December 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 44

Revisiting the 2024 NRPA
Annual Conference
Highlights from the largest national gathering of
park and recreation professionals
By Chris Brummett, Lindsay Collins and Alexandra Klein
magine more than 8,000 park and recreation professionals, advocates
and enthusiasts coming together to play, network, learn and celebrate
- what could be better? This became a reality this October 8-10 in
Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. Here are just some of
the highlights from the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference.
General Sessions
At the Opening General Session,
Justin Cutler, City of Atlanta commissioner
of parks and recreation,
welcomed attendees and opened
with a land acknowledgement. He
detailed the city's commitment to equity
before welcoming City of Atlanta
Mayor Andre Dickens to the stage.
Dickens highlighted local parks and
celebrated Atlanta's standing as the
25th city on Trust for Public Land's
annual ParkScore index. Next,
NRPA President and CEO Kristine
City of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
welcomed 2024 NRPA Annual
Conference attendees to Atlanta.
Stratton and Jesús Aguirre, chair of
the NRPA Board of Directors, discussed
their park and recreation experiences
and how they shape their
work to advance the field. Together,
they introduced the NRPA Strategic
Plan 2025-29 and its four goal areas:
systems change, leadership, durable
funding and organizational excellence.
Through the work outlined
in the plan, NRPA will catalyze the
power of parks and recreation to deliver
transformative community and
environmental
benefits and build
I
inclusive,
climate-resilient,
thriving
communities.
Dan Buettner, explorer, National
Geographic Fellow, award-winning
journalist and producer, Netflix
host, and New York Times bestselling
author, delivered the keynote.
Buettner discovered five blue zones
hotspots - places where residents
live the longest, healthiest lives.
Through his work, Buettner sought
to " reverse engineer longevity "
alongside his team. Among the blue
zones, which include Sardinia (Italy),
Nicoya (Costa Rica), Okinawa
(Japan), Loma Linda (California -
United States), and Ikaria (Greece),
the team observed many of the same
qualities related to movement, diet,
connection and outlook. Buettner
encouraged
park and recreation
professionals to reframe how they
think about health and longevity
as they work to advance holistic
well-being in their own communities.
As an example of how blue
zones encourage strong social
bonds and prevent loneliness and
social isolation, he explained how
in Okinawa, children are grouped
with four peers in a " moai. " The
children form close friendships and
stay together throughout their lives.
Buettner shared similar real-life examples
to illustrate how blue zones
residents attain longevity by living
in environments that encourage
movement naturally, eating healthy
legume- and grain-dense diets, cultivating
strong social connections,
and maintaining positive outlooks
on life.
Day 2 General Session
Wednesday's Day 2 General Session
began with Stratton welcoming
attendees and introducing the opening
speaker and subsequent panel
moderator, Manal Jane Aboelata.
44 Parks & Recreation | DECEMBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAUGHT IN THE MOMENT PHOTOGRAPHY
December 2024 – Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2024 – Parks & Recreation
