November 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 10

P E RS 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 RS

Inclusion as an Opportunity
As I write this, I am still feeling the energy
and excitement of the NRPA Baltimore conference. To be among more than 8,000 park
and recreation professionals, practitioners
and advocates was incredibly inspiring and
extremely encouraging. I had the pleasure of
talking with scores of attendees, and the thing
that encouraged me most was how many of
them said, " I love NRPA, how can I help? "
I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, this
profession - this mission - is all about helping. We help build strong communities, increase positive health outcomes, fight chronic
illness, create a sense of belonging, and on
and on. So, in response to, " How can I help? " I invite you
to help build a truly inclusive parks movement.
During the conference, as in my Perspectives column
in the September issue of Parks & Recreation, I talked
about building a parks movement - one that recognizes
and advocates for quality park and recreation programs
for everyone. And, " everyone " really is the keyword
here - because everyone deserves the remarkable benefits that quality parks and recreation offer. Two years
ago, NRPA launched its Parks for Inclusion initiative,
which provides resources and support across our membership in service of that belief that everyone deserves
a great park. As we reflect on the successes of our first
two years, we take pride in having launched our Parks
for Inclusion Policy Guide and a database of resources
(www.nrpa.org/ParksforInclusion), which have helped
to move the needle by increasing the number of agencies that now have formal inclusion policies. We also
take pride in the progress we have made overall to increase access to quality parks and green spaces through
our Meet Me at the Park project (www.nrpa.org/Meet
MeatthePark) (75 projects in 39 states), our Great
Urban Parks Campaign (www.nrpa.org/GreenInfra
structure) (14 projects in 14 states), our Parks Build
Community projects (www.nrpa.org/ParksBuildCom
munity) (nine projects in nine states), and the 10 Minute Walk initiative (www.nrpa.org/10MinuteWalk) we
embarked on with The Trust for Public Land and the
Urban Land Institute. Despite this great progress, there
is so much more we can do - especially if we shift our
thinking about how we define inclusion.
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People say that inclusion is a choice. They also say it is
a practice. Both of these statements are indeed true. Yet,
I appreciate that Haben Girma, the 2019 NRPA Annual Conference closing keynote speaker, builds on these
ideas to further recognize that inclusion is an opportunity
for innovation. An internationally recognized advocate
for equal opportunities for people with disabilities, Ms.
Girma, who is Deafblind, shared some critical words of
wisdom with our conference attendees. She said that " disability never holds anyone back...the barriers that exist are
created by society, and it's up to every single one of us to
work to remove those barriers. " She also shared several
examples of how her disability sparked innovative solutions that removed barriers to participation - from graduating from Harvard Law to learning how to surf. And,
she was quick to note that people created those innovative
solutions - people like you and me. It's up to us to resist
the urge to let labels define what we and others can and
cannot do. Instead, let's be open to creating innovative
solutions that invite everyone in.
From a practical standpoint, tackling an innovation
challenge can feel quite daunting. The good news is that
there are seven critical questions anyone can ask to generate ideas and creative thinking when faced with an innovation challenge. These questions came from the Innovation
Genome Project, which was an extensive look at innovations throughout human history and how they reflected
strategic rethinks. The team working on this distilled that
information into seven questions, and the project founder
and strategist at Autodesk, Bill O'Connor, walks through
the thinking behind the project and a prioritization tool in
this video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9k67GL6sn0)
that can help. The seven questions include things like
what can we move, changing its position in time or space;
what can we interconnect in a different way or for the first
time; and what can we alter or change? When applied in
an inclusion context, the seven questions are wonderful
prompts to help us shift and expand our thinking. I am excited to innovate with you to create a truly inclusive park
and recreation movement.

KRISTINE STRATTON
President and CEO

November 2019 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2019 - Parks & Recreation