July 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 10

P E R S P E C T I V E S A M E S S A G E F R O M N R PA' S L E A D E R S

Aiming to Put NRPA Out of Business
Last year, NRPA launched an ambitious three-year strategic plan that was designed to
accomplish something unheard of - to put NRPA out of business. That's right. If our
strategic plan was to succeed as envisioned, and our mission to advance parks, recreation
and conservation was fully achieved, everyone's quality of life would be vastly enhanced
through parks and recreation. We would all be living in sustainable communities with
complete access to the life-giving benefits of parks and recreation. Yep, there would simply be no further need for NRPA. We could close the doors and all go enjoy the benefits.
Yeah, we wish.
The fact of the matter is it's not about the plan - it's about the people.
NRPA's strategic plan may be a great plan as far as plans go, but it's
about YOU and what you do in your daily life as a professional, as an
advocate and as a leader to advance the mission of improving people's
lives and activating the three pillars to their fullest expression in your
community.
The goal of NRPA's strategic plan is to equip you with the tools and
resources to make a difference. We know you can make an impact in
implementing conservation practices throughout your community. We
know you can measurably improve the health and wellness of individuals in your park and recreation programs and thereby improve the health
of your entire community. And we know you can change the landscape
when it comes to providing access for all, regardless of age, ability,
background or income level, establishing social equity. We know this
because we see examples of these revolutionary changes from agencies
across the country every day, and we share those stories in Parks & Recreation Magazine, in social media and through all of NRPA's communications platforms. And while NRPA can and does provide resources
such as research, education and programming while also advocating for
favorable legislation, we ultimately rely on you to make the impact in
the lives of those who you serve.
Since we all work to gain more funding for better parks, doesn't it make
sense for all of us to agree on a unified approach and consistent messages to achieve this goal? Imagine our ability to make a difference if
every one of NRPA's 40,000 members, who have a presence in virtually
every community, agreed to focus their efforts on NRPA's pillars to help
the public understand that parks and recreation is about the collective
impact of solving problems, making communities more livable and improving the lives of all our citizens. If we were to successfully include these communications in all our programs, marketing materials, special events, public meetings and
dealings with elected officials, the impact would be profound.

Parks & Recreation

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July 2014 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2014 - Parks & Recreation