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Best Practices Forum
Got an issue you need advice on? Or a best practice you want to share? Send us the details and we will publish it in the next NACPRO News.
A Word from our Sponsors
Back To the Beach At Last
Courtesy of BeachTech
Worldwide, with the warmer weather, more and more countries are beginning to phase in the opening of various parts of their economies, and as you can imagine, going to the beach is high on list of activities that people to wish to resume. Our customers have begun beach cleaning operations as their guests expect a clean and safe beach
The main task of our beach cleaners is to remove all kinds of trash from the sand. Broken glass, cigarettes, plastic, algae, etc., the BeachTech cleans the beach thoroughly and effectively!
In addition to the removal of trash from the sand, the BeachTech beach cleaners, with our true sifting ability, has another positive benefit: The natural disinfection of sand by the sun’s UV rays.
A 2-year study by the City of Racine Public Health Department, Wisconsin, USA, demonstrated that the use of beach cleaning equipment reduces the burden of E.coli bacteria in beach sands.
Read more:
https://www.beach-tech.com/usa/en/news/news-press/detail/news/back-to-the-beach-at-last.html
Research and Resources
SORP Announces the Third Round of Jarvi Scholarships to Advance Partnerships
The Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals will be opening its next round for the Christopher K. Jarvi Scholarship to Advance Partnerships. This scholarship fund was created to help dedicated professionals explore ways to integrate more partnerships into their work to benefit and bring value to parks, public lands, and the communities that host them. The scholarships are meant for professionals at any point in their career focused on enhancing recreational assets or programs and should be focused on training that can enhance the partnership skillset of the individual.
Scholarships range from $500-$1,500 and may be used over the 18 months following the award. Based upon the current COVID situation, SORP recommends a primary focus for this round on on-line training, professional memberships that provide training, as well as periodicals that expand one’s partnership knowledge. A secondary priority would be placed on in-person workshops and conferences that occur outside the next six months.
The scholarship period opens May 1 and closes July 31, 2020.
For more information:
https://www.recpro.org/christopher-k-jarvi-scholarship
Nominate Outstanding RTP Projects for CRT Awards
Courtesy of NOHVCC
The Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT) has once again issued a call for nominations for outstanding projects that utilized funds from the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). The CRT not only recognizes great projects, it also raises the profile of RTP on Capitol Hill, which will help keep the program funded and secure.
The deadline for applications is 5 pm EST, July 31, 2020.
For more information:
https://form.jotform.com/200656868091159
A Digital ‘Green Book’ Wants to Help Black People Find Spaces That Make Them Feel Welcomed and Safe
Courtesy of CPR.org
By Michael Elizabeth Sakas
In the 1930s, a Black postal worker named Victor Hugo Green published the "Negro Motorist Green Book." The segregation-era guide helped Black people avoid violence and discrimination as they traveled by identifying safe and welcoming businesses and places.
In Colorado, the Green Book listed many oases for African American travelers. Five Points' famous Rossonian frequently appeared, back during the hotel and venue's jazz heyday when jazz artists like Billie Holiday performed there. Several salons, drug stores and boarding homes in and around Five Points were also listed at various times.
The Green Book stopped publication in 1967, a few years after the Civil Rights Act was passed. But entrenched racism continued to make Black people, and other people of color, feel unsafe in certain spaces. Some see a need for a new version of the Green Book.
Read more:
https://www.cpr.org/2020/06/22/a-digital-green-book-wants-to-help-black-people-find-spaces-that-make-them-feel-welcomed-and-safe/
What If Bike Paths Looked Like Subway Maps?
Courtesy of City Lab
By Andrew Small
Michael Graham became fascinated with London’s bus maps on a family vacation there in 2004. The bus route diagrams in London are sometimes referred to as “spider maps” and they are designed to help make bus routes as intuitive as the lines of the London Underground for the people that use them.
