June 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 43

planning, operations, programming
and more. The framework contains
four key parts - self-assessment,
agency assessment, health equity
integration and committing to the
call - with learning objectives,
worksheets and action
items
in
each section. Since launching the
framework, NRPA has developed
supporting materials and provided
training, technical assistance and
peer networking support to agencies
to help scale adoption and use
of the framework. With the support
of Think Equity, NRPA has
provided training to grantees on
fostering an anti-racist culture.
In January 2022, NRPA hosted
first-ever " Elevating Health
its
Equity in Parks and Recreation "
workshop. Six agency teams -
including
park and recreation
professionals, cross-departmental
colleagues,
partners - participated
focused
on
workshop. The workshop's
objectives
and community
in
the
defining
key health and racial equity terms
and concepts; understanding how
implicit bias, privilege and power
affect how people interact with the
world and their work; examining
the
roles of self,
structure and
systems in facilitating and creating
barriers to health; and describing
the components of racial equity
that guide organizations toward
equity
and anti-racist
culture.
Participants expressed that the top
three takeaways were challenging
personal
biases, understanding
historical context of systemic and
historical challenges, and feeling
empowered to move forward.
One participant shared, " ...being
challenged
to walk
toward...
discomfort to challenge conscious
and unconscious biases, [and that
it] resonated and felt like a call to
action. "
The growing recognition of parks as a pathway to improving public health is an exciting
and necessary shift to harness the full power of the park and recreation system to
advance equity, resilience and well-being.
Following the workshop, the
agencies moved their commitment
to advancing equity forward.
Agencies completed the selfassessment
and agency assessment
portions of the framework. Many
have taken subsequent actions,
including updating mission statements
to intentionally center and
name equity as a priority. Another
participant shared, " There is so
much work to do. Our organization
is not as far along as we might
have hoped. But it feels empowering
to have some concrete objectives
and vision for what improvement
in health equity might look
like for our organization. "
Where We Are Heading
While we are celebrating our many
achievements and milestones accomplished
through our 20212023
strategic plan, we recognize
there is much more work to do.
Our health and wellness priorities
will remain grounded in our guiding
principles of centering equity,
advancing systems-change approaches
and promoting holistic
and people-centered solutions. We
will double down on partnerships
with park and recreation professionals,
community-based organizations,
federal partners, valuealigned
NGOs, researchers and other
partners to expand our network
of allies and advocates. We'll amplify
our communications, educational
offerings and resource development
to create action-oriented trainings
and tools, lift up case studies from
peers, and build public health competencies
across the field.
The time for parks and recreation
is now. Together, we can leverage the
full power of parks and recreation as
a public health solution.
Allison Colman is Director of Health at
NRPA (acolman@nrpa.org).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | JUNE 2 0 2 3
| Parks & Recreation
43
June 2023 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2023 - Parks & Recreation
