Public Perceptions of Local Parks and Recreation as an Essential Community Service During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Local residents are the primary stakeholder for municipal parks and recreation who have the potential to influence funding and policy through their participation, voting, and advocacy. Research has suggested that individuals are more likely to support parks and recreation and view them as essential when they perceive they provide benefits that address their own as well as broader community needs. This panel study investigated Pennsylvania residents and the extent they considered parks and recreation an essential community service during the COVID-19 pandemic. It further assessed the rationale for why parks and recreation were considered either essential or non-essential during this time period. A majority of respondents (54%) felt local parks and recreation were an essential service in their community during the pandemic based primarily on their perceived contributions to physical health, mental health and wellbeing, and the safe provision of recreation opportunities. Conversely, parks and recreation were considered non-essential when they had been closed, when individuals were unsure of what services were actually provided during the pandemic, or they were perceived as unsafe or unsanitary given the presence of COVID-19. Findings provide evidence of the contributions provided by local parks and recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest influenceable factors associated with perceptions of whether parks and recreation are an essential community service.

“What Do We Do For Snacks?”: The Perceived Role of Parks and Recreation Administrators in the Youth Sports Food Environment

Dietary intake is influenced by multiple systems, as highlighted in the Social- Ecological Model, including community influences like community programs. In this context, parks and recreation administrators may have a role in the types of snacks and beverages provided during youth sports. The current study focused on understanding park administrators’ experiences relative to the youth sports environment, including their responsibility and influence on the food environment. This was an exploratory qualitative case study conducted in Utah. Semi-structured interviews with parks and recreation administrators were completed via phone by a research assistant. A qualitative case study analysis was conducted by two researchers. In addition to the interviews, the websites of all the park and recreation sites were searched and phone calls were made to check physical locations for nutrition fliers/information. Three themes emerged through qualitative case study analysis. The first theme was the administrators’ role in the youth parks and recreation activities. The second theme was the administrators’ awareness of the food environment within youth sports. The final theme was the administrators’ role in influencing more nutritious snacks at these youth sporting activities. The results from this case study suggest that the parks and recreation administrators within Utah valued the importance of nutritional snacks and beverages within youth sporting activities and were supportive of the food environment improving. Several of the parks and recreation administrators in this study agreed that their further involvement (i.e., guidelines on snacks and beverages) in the youth sports food environment could improve the environment and better effect youth who are participating, thus enhancing opportunities to improve overall health and well-being. The results from this study show that administrators could bring awareness to youth sports nutrition and support guidelines for the types of snacks and beverages brought to youth sporting activities. Administrators could work with dietitians to develop information that would be appropriate to distribute to youth sports participants and parents. Providing information about what kinds of snacks to bring has the possibility to improve the conditions of the youth sports food environment. Additionally, consideration for policy changes in youth sports and recreation center facilities could be explored.

Applying Systems Thinking Approaches to Address Preventive Health Factors through Public Parks and Recreation Agencies

Within the United States parks and recreation agencies (P&R) manage public facilities, spaces, lands, and recreation programs. Public health (PH) evidence has increasingly pointed to local public P&R agencies as critical for promoting preventive health. Programs and strategies are available, but most P&R agencies have limited resources and lack local knowledge on which to base actions. However, the research base is growing. The global research question has shifted from asking IF P&R agencies can positively affect PH factors, to HOW they can best do so with limited resources.This research adapted a systems theory approach to how local public P&R agencies are addressing health factors. Methods included a literature review along with iterative exploration through a three-stage Delphi panel study with 17 P&R agency Expert Panelists in the U.S and Canada. Panelists were identified through a waterfall selection process. Each had at least three years of senior administration experience with interest in addressing PH factors.The study explored which preventive factors appear to be most modifiable by P&R. Results indicated increased physical activity, improved nutrition, enhanced safety or perception of safety, increased social and parental engagement, improved transportation and access to locations (especially nature), and cessation or reduced overconsumption of tobacco and alcohol. However, the priority of factors varies by community, and the continuing challenge is determining the priority of the factors for agencies and their partners to address. Community-specific data are not typically readily available to P&R agencies. Programs, strategies, internal methods, policies, and documents utilized by agencies were collected. Thirty-one related national initiatives (programs) were identified and ranked by the panelists.Key common strategies for P&R were identified. Results indicated a need to focus strategies on leadership and adequate funding to create a strong organizational culture of systematic assessment for addressing PH through allocation of P&R staff and financial resources. Systems thinking analysis and strategies can improve outcomes for cultural ethics of inclusion and equity, equitable access to assets and programs, collaboration with other partners, utilization of crime prevention and environmental design strategies, increased health promotions and education, and centralized tracking and evaluation of feasible measures.Implications for research include needs for additional validation and dissemination of research, evidence-based tools, and proven methods. There continues to be a strong need to help address gaps in knowledge transfer between research and practice realms. Management implications suggest methods for practice to enhance systems-thinking approaches for better preventive health outcomes through P&R in communities.

