“That without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, moribund.” – Anthony Bourdain
Headed to Las Vegas for the 50th anniversary celebration at the 2015 NRPA Annual Conference? Looking to get a better feel or new perspective on the city of Las Vegas? Maybe a better handle or understanding of NRPA’s Three Pillars? We’ve got you covered.
Off-Site Institutes have always been a great way to step out of your comfort zone and really get a feel for what our host city has to offer, and this year’s offerings are spectacular. Pre-Conference Workshops offer attendees the opportunity to earn or renew a certification and take a deep-dive into subjects essential to the success and interests of your agency. Why not extend your stay by one or two days, experiment and try new things? It’s when we take risks and try something new that we learn, so with that in mind we’ve put together three short itineraries, or, “road maps,” that include some of our more interesting offerings focused on the Three Pillars so you can really spread your wings.
Social Equity Road Map
It’s NRPA’s position that our nation’s public parks and recreation services should be equally accessible to all people regardless of income level, ethnicity, gender, ability or age. For a better understanding of the issues at hand, use these suggestions as a guide to increased understanding and empathy.
Community Action Poverty Simulation: Changing Your Worldview (Session 121): The Community Action Poverty Simulation workshop will promote a greater understanding of poverty. During the simulation, participants role-play the lives of low-income families from single parents working to care for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain their self-sufficiency on Social Security. Join Ellen O’Sullivan and Heidi Lucas as they help you understand poverty in an experiential setting and allow a glimpse into the reality of many families in your home communities. Space in this free workshop is limited, and participation is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Share Your Voice on Aging Issues (Session 235): Do you feel frustrated or perhaps have a solution related to programs and facility issues centered on aging? This session will provide a supportive environment to allow for voicing concerns, sharing ideas and developing networks in the field of recreation and leisure. Led by Dr. Lynda Cochran.
Diversity Audit: Finding Subtle Agency Messages (Session 268): We work hard to offer events and spaces that meet everyone’s needs, but it doesn’t always turn out that way. Often, we unintentionally convey “you’re not welcome” messages to our diverse constituency. Deb Jordan and Michal Anne Lord will use a diversity audit tool to identify those messages and brainstorm ways to address them.
Social Equity Deep Dive
Pre-Conference Workshop: ADA Compliance — Winning Strategies for Sites, Facilities and Programs (Session 80): Some agencies embrace the access and inclusion mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Others are not sure how to implement the requirements and stumble on site and facility access, staff training and programming. Staff from agencies in both groups will enjoy this review of all things ADA. This session includes examples of the many court and administrative decisions that serve as guideposts for agencies that want to do the right thing. Veteran speaker John McGovern, J.D., will cover existing sites, new sites, the transition plan, service animals, other power-driven mobility devices, recreation inclusion and websites.
Conservation Road Map
Protecting open space, connecting children to nature, and engaging communities in conservation practices are core to the mission of public parks and recreation. Follow the Environmental Stewardship track in the conference app for a full slate of sessions, but don’t skip these “can’t miss” offerings.
Developing Environmental Literacy in Preschoolers (Session 148): Today’s children are not spending as much time outdoors as previous generations. Learn how one program is addressing this concern with young children through a nature-based preschool from Rosanna Munoz of the Natureplay Preschool.
Managing Your Most Important Asset: Natural Areas (Session 254): Find out why speaker Chris Matthews and North Carolina’s Mecklenburg County regard natural resource management as a “form of asset management.” See how far they’ve come, learn from their mistakes and successes, find out how much (and why) it costs to maintain natural areas, and learn why natural areas management should be a primary focus of your department.
How Parks Can Help Save the Monarchs (Session 158): The growing consensus among researchers and scientists studying one of our nation’s most loved insects, the monarch butterfly, is that this species is in deep trouble. Numbers have declined almost 95 percent from historic highs and trends for the future are troubling. Come hear from NRPA’s Vice President of Conservation and Parks Richard Dolesh and butterfly expert Wendy Caldwell, coordinator of the Monarch Joint Venture, a national consortium of organizations working to conserve monarch butterflies and their habitat, as they discuss how you can get involved.
Additional Engagement: A special attraction at the Annual Conference this year will be a monarch butterfly tagging demonstration conducted by Caldwell. Conference attendees are invited to view and participate in the tagging demonstration Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. — stay tuned for more details!
Health and Wellness Road Map
With the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, there’s no denying that we’re now all stakeholders in the quest to become a healthier nation. Parks and recreation agencies across the country have answered the call to help improve health and wellness in our communities, and many of the leaders in this effort will be sharing their stories and best practices at the 2015 NRPA Annual Conference. Just a few highlighted opportunities are listed below, but you can also find many, many more in the Healthy Lifestyles track in the app!
Are You Committed? (Session 264): Join NRPA’s own Kellie May and Allison Colman as they discuss NRPA’s Commit to Health campaign with Daniel Hatcher, Stephanie Joyce and Ava Young. In an effort to help kids be more active, eat better and grow up healthy, the Commit to Health campaign supports implementation of Healthy Eating, Physical Activity (HEPA) standards at parks across the country. If your agency hasn’t committed, attend this session to learn how to make the commitment right away.
Health and Wellness Deep Dive
The Community Park Audit Tool App (eCPAT) — Developing Technology to Promote Physical Activity and Health Through Parks (Session 265): Andrew Kaczinski, Ph.D., and Sonja Wilhelm Stanis, Ph.D., will be joined by Gina Besenyi and Dana Souza to discuss how parks are vital resources for promoting physical activity and health. The session will include an interactive discussion about how the eCPAT app can be used by parks and recreation professionals for inventorying park systems, by citizens for evaluating and engaging with their local parks, and by park researchers to help promote public health.
Speed Sessions
The 2015 NRPA Annual Conference will again feature a series of short, engaging 20-minute discussions that we like to call “Speed Sessions.” There’s no shortage of health- and wellness-themed Speed Sessions this year, which will be featured between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Thursday, September 17.
Healthy You: Resources for Community Gardening and Nutrition Education (Session 907): Are you thinking about starting a community garden or adding nutrition education to your programming? There are lots of resources out there. Do you know where to find them? Join speaker Candi Rawlins to learn about free resources and support to get you on the path to a new program idea to help your community.
Glass Room Sessions
Also back for 2015 are the Glass Room Sessions, a series of high-level, interactive discussions focused on parks and recreation and held right in the exhibit hall.
The Future of Play: The future of play belongs to one of two realms — virtual or physical. Right now, virtual is winning the day. Video games, the Internet and other technological options are more effectively engaging children, providing great exercise for thumbs, but not much else. What will it take to steal back the concept of “play” and address our national epidemic of physical inactivity? Tom Farrey, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports and Society Program, discusses the eight key strategies, as identified in the Project Play report released earlier this year.
Added Engagement
Come by Learning Lab Engage (2051) to log some face time with the team from Session 265, The Community Park Audit Tool App (eCPAT) — Developing Technology to Promote Physical Activity and Health through Parks, and receive personalized instruction for using the eCPAT tool, which was developed to help diverse community stakeholders evaluate parks for their potential to promote physical activity.
This year’s annual conference is only part of your professional development journey. Be inspired by the hard work and dedication of your fellow parks and recreation and industry professionals, and use that inspiration to spark action once you arrive home. As Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe famously stated, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
Tom Crosley is NRPA’s Education Manager, Conferences and Schools.