July 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 27

center equity by building diverse
partnerships to ensure everyone
benefits from sustainable plans and
practices, especially those most impacted
by climate change. Local
plans feed into larger goals, including
the Biden-Harris administration's
" 30x30 " initiative to protect
30 percent of the world's terrestrial
and marine habitat by 2030
(tinyurl.com/2p864h59).
Measuring Progress
To understand where the park and
recreation field is with this work,
NRPA launched a survey that resulted
in the Sustainability in Parks
and Recreation
report (nrpa.org/
SustainabilityReport). The report
finds that nearly every park and
recreation agency has sustainability
strategies and takes action to reduce
energy usage, decrease water
consumption and/or protect habitat.
Only 43 percent have or operate
under a formal sustainability plan
with specific goals and targets developed
by either the agency or the
city, town, county or state under
which it operates. Of that group,
only 14 percent operate under their
own agency plan.
Most plans included such objectives
as protecting natural habitat,
reducing or eliminating the
use of carbon-based energy, reducing
landfill waste, using park
infrastructure for stormwater
management and reducing water
usage. Community members and
elected officials support these efforts,
but there are opportunities
to further advance their policies,
plans and practices to ensure they
are utilizing best practices. The
report validated what we know,
that communities support park
and recreation agencies' efforts to
NRPA is building the capacity to create
educational offerings that will help professionals
increase their knowledge and
develop sustainable plans and practices.
address pressing climate change
impacts and protect those who
are most vulnerable.
Collaborative Solutions
NRPA seeks to ensure park and
recreation professionals stand as
champions of sustainability and
create and advance their own
sustainable plans, strategies and
goals. To do so, NRPA hosted a
listening session with members
with diverse backgrounds and
experiences to identify key
aspects of sustainable plans
and practices. Participants
suggested envisioning parks
that were carbon sinks and
carbon neutral, employing green
energy and technologies - for
instance, City of Denver's solar
project (tinyurl.com/bddbeyp5)
- using blue and green
infrastructure, reducing waste,
managing water
and
energy
use, and pursuing equitable
community engagement, among
other solutions. Barriers also
arose
during
the
discussion.
Some included budget, staff
buy-in and external factors,
including existing infrastructure,
the increased impacts of climate
change and climate planning at
the city level not aligning with
resources for parks.
Overall insight and feedback centralized
the idea that the park and
recreation field can advance sustainability
as part of normal operations.
One listening session participant
said, " I'd love to see trainings for
sustainable management practices
as standard. " With collective research,
insight and feedback, NRPA
is building the capacity to create
educational offerings that will help
professionals increase their knowledge
and develop sustainable plans
and practices for their park agency.
NRPA partners with the park
and recreation field to create sustainable,
resilient
communities
and
address the impacts of climate
change while keeping equity at the
core of our work.
Michele White is Senior Program Manager
of Conservation at NRPA (mwhite@nrpa.org).
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http://tinyurl.com/2p864h59 http://www.nrpa.org/SustainabilityReport http://www.nrpa.org/SustainabilityReport http://tinyurl.com/bddbeyp5
July 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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