Developing an Intentionally Designed Physical Activity Model of Programming for Children’s Structured Recreation in Canada

Sport and education organizations have established models to ensure that coaches and teachers understand the physical, social, emotional and mental development of children. Such pathways of intentionally designed models fail to exist in the recreation sector where many physical activity (PA) programs are mainly developed based on convenience and instructor availability rather than on established credentials and current pedagogy practices. Addressing this gap, this paper explores the creation of an intentionally designed model of programming for children’s structured recreation, which is defined as sport or PA-based programs that are planned and led by an instructor. This proposed model is contextualized within the province of Alberta, but may be applicable across the nation. The authors further define “intentionally designed” as the development of purposeful programming with specific objectives that align with outside sources. One such source comes from the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association, who has created a Canadian Recreation Framework, an initiative to ultimately develop the well-being of all Canadians. The proposed, structured recreation model also incorporates several guiding principles including physical literacy and sport philosophy. Physical Literacy (PL) focuses on the lived body as the embodied dimension of our human experience, and how it can be enriched through various experiences that enable us to reach our full potential (Whitehead, 2007). It is about viewing the body holistically rather than separate from the entire being. By planning diverse PA in four environments, including land, water, air, and ice, the model also aligns with the sports sector and its philosophy of developing both fundamental movement skills and fundamental sport skills. Moreover, with allocated playing time, intentionally designed structured lesson plans, and one consistent leader in each activity, the model aims to increase the participants’ motor proficiency and levels of PA while building their confidence and competence across distinct exercises. The execution of the proposed recreation model involves a four-month program where participants rotate to a different PA environment each month and attend two classes per week, cumulating in 32 total classes. Management implications are discussed to determine how recreational professionals can achieve the intended outcomes of the model. Finally, further research is necessary to determine if this model can increase participants’ motor proficiency and positively influence physical activity behaviors in the recreation sector.

Investigation of gamma background in parks and recreation areas of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Работа посвящена исследованию гамма-фона в городской среде Петропавловска-Камчатского (Камчатский край), а именно в парках и зонах отдыха. Измерения мощности поглощенной дозы проводились на разработанном коллективном Томского политехнического университета (ТПУ) дозиметре с использованием органического сцинтиллятора ВС-408, который является схожим по техническим характеристикам с БДКГ-01. С целью вычисления поправочного коэффициента для перевода показаний дозиметра из имп/с в нЗв/ч был проведен ряд калибровочных измерений с точечными источниками гамма-излучения – 60Co и 137Cs. Разработанным дозиметром проводились измерения длительностью не менее 5 минут в различных районах города Петропавловска-Камчатского, особое внимание уделялось исследованию объектов техносферы из материалов, являющимися природными источниками повышенного гамма-излучения. Исследования показали, что памятник В. И. Ленину и стела «Город воинской славы» в центре города Петропавловска-Камчатского содержат граниты у их основания, которые дают завышенный гамма-фон The work is devoted to the study of the gamma background in the urban environment of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Kamchatka Territory), namely in parks and recreation areas. Measurements of the absorbed dose rate were carried out on a scintillation organic dosimeter developed by the team of the Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU), which is a more budgetary analogue of the BDKG-01. In order to calculate the correction factor for converting the dosimeter readings from impulses/s to nSv/h, a number of calibration measurements were carried out with point sources of gamma radiation – 60Co and 137 Cs. The developed dosimeter carried out measurements with a duration of at least 5 minutes in various districts of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, special attention was paid to the study of technosphere objects made of materials that are natural sources of increased gamma radiation. Studies have shown that the monument to V. I. Lenin and the stele « City of Military Glory » in the center of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky contain granites at their base, which give an overestimated gamma background.

Genealogy of Refusal

Why can’t librarians “Just Say No”? To answer this question, we look at workplace refusal through the fine arts, literature, and popular culture to construct a genealogy of workplace refusal. In it, we also begin to trace a lineage of crisis narrative critique alongside the library profession’s inheritance of vocational awe. We explore the librarian’s role and voice through the lens of both popular culture and academic publications. In our companion multimedia, hypertextual Scalar project also titled A Genealogy of Refusal: Walking Away from Crisis and Scarcity Narratives, we contextualize strategies of refusal in libraries through critical response to and annotations of film clips and illustrations. We examine gender differences in portrayals of workplace refusal. We laugh when in Parks and Recreation a stereotypical librarian ignores a stripper but warns noisy patrons: “Shh—This is a library!” We are horrified when aspiring librarians in Morgenstern’s Starless Sea, hands tied behind their backs, have their tongues torn from their mouths. Elinguation as a job prerequisite? No, thanks. The implications of saying “No” are many. We explicate ways librarians are made vulnerable by crisis narratives and constructed scarcity. We advocate for asset framing and developing fluencies in hearing and saying “No.” Looking forward, how long will it take librarians to reclaim “Yes” in a way that works for us?

Landscape architecture: theory and practice

The textbook discusses the actual problems of creating landscape architecture objects and organizing open spaces in an urbanized environment. Much attention is paid to the peculiarities of the formation of green areas at the stage of master plans for urban development, data are provided on the creation of forest parks and recreation areas in inter-settlement territories, parks of various functional purposes (urban and district, special purpose, etc.) directly in cities and towns. The issues of landscaping and landscaping of residential complexes and industrial institutions, objects of urban public centers, the order and organization of the creation of objects of landscape architecture — design and construction (stages, stages, author's supervision) are covered. Meets the requirements of the federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation. For students studying in the field of training "Landscape architecture".