September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 20
RESEARCH
Park and Recreation Leaders Advance
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
By Kevin Roth
Q
uality parks and recreation is essential to individual and community
health, well-being and resilience. A challenge - and
strength - within most communities is difference: in race, ethnicity,
gender identity, religion, socioeconomic status, age, language,
or physical or mental abilities and skills. Park and recreation professionals
operate at the intersection of those differences.
In 2013, NRPA adopted Three
Pillars: Health and Wellness, Equity,
and Conservation. These three
missions have moved the park and
recreation field from communicating
what we do to focusing on the impact
we have. Today, NRPA centers
equity in all its work. Conversations,
learning opportunities and research
are integral parts of NRPA's focus.
The question is: What has been
the impact of NRPA's work so
far? Recently, the NRPA Research
team surveyed park and recreation
leaders to understand better their
agencies'
efforts surrounding diversity,
equity and inclusion (DEI)
practices. The study, a follow-up to
a 2021 survey, took inventory of
park and recreation agency DEI
activities, the professional development
opportunities provided to
agency staff and volunteers, and
the challenges organizations face
in promoting DEI practices.
Park and recreation leaders
agree that inequitable
provision
of park and recreation infrastructure,
amenities and programming
by race is a problem in the United
States. Among survey respondents,
6 in 7 note that park and recreation
inequity is a nationwide problem.
Fifty-seven percent strongly agree
20 Parks & Recreation | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 3
that inequity is a national problem,
with another 28 percent rating this
issue a " 4 " on a five-point scale.
This sentiment is consistent regardless
of agency size or location.
However, the same park and
recreation leaders are less likely
to characterize access to park and
recreation
as
inequitable
services and amenities
in
their
local
communities. Just more than onethird
of park and recreation leaders
agree that park and recreation
inequity is a problem in their
communities, rating this as a " 4 " or
" 5 " on a five-point scale. Twentyeight
percent of survey respondents
disagree with the assertion that
the delivery of park and recreation
services and amenities is inequitable.
Regardless of how they view park
inequity
and recreation
nationally
or locally, many agencies are taking
action to remove barriers. Forty-two
percent of agencies currently have
formal DEI programs, an eightpercentage-point
increase from 2021.
Another 22 percent of park and recreation
leaders anticipate their agencies
will establish formal DEI activities
within the next year.
Rather than external third parties,
staff lead most park and recreation
agencies' DEI activities, with agency
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
leaders typically guiding the work.
Among surveyed agency directors,
4 in 10 oversee their current (or will
oversee any future) formal DEI activities.
Nearly half of all agencies rely
on key members of their management
teams. These staff leaders fall
within one of four major categories:
* Senior leadership
* HR/Administration
* Program staff
* Dedicated DEI/Equity staff
At 30 percent of agencies, a staff
task force and/or subcommittee play
an important role in DEI activities.
Almost every park and recreation
agency has activities and policies
promoting DEI outcomes. Most
common are efforts that ensure
a diverse, inclusive workforce.
Seventy-four percent of survey
respondents indicate that their
agencies
have
instituted
hiring
practices and policies to promote
a more diverse workforce. Slightly
less than half (46 percent of survey
respondents) of agencies have an
expressed commitment to DEI in their
foundational documents.
NRPA survey data (tinyurl.
com/2sk6skhn) of the U.S. public
finds strong and broad support for equitable
access to parks and recreation.
So, what are the next steps to take to
achieve this crucial goal? The answer
starts with park and recreation leaders
focusing on their ability to affect their
communities.
Kevin Roth is Vice President of Research,
Evaluation and Technology at NRPA
(kroth@nrpa.org).
https://www.tinyurl.com/2sk6skhn
https://www.tinyurl.com/2sk6skhn
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2023 - Parks & Recreation
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - Intro
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 1
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 2
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 3
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 4
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 5
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 6
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 7
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 8
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 9
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September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 18
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 19
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 20
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 21
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September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 47
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September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 49
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 50
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 51
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September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
September 2023 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2025
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2025
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
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