Future of Sustainable Greenhouse in Jyväskylä : Potential customers and their attitudes toward sustainable greenhouses and urban horticulture

Abstract

The goal of this thesis was to determine in what ways people want to access sustainable greenhouses. This thesis also examined the willingness of consumers to invest in sustainable greenhouses in order to grow their food. The literature review consists of two parts. The first part deals with the LOHAS consumer as a potential customer of sustainable greenhouses. This part also focuses on sustainability in farming and urban horticulture. The second part of the literature review discusses various types of traditional greenhouses and how many systems have be integrated with each other to make up sustainable greenhouses. The research was conducted using a qualitative research method. The focused interview was chosen as the data collection method, and six people were individually interviewed. The interviewees were members of the Kangas area farming experiment including others interested in urban farming. The results suggested that people are interested in the sustainable greenhouse but that the greenhouse has to be fully functional in the harsh Finnish climate without consuming a huge amount of money on energy. Some people are against offseason production since it is less sustainable and the taste is not authentic. A community can invest in sustainable greenhouses or a housing company can own a greenhouse with allotment gardens for the tenants to let.