November 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 8

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 P A' S L E A D E R S

Striving to Learn More and Be Better
I was excited when our editor let me
know that this month's magazine issue will
focus on research and evaluation. This is
a foundation of who we are as park and
recreation professionals - always striving
to learn more and serve our communities
better. In fact, when this November issue of Parks & Recreation magazine comes
out, we will be looking back on our firstever virtual conference, NRPA Virtual,
and, you guessed it, evaluating how we did
against our goals. We will be asking and answering questions, such as " Did we reach as
many people as we wanted to? " and " Did attendees feel they learned and grew through
the experience? " and " Did our sponsors and
exhibitors gain value from their investments? "
Research and evaluation are indispensable tools for
understanding whether we are having a positive outcome and expanding our vision of what is possible.
Research has helped us to understand, more fully, the
difference that our field can make in the health and resiliency of our communities. A prime example of this
is the Commission on Social Determinants of Health,
launched by the World Health Organization in 2005, to
examine the conditions in which people are born, grow,
live, work and age. In fact, we covered this topic in our
June issue (nrpa.org/AgentOfPublicHealth). The research findings of this commission revealed that parks
and recreation can play a significant role in individual
and community health, including influencing things
like early childhood experiences and development, social support and community inclusivity, neighborhood
conditions and physical environment, and recreational
and leisure opportunities. Fast forward, and these social determinants of health are now an explicit part of
our strategic plan. This type of research helps us recognize a fuller vision for how we make a fundamental
difference in people's lives.
Speaking of our strategic plan, we have research and
evaluation components built into each of our strategic
goals. Ensure Access for All is our goal to close what is
currently a gap of 100 million people who do not have
ready access to a park (tpl.org/10MinuteWalk). Over
the next three years, we will evaluate the outcomes of
our work to ultimately close that gap. Overall, we will
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be measuring our success against the following key
questions:
* How well have we supported park and recreation
professionals in serving their community? (For example, usage of research and best practice resources,
completed certifications, and online and in-person
training)
* What impact have we achieved on the ground? (For
instance, community members who have increased
access to the benefits of quality park and recreation
opportunities)
* How well have we succeeded in harnessing public
will in support of parks and recreation? (For example, increases in investments in park and recreation
agencies, including growth in per capita operating
budgets and full-time park and recreation staffing,
and the success of park and recreation ballot initiatives across the country)
Harnessing public will, phrased in our strategic plan
as Build a Movement, is our primary strategic goal. We
must increase support for parks and recreation, so that
we have the resources we need to close the gap in quality
park access, build climate-ready parks, and increase the
health and well-being of communities through our park
and recreation programs. Essential to this movementbuilding is advancing a strategic research agenda that
will help us tell a compelling story of the vital nature of
parks and recreation. We want to demonstrate how the
park and recreation field is an essential solution provider for our most pressing health, environmental and
social issues.
Research and evaluation are integral tools for our
work at NRPA and for your work in your communities. Earlier this year, we created an evaluation resource
hub (nrpa.org/EvaluationResourceHub) on the NRPA
website with tools to help you in your evaluation efforts. We look forward to building out these tools over
time and to helping you get the most out of them. As
we continue, know that we will be striving to learn
more and be better with you.

KRISTINE STR AT TON
President and CEO

November 2020 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2020 - Parks & Recreation