Key findings from the NRPA 2021 Engagement with Parks Report

Key findings from the NRPA 2021 Engagement with Parks Report

September 24, 2021Team QuantumEducation3 Comments

(https://res.cloudinary.com/nrpadev/image/upload/v1631635911/docs/2021EngagementReport.pdf)

Since 2016, the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) conducts annual surveys to collect information and gain insights on how people connect with parks and recreation. The key findings from the survey are a valuable resource to park and recreation professionals, policymakers and stakeholders. The report could be used to gain insights about how people’s use and perspectives on parks have been impacted for the past year with the pandemic crisis.

Covid-19 made people realize the critical function of parks and recreation, particularly in stressful times. The limited recreational opportunities and heightened anxiety changed how people engage with parks and recreation. But even if the industry is heavily affected by the lockdown and social distancing, parks professionals, public health officials, and associations worked together to reintroduce recreation services to the communities at the soonest possible time.

The survey is done by Wakefield Research and participated by 1,000 US adults ages 18 and older between May 28 and June 9, 2021.

Survey Results

Living near park and recreation infrastructure, amenities and programming is associated with a wide range of benefits. It increases the likelihood that one will take full advantage of such benefits.

  • More than 7 in 10 U.S. residents have at least one local park, playground, open space or recreation center within walking distance of their homes
  • Nearly 9 in 10 people agree that it is important to fund local park and recreation agencies to ensure every member of the community has equitable access to amenities, infrastructure and programming
  • Four in 5 U.S. adults seeks high-quality parks and recreation when choosing a place to live
  • More than 60 percent of the survey respondents indicate proximity to a park is “extremely” or “very” important
  • Eighty-seven percent of people agree that parks and recreation is an important service provided by their local government

Park and Recreation Usage

  • Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents visited a local park or recreation facility during the past year
  • People are more likely to have visited a park or recreation facility if they live a walkable distance from such an amenity and more parks and recreation options lead to even more engagement with those amenities
  • Seven in 10 people maintained or increased park, trail, and public space usage during the covid-19 pandemic

As difficult as these times have been, park and recreation professionals demonstrated resilience, flexibility and great innovation. They empowered their communities through innovative ways to learn, socialize and have fun while staying safely at home. Covid-19 barriers like personal safety and closed facilities are the frequently cited ones that kept people from enjoyment of parks and recreation opportunities.

How People Engage with Parks and Recreation

  • Visiting parks and trails remains a favorite park and recreation activity
  • Key reasons why people go to parks: nature, family and friends, relaxation and physical activity

Parks and Recreation is Essential

The NRPA’s Three Pillars: conservation, equity and health and wellness, guides agencies and park and recreation professionals in transforming communities.

  • Conservation: Creating a nation of resilient and climate-ready communities through parks and recreation
  • Equity: Striving for a future where everyone has fair and just access to quality parks and recreation
  • Health and Wellness: Advancing community health and well-being through parks and recreation

Nearly equal shares of respondents (69%-72%) rate the NRPA’s Three Pillars as either an “extremely” or “very” important for the local park and recreation agency to focus on. The public also agrees (87% of respondents) that parks and recreation is an important service provided by the local government. They value parks nearly the same level of importance as they do other major local government services.

  • Four in 5 adults agree it is important for park and recreation agencies to engage with their communities to identify needs and desires
  • Nearly 9 in 10 people agree that it is important to fund local park and recreation agencies sufficiently to ensure equitable access

A clear and significant realization from the 2021 NRPA Engagement with Parks report is that in any situation, people highly value the programs and services offered by park and recreation agencies deliver to their local communities every day and strongly support their mission.

NRPA 2021 Engagement with Parks Full Report

Future-Reader

QR Takeaways: Five Key Strategies for Being a Future-Ready Recreation Leader

January 29, 2021Team QuantumEducationLeave a comment

The Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA), a national organization dedicated to realizing the full potential of parks and recreation as a major contributor to building healthy and active communities, hosted a webinar last September 10, 2020. The speaker, Brenda Herchmer, an expert in community development, talked about the Five Key Strategies for Being a Future-Ready Recreation Leader. Here are Quantum Recreation takeaways:

The webinar covered strategies for strengthening the impact of recreation, what it means to be a future-focused recreation leader, inspiring ideas, promising practices and tools to put the national recreation strategy in play. (https://links.quantumrecreation.com/101020)

In a fast-changing world, we would need future-focused community leaders who: create strategies for more complex issues; develop new leadership models, work more cross-sectoral; enable more citizen engagement; and make the best use of our collective resources.

These are the five key strategies for being a future-ready recreation leader.

1. Maximize Leadership Growth

Future-focused leadership has three (3) essential components: strategic foresight, systems-thinking and community-led development. A future-ready leader is not entirely content with the present and always aiming for the better. It is a person who exerts effort to develop better alternatives, observe and understand community as a system and apply strategic foresight. A future-ready leader is a community-builder who can provide responsive, meaningful programs, products, services, initiatives and make a change.