Later on, Graham learned all about Harry Beck, the draftsman who broke from geographic fidelity to devise a stylized map for the London Underground. Beck drew inspiration from an electrical schematic to create the prototypical transit map for the system in 1931. He used colors to represent different subway lines and made the lines intersect at either 45 or 90 degree angles. “The map of almost every subway system in the world has converged upon some approximation of Beck’s design,” Graham says. “I think people appreciate the simplicity; it makes complex information easier to understand.”
Read more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-02/how-to-get-more-people-to-bike-better-maps
Skating On Synthetic Ice
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business
By Tammy York
Want to bring the fun of an ice rink to your park, but don’t have the expertise for maintenance, the building to house it, or the money to pay the utility bills?
There is another option--fake ice--also known as synthetic ice. This new synthetic ice is a high-tech polymer plastic engineered to create a low-friction surface similar to that of real ice.
Figure skaters, hockey players, and recreational skaters all can use the surface.
Read more:
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2012/01/02/skating-on-synthetic-ice
Parks and Recreation in a Post-Pandemic World
Courtesy of NRPA
By Neelay Bhatt
This initiative to determine the top 10 next practices started with me posting a daily trend to social media for all of April 2020 and then morphed into a national survey with participation from 879 respondents from 42 states and the District of Columbia. Respondents were asked to prioritize the top 10 trends they personally agree with the most and the top 10 trends that will impact them professionally the most.
1. In-person offerings and virtual programming will coexist.
2. People will view access to parks/outdoors as a right, not a luxury.
Read more:
https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2020/july/parks-and-recreation-in-a-post-pandemic-world/
Guidance for Safely and Equitably Reopening Playgrounds
Courtesy of NRPA
NRPA is proud to be part of the KABOOM! Playground Reopening Task Force, which comprises representatives from public health, community development and the park and recreation profession. We are excited to share an actionable resource for playground owners/operators as they plan for safe reopening. This helpful online guide includes detailed plans on prioritizing equity in reopening playgrounds, preparing playground equipment and play spaces, and enabling safe playground use. You can find the taskforce's guidance as well as park and recreation specific guidance under the Playgrounds and Outdoor Exercise Equipment section.
For more information:
https://www.nrpa.org/park-guidance/
Mobile Recreation for Fun, Health and Wellness
Courtesy of NRPA
By Clement Lau, AICP, DPPD
Urban planning professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris was perhaps ahead of her time when she said in a 1995 article that “the ever-changing urban form and social ecology of neighborhoods calls for a flexible rather than rigid park design and for spatial layouts that can be easily changed in response to future needs.... One can even think of mobile parks — spaces whose equipment and furniture can be transported to other parts of the city if the need arises.”
As a park planner, I know firsthand how expensive and time-consuming it can be to acquire land and build new parks. It typically takes years before new parks can be provided due to financial, bureaucratic and political issues, and other constraints. Mobile recreation may sound strange at first, but it may be an appropriate strategy to meet the urgent need for additional recreational opportunities in underserved areas.
Starting a mobile recreation program is not easy though. As demonstrated in the three examples below, this must be done thoughtfully and strategically, addressing such details as...
Read more:
https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2020/july/mobile-recreation-for-fun-health-and-wellness/
Town of Frisco conceives Strava-based trail run series
Courtesy of Summitdaily.com
By Antonio Olivero
COLORADO - The Frisco Solo Series will have runners take to a pre-marked course on peninsula trails. Those same runners will then connect their end of the Strava application GPS software to record their run through the race segment. Joyce will then be able to take all runners’ solo segments and compare them to recognize the top-3 male and top-3 female finishers.
“The idea really just came from seeing and hearing from local runners, their need and the desire to want to have some competition and be able to still race on the trails here in Summit County,” Joyce said. “Between conversations I’ve had with (Breckenridge Recreation’s) Vince (Hutton) and from the town of Breckenridge and Jeff (Westcott), we’re all exploring how to do this virtual running or biking side of things.”
