Social farming in the Madrid Region: enabling at-risk groups contact with nature

Social farming (SF) has gained growing attention in Europe as a multifunctional nature-based solution (NbS), that links agricultural activities with therapeutic, educational, and socio-occupational objectives. Operating at the nexus of ecological and social systems, SF represents an innovative social contract to address the dual challenges of global environmental degradation and increasing social vulnerability, particularly within metropolitan contexts. Despite its expansion in several European countries, empirical research from Southwestern Europe, specifically Spain, remains limited. This paper addresses this gap through an analysis of 31 SF initiatives operating across urban, peri-urban, and rural contexts in the Madrid Region. The initiatives were characterized through an analysis of their governance arrangements, activities, user profiles, staffing patterns, and the well-being and ecosystem-service benefits they provide. Results reveal hybrid governance models combining public, private, and non-profit actors; a strong focus on people with disabilities and elderly populations; and heterogeneous activity portfolios shaped by territorial context. Most initiatives operate as small-scale, collectively organized, and organically managed agro-ecosystems, often located on marginal land. SF generates behavioral, social, and instrumental benefits for diverse at-risk groups and contributes to environmental enhancement through small-scale agro-ecosystems. However, initiatives face structural challenges related to funding precarity, weak networking structures, and limited policy recognition. The findings highlight the need for stronger institutional support, clearer cross-sectoral policy frameworks, and more systematic evaluation tools to consolidate SF as a key component of regional sustainability and social innovation agendas.