April 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 15
agencies do not have a formal sustainability plan, most execute sustainability practices with many goals in mind. The
most widely cited goal is the environmental benefits that
sustainable activities and practices can generate (84 percent
of agencies). These benefits include improving air and water
quality in the community and reducing the agency's impact
on the environment (e.g., using fuel-efficient vehicles, reducing the use of pesticides).
But, beyond the direct environmental benefits, the sustainability
activities of park and recreation agencies also generate many other
benefits, valued by the agency and its community, including:
* Education (69 percent)
* Cost savings (68 percent)
* Building public support (54 percent)
* Meeting the agency's mission (53 percent)
* Regulatory obligation (32 percent)
* Public recognition (20 percent)
Park and recreation agencies meet these goals in their community through a number of widely varying sustainable practices.
Because of finite and limited access to financial and staffing resources, it is critical for park and recreation agencies to
measure the impact of their sustainability practices. In all, 72
percent of park and recreation agencies have defined specific
measures that gauge the success of their sustainability activities.
In the same way that sustainability goals and practices may differ by agency, so too do the measures used to capture the impact
of sustainability outcomes. These measures include counting the
agency's activities, quantifying protected resources and measuring actual improvements to the environment. More specifically,
top sustainability measures include:
* Quantifying increases in connections to communities and
miles of trail (60 percent of agencies)
* Quantifying water usage by an agency's parks and facilities
(59 percent)
* Identifying and tracking usage of all agency electric meters
(54 percent)
* Quantifying an agency's energy usage through an audit or
comparative review (48 percent)
* Quantifying the number of community members reached
through education events (43 percent)
* Quantifying stormwater runoff detention, infiltration and
prevention (42 percent)
* Quantifying tree canopy (42 percent)
* Counting the number of buildings with green certifications
(e.g., LEED) (37 percent)
* Conducting habitat surveys (31 percent)
The implementation and promotion of sustainability practices are a natural role for park and recreation agencies. Neverthe-
less, most agencies face some barriers that prevent their ability
to expand these efforts. These barriers may include a lack of
resources, whether it be funding (61 percent) or staff dedicated
to sustainability activities (40 percent) and of expertise tied to
either sustainability measures (39 percent) or practices (31 percent). Far less frequently, agencies do not implement sustainability activities because the city/county political leadership,
agency leadership and agency staff do not see these activities as
agency priorities.
These survey findings should give park and recreation agencies a sense of pride in being part of a large network of professionals who are striving to create sustainable communities.
To achieve these goals, they must employ a whole systems approach, discovering creative ways to find more resources, optimize those resources, implement sustainable practices and
build community resilience. Communities are counting on their
agencies to take all the necessary actions to ensure a healthy
future for parks and for the planet as a whole.
Kevin Roth, Ph.D., is NRPA's Vice President of Research (kroth@nrpa.org).
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April 2017 - Parks & Recreation
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2017 - Parks & Recreation
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