Read more:
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/town-of-frisco-conceives-strava-based-trail-run-series/
COVID-19 Legislative State and Federal Reports
Courtesy of PolicyEngage
The reports below include all state and federal bills and resolutions referencing COVID-19, coronavirus as of July 6, 2020.
COVID-19 Cumulative State Legislative Report
Cumulative Adjourned State Legislation COVID19 Report
COVID-19 Cumulative Federal Legislative Report
COVID-19 Major Enacted State and Federal Legislative Action Center
In the News
Anti-Racist Planning: A View from Elsewhere
Courtesy of Planetizen
The systemic violence being committed against Black Americans in our cities has prompted much soul searching and table pounding about racial inequalities in urban planning education and practice. Many are the calls for radical change in how urban planners and architects do business. We've heard about the need to diversify student bodies and faculties, decolonize the curriculum, and deconstruct established practices and institutions. My favorite statement, because of its comprehensiveness, is "Un-making Architecture: An Anti-Racist Manifesto," by WAI Architecture Think Tank. Planetizen has also done great service to bring the issues and challenges into focus. This critical work has breathed new life into Audre Lorde's well-known declaration that "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."
A few of these passionate and compelling manifestoes argue that substantive, transformational change will require abandoning Eurocentric epistemologies, theories, and practices. There's a serious need to not only deconstruct our thinking but also dislocate it. We need to look elsewhere—to other geographies and histories—for alternative urban imaginaries and planning paradigms.
Read more:
https://www.planetizen.com/node/109743
Conservation corps backers grapple with legislating diversity
Courtesy of E&E News
By Emma Dumain
For lawmakers and advocates who have spent years pushing for federal funding to grow the bench of young people working in national parks and on public lands, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic presented an unlikely jolt of momentum to the cause.
Suddenly, a proposal to fund a new Civilian Conservation Corps, modeled after the successful program during the Great Depression, didn't seem like such an outlandish proposition to help bring down staggeringly high unemployment numbers caused by the global health crisis.
There is chatter about authorizing as much as $9 billion in a future coronavirus stimulus package to allow the federal government to partner with local groups to hire and train people for jobs in conservation.
Read more:
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063448733
Whiting Forest provides a memorable experience that fosters inter-generational interaction
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business
By Alan Metcalfe
MICHIGAN - As parks administrators—and parents—know all too well, children are plugged into electronic devices and tuned out of “live” action for too many hours in the day. The quintessential childhood experience of running out the back door and spending the day outside has largely disappeared, as have other critical developmental processes: group socialization, physical fitness, competition, and just plain play.
Thoughtfully designed outdoor spaces like Whiting Forest of Dow Gardens in Midland, Mich., offer an alternative to today’s overconnected world. In contrast to the typical playground filled with off-the-shelf recreational equipment, these spaces use the outdoors to create an interactive environment. By generating excitement, the perception of risk, and challenging group activities, the design for this park encourages kids and their families to interact directly with nature and each other. It’s a place of discovery. Unscripted social and nature games and hands-on nature experiences provide opportunities for youngsters to take control of their environments, set their own challenges, assess their own risks, take their own responsibility, have their own adventures, learn from all these experiences—and, most of all, to have fun without being told how.
Read more:
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/a-birds-eye-view
The High Line has been sidelined. When it reopens, New Yorkers may get the park they always wanted.
Courtesy of the Washington Post
By Adrian Higgins
NEW YORK - Robert Hammond has known two periods of stillness on the High Line.
The first was in the late 1990s, when he and fellow civic activist Joshua David walked the abandoned, elevated freight railroad on New York’s West Side and knew it could be revived as a beguiling public park.
The second pause, caused by the coronavirus pandemic, reflects an entirely different emptiness and in some respects a more dystopian one because of the way the High Line became so popular since it opened in 2009. This silence is far more jolting.
The space is operated by the Friends of the High Line, co-founded by David and Hammond, who is the executive director. While most New York parks, including Central Park, have remained open, the High Line’s entrance gates have been closed because of the obvious difficulty in keeping people apart.
Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/the-high-line-has-been-sidelined-when-it-reopens-new-yorkers-may-get-the-park-they-always-wanted/2020/06/23/5e2a59e0-acd1-11ea-94d2-d7bc43b26bf9_story.html
Training
Greater & Greener 2021: Philadelphia, PA Call for Speaker Presentations is Open
Courtesy of the City Park Alliance
Greater & Greener is the leading international conference for urban park leaders, design professionals, public officials, advocates, funders, and innovators. Participants explore the role of parks and recreation in addressing some of the biggest challenges facing 21st-century cities. Share your work with more than 1,000 park practitioners from around the world in Philadelphia, PA, July 2021.
Proposals will be accepted through July 31, 2020.
For more information:
https://www.greatergreener.org/
Taking an Untraditional Path into Parks & Recreation
Courtesy of Lets Talk Parks
Season 2, Episode 5
July is a time to reflect, celebrate, and share our passion for parks and recreation! This week's episode features Amanda D'Agostino, a student and young professional who has taken a non-traditional path to her current role after finding the life-changing power of recreation herself.
Some of the takeaways you'll learn:
- How your past skills and experience can further your journey.
- It doesn't matter when you start, it matters that you do.
- You are in control of your path and you are your biggest advocate.
Listen here:
https://letstalkparks.com/podcast/
Trails and the Post Pandemic Future - Live Discussion
Courtesy of the Rails to Trails Conservancy
DATE: Wednesday, July 8, 2020
TIME: 1:00 - 2:00 pm EDT
COST: Free
As the nation works to manage the spread of COVID-19, having access to trails and safe spaces for walking and biking has been essential to people’s health, safety and well-being. Nationwide, trail use spiked to rates 200% higher than last year, bike counts on trails hit a high point of more than 350% higher than last year, and people are reporting trails that are busier at every hour of the day than normal. In many places, trails were one of the only spaces available for walking and biking while separated from vehicle traffic. In places where trails haven’t been available, some have advocated to re-purpose streets for walking and biking while others have struggled to find ways to safely be active outside.
Right now, many communities are determining the best path forward to recovery from COVID-19 —slowly reopening parts of the economy and loosening restrictions on people’s movements. As we move into the management phase and ultimately the recovery from the pandemic’s impacts, how can trails, walking and biking serve as fundamental assets in building a healthy, safe and equitable post-COVID future?
Join Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, along with experts in the transit, transportation planning, and local economic development fields for a discussion about the actions we need to take now in the early stages of planning for recovery.
Register here:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7641003687730138894
Good News in Parks!
Courtesy of PlayCore
Bi-monthly starting July 9, 2020
1:00 to 2:15 pm EDT
To share the great work in Parks and Recreation agencies, join PlayCore and GameTime for Good News, a bi-monthly, interactive Zoom show where three leading park and recreation professionals will share best practices across relevant topics that inform their work and the resulting positive impacts on community well-being.
Hosts Jodie Adams, Parks Director Emeritus and past President NRPA Board of directors; and Anne-Marie Spencer, PlayCore VP of Marketing and Master Trainer will take guests on an informative journey with robust discussions, audience polls, and special recognition segments.
Other dates in the series: July 23, August 13, August 27, September 10, September 24, October 15, November 12, December 3, December 17.
For more information:
https://www.playcore.com/events/good-news-in-parks
Webinar: Strategic Plans to Build Resilient and Healthy Communities
Courtesy of NRPA
DATE: Thursday, July 9, 2020
TIME: 2:00 p.m. EDT
COST: Free for Premier Members, $35 for all other members, and $50 for non-members.
