September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 38

Transforming
T Communitieshrough Equity in Practice
NRPA's program for helping park and recreation
professionals make impactful change
By Tiff Cunin
N
RPA's Equity in Practice program stands as a beacon of hope
in a profession grappling with historical inequities. Parks and
recreation - meant to create communal spaces for health and
wellness, cultural expression and celebration, platforms for
environmental stewardship, and conduits to adventures - hasn't always
lived up to this promise. Racism persists and impedes equitable access to
high-quality green spaces, programs and resources that local parks and recreation
is uniquely poised to provide. Recognizing this, NRPA embarked on
a transformative journey in 2020, culminating in the launch of the Equity
in Practice program in 2022. Explore the program's potential impact on the
profession, what we have learned so far and what to expect in the future.
Unearthing the Roots
It is important to understand why
we lead with race in the Equity
in Practice program. As part of a
robust exploration process when
creating the program, we learned
that racism is often the hardest
disparity for park and recreation
professionals
to
discuss - yet
it is the most perverse and detrimental
barrier to fully serving our
communities. Yes, there are other
forms of discrimination - far too
many, unfortunately - and it is
important to remember that racism
intensifies all other forms of
discrimination. It is because of
this that we lead with race, and we
use a lens of transferability to intentionally
help make connections
across identities - equipping park
and recreation professionals
to
address inequities related to all
forms of discrimination (e.g., ageism,
ableism, homophobia, sexism,
transphobia).
Prior to NRPA's
search
consistently
initiative,
exposed
rethe
uneven
distribution of access to
and quality of park and recreation
resources. A 2021 study by Trust
for Public Land revealed that com38
Parks & Recreation | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
munities with predominately Black
residents have 40 percent less park
space compared to white communities.
Additionally, these parks
are often of lower quality, lacking
amenities and proper maintenance,
and this spatial
disparity
translates into a barrier to positive
health outcomes. There is significant
evidence indicating a correlation
between access to parks and
lower rates of obesity, heart disease
and depression (tinyurl.com/
mvsze2f4, tinyurl.com/bdzrvj8m,
tinyurl.com/38tnkv9u). The lack
of equitable access creates a significant
barrier between Black individuals
and the health benefits of
parks and recreation.
Ideas for Action
NRPA's Equity in Practice program
distinguishes itself from traditional
diversity, equity and inclusion
(DEI) training. The focus
is on actively putting " equity in
practice, " a philosophy that transcends
mere awareness-building.
http://tinyurl.com/ http://tinyurl.com/bdzrvj8m http://tinyurl.com/38tnkv9u
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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