A changing world is driven by fast-paced information flows and technological factors that cause increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This will demand new skills, knowledge and attitudes. Successful leaders are those who already mastered the basics of change, anticipate it early on and manage it in whatever situation.

The work we do in recreation is very well aligned with futurism. Recreation is an opportunity to make a difference because it can influence what the future will be.

2. Never Forget Your “Why”

We frequently focus on what and how but if we are going to be innovative and inclusive, we first have to begin with why. The “why” is our recreation benefits, contributing to the individual, community and environmental wellbeing.

There are various key marketing messages recreation can use to promote its benefits. Use these benefits to position and market recreation as part of the solution to broader community issues, i.e., illiteracy, crime, mental health, illness. This is what keeping the leaky faucet from dripping means.

3. Utilize Strategic Foresight

There is a need to shift the emphasis in the following areas: leadership, outcomes, power, collaboration, involvement, timing and focus. There are a whole lot of factors that are impacting recreation, and it is important to identify several different plausible future scenarios. Pay attention to what people are already attracted to, recreation trends and weak signals or edge cases that are starting to emerge, potentially impacting the future. Being positioned at the grassroots is advantageous because it will enable us to pay more attention to these weak signals.

4. Prioritize Citizen Engagement

Two strategies are typically being used in recreation, direct service delivery and community development. Direct service delivery is based on the needs model, and community development involves the community’s capacities and assets.

A recreation leader’s job is to call the meeting and build the connection by community building and designing a process that will allow all voices to be heard. Think big, but you can start with small ways to engage your community.

5. Be Driven by Vision and Values

Remember recreation’s vision and values. Make sound decisions and take actions that are in line with these values and key priorities.

Aside from these 5 key strategies, you may also note the simple actions you can do as a future-ready leader. You can observe trends in your daily life, read, cultivate curiosity, promote a learning culture, and so on. In complicated times like Covid19, look out for clues and think of actions you can take. Act in a spirit of hope, be “context-alert,” be a learner/teacher and always practice compassion.

Quantum Recreation Networking

Looking for a GREAT RECREATION WINGMAN

June 13, 2020Team QuantumQ_recreation InformationLeave a comment

Importance of Networking for Recreation Professionals

If you are working as a recreation professional, you might just have the most rewarding job. The extrovert’s dream, you work with people and get to be outside and organize events. The beauty of working as a recreation professional is that all you need is a passion for recreation. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like a little R & R? Whether you went to university and got a degree or you decided to venture into the wide world of entrepreneurship and open a food truck, anyone has the ability to work as a recreation professional.

Being a recreation professional is more than organizing or attending events, it is more than attending summer camps and leading fun activities. To flourish as a recreation professional, it is of absolute importance to network. Network with other professionals, leaders of other organizations is vital to the development and improvement of not only the park you represent but also it is excellent for interpersonal development. Networking is made easier with Alberta Recreation and Parks Association, however, don’t limit your networking to only parks and recreation. Broaden your horizons and venture into networking outside of your sphere. There are many organizations in and around Alberta that offer brilliantly beneficial opportunities and ideas.

What is networking?

All this is made easier if you know a little bit about what networking is all about? Networking is about exchanging ideas, sharing information with like-minded individuals who are either in the same career or similar careers. These informational exchanges usually happen at conferences, within a more social setting, around the buffet table in between seminar sessions or during a break at an event that like-minded professionals are attending.

Why is networking important?

When you network, you increase your visibility, you meet potential clients or professionals that you can work with. You stay abreast of the current news or trends in the recreation field; i.e. you get to know other practitioners, and you have access to the expertise, knowledge and information from others who have walked the road already.

Networking is most effective when it is done face-to-face, however there is something to be said about the effectiveness of networking online. Social media platforms, forums and online groups open up a world of networking opportunity. Through online networking, you are able to reach out to professionals from around the world and share ideas, ask questions and gain vital and valid information. In a time when information and technology are gaining traction and changing at a rapid pace, it is a good idea to crack open that laptop and start joining different groups and start networking.

This brings us to networking with consultants and the role they play in the municipal world. A consultant’s whole business is about networking, making sure they are in the know with the trends, what other municipalities are doing and how other industries are supporting the field of recreation. Quantum Recreation is passionate about recreation and has a knack for networking, which is why it is great to get to know our team. We can also start helping others network more effectively and efficiently. The Quantum Recreation team attends as many events as possible and welcomes anyone to look for them at these events for a chat, or you could even approach them to help you navigate through an event and network with the professionals.

Quantum Recreation has built up a strong contact base and a large network around Canada. Our expertise also stretches over other sectors, like the special event and project management sector. Our vast network and collective in-depth knowledge of different sectors make our team members are ideally suited to help any recreation professional.

Think of the Quantum Recreation Team as your wingman at the next event, helping you meet other practitioners, and giving you the right information to make the right connection.