NRPA envisions a future where everyone recognizes the full power of parks and recreation and its role in building strong, healthy, resilient communities. Participate in this webinar to learn about NRPA’s vision and strategic plan; opportunities to invest in and champion the field; and steps that park and recreation professionals can take to build climate resiliency, advance community health and well-being, and ensure access for all. Speakers Joshua Medeiros and Monique Odom will share case studies and examples of how parks and recreation in their communities serves as a catalyst of positive change for social equity, climate readiness and overall well-being.
For more information:
https://learning.nrpa.org/products/strategic-plans-to-build-resilient-and-healthy-communities
Webinar: How to Create an Instant Urban Trail
Courtesy of American Trails
DATE: Thursday, July 9, 2020
TIME: 1:00 to 02:30 pm EDT
COAT: Free
LEARNING CREDITS: Free
A small group of San Francisco trail activists and naturalists gathered together in the Fall of 2018; a year-and-a-half and $600 later, the San Francisco Crosstown Trail (SFCT) was born. Connecting a variety of neighborhoods with nearby local, state and federal open spaces, the SFCT, with its seventeen-mile tread of both dirt and pavement, stretches across San Francisco from the SF Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since its inception on National Trails Day in 2019, the trail has attracted a vast number of enthusiastic users.
In this webinar, members of the San Francisco Crosstown Trail Coalition will tell the story of how they accomplished such a feat and the trail components they incorporated to make the trail so popular. In doing so, they hope that other trail activists and naturalists across the country will be inspired to do something similar in their own cities.
For more information:
https://www.americantrails.org/training/how-to-create-an-instant-urban-trail#eventDetails
Webinar: Expanding and Strengthening Partnerships and Engagement Opportunities through Mountain Biking
Courtesy of American Trails
DATE: July 16, 2020
TIME: 1:00 to 2:30 pm ET
COST: Free
A discussion about how the growing mountain bike community can increase opportunities for volunteerism and improve all trail users' enjoyment and safety. Learn how local, regional, and national mountain biking organizations work together for the benefit of all; how land managers and other user groups can leverage partnerships to reduce trail maintenance backlogs and increase education of trail users resulting in improved use experience; and to help ensure recreational trail opportunities are meeting growing and changing user demands.
For more information: https://www.americantrails.org/training/expanding-and-strengthening-partnerships-and-engagement-opportunities-through-mountain-biking#eventDetails
Webinar: Advancing Trails Through Maps, Apps, and Analysis Tools
Courtesy of American Trails
DATE: July 21, 2020
TIME: 1:00 to 2:30 pm ET
COST: Free
This webinar will introduce participants to new tools and technologies being used to advance trail projects around the country, including:
BikeAble: The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's customizable tool for analyzing community connectivity and evaluating bicycle infrastructure efficacy.
GreenInfo California Demographics Tools: Everyone deserves access to trails and parks, and public datasets can help drive equity in park and trail access.
OuterSpatial: A mobile app that gives stewards of our open spaces control over what information is presented and how.
For more information:
https://www.americantrails.org/training/advancing-trails-through-maps-apps-and-analysis-tools#eventDetails
Upcoming Webinars from PlayCore
Courtesy of PlayCore
We understand this is a difficult time to stay on top of educational opportunities, so we wanted to make it easy as possible. New this year, the Center for Outreach, Research & Education (CORE) is offering on-demand webinars in addition to our regular live webinars. With a variety of topics, there are learning opportunities for all.
We invite you to participate in one of these great complimentary events, and don't forget to complete the assessment to earn your CEU.
Unleashed: Off-leash Dog Park Design Trends and Planning Tips
Prerecorded webinar available from Monday, July 13, 2020, 8:00 am to Friday, July 17, 2020 at 11:59 pm EDT
Outdoor Adult Fitness Parks
Prerecorded webinar available from Monday, August 3, 2020, 8:00 am to Friday, August 7, 2020 at 11:59 pm
PlayCore Scholar Series
Session 3: Bringing Play Opportunities to ALL Kids through Play Streets
Live webinar: Wednesday, August 12; 2:00 - 3:15 pm EDT
Register here:
https://www.playcore.com/webinars
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