organic greenhouse standards

The paper gives a brief overview of current urban greenhouse production and discusses its future potential in a world dominated by urbanisation and competition for growing spaces. It highlights production techniques used in different climates, and then studies the legal framework in selected countries. It describes different forms of regulation like certified organic, un-certified organic, private and public standards relating to urban horticulture. Based on practical growing experience and the aspirations of urban greenhouse growers, we make proposals on the content of standards for organic urban horticulture and greenhouse production and their certification. We conclude with EU policy recommendations on how to create a supporting framework for certified organic urban horticulture by allowing certified organic soil-based substrates to be used where it is physically impossible to grow in the soil, and the use of novel organic certification systems, which are already commonly used outside of Europe.