Ecological, aesthetic and functional evaluation of school gardens: Kastamonu city center example

Students who spend most of their daily time at school meet their needs, such as social activities, eating and drinking, resting, playing games, and doing sports in the school gardens outside class hours. For this reason, school gardens are significant, and when they are designed correctly, their many positive contributions will be felt by both students and teachers. Within the scope of this thesis, the school gardens outside the adjacent area of Kastamonu Central district were evaluated with the help of a scoring system under the main headings of ecological design, equipment, access-transportation, design and use, safety and security, size, comfort-convenience, and planting design, based on the literature. In addition, information that will determine the success of the school garden, such as hard and soft ground areas in the school garden, the amount of space for every student, the location of the schools, and the noise level, was revealed. Report cards were prepared for each school, and the success status of the gardens was determined as well. Afterward, the study area was divided into four different regions, depending on the location, with a school from different levels for each location. In these four other regions, a school from each level with the highest amount of green space per student was determined, and a survey was conducted in 15 schools in total to learn the opinions of teachers and students about their gardens. The data obtained within the scope of the study were first presented on a school basis. Then, schools at the same level in each region were combined, and the results were evaluated according to the level of separation. Additionally, schools at the same levels in different areas were compared. All these evaluations have concluded that the school gardens in Kastamonu have similar characteristics, are not adequately suited to the needs of teachers and students, the rate of green space per student is meager, and students cannot use school gardens freely. While school gardens only achieved the average regarding access-transportation criteria, they received shallow scores regarding ecological design, equipment, access transportation, design and use, safety and security, size, comfort and convenience, and plant design criteria. According to the survey results, awareness about ecological design, recreation areas, playgrounds, plant growing areas, the presence of animals that will not harm students, the presence of water such as fountains and ornamental pools, covered areas for use in different seasons, particular areas for teachers, the size of school gardens and there are severe problems in terms of the amount of hard ground. As a result, it has been revealed that school gardens cannot fully meet the needs of students and teachers, there are not enough green areas in schools, and students are educated without being able to freely use the school gardens, which are equipped with artificial materials, and it has dense, hard surfaces. Survey evaluations revealed that students and teachers wanted to change many areas in school gardens. Still, it was concluded that these deficiencies could not be eliminated due to the lack of budget and professional technical support