January 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 29

Please

I 

BY ANDRE A LYNN

N THE GREAT STRUGGLE to establish
credibility and relevance in the ﬁeld of
parks and recreation, passion and good

intentions only go so far. At some point, every
professional and advocate for the ﬁeld must
have hard data to advance their missions.
After all, who at one time or another hasn't been
challenged with, " Show me the proof " ? While
proof can come from many sources, there's
only one way to produce it: through research.

Fortunately for the parks and recreation ﬁeld, research has a rich
tradition spread over a variety of sources. Universities, government,
the private sector, and nonproﬁt organizations and associations
all work to provide data in health and wellness, conservation, operational best practices, demographic trends, and inﬁnitely more.
At the same time, not all research is created equally, and a good
portion of research never reaches the end user. And, like any endeavor dependent on funding, research in parks and recreation
ebbs and ﬂows with the economic health of the country.
This article explores the role of research in the fragile post-Great
Recession era.

Demonstrating the Value of Parks and Recreation
Perhaps nothing has done more to spur research in the past several
years than the downturn in the economy. Depleted municipal coffers have forced cuts in parks funding, resulting in either reduced
recreation services and classes or, more infamously, the closing of
parks altogether. In response, agencies have tapped research to support the value of parks and recreation.
" What is the value of parks for health purposes, for social purposes, for ecological purposes-do they have a value? " says Bill Beckner, NRPA's senior manager of research. " A lot of research has that
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Parks & Recreation

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January 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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