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Park and recreation agencies have an amazing ability to build resilient communities through sustainable practices. As managers of more than 11 million acres of land and countless facilities, park and recreation professionals have the power to mitigate the impact of severe weather and climate change, improve tree canopy equity and help habitats flourish. They serve as community advocates and educators while advancing local solutions in their parks and communities.
Investing in the Future
On September 2, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported “that the most severe harms from climate change fall disproportionately upon underserved communities who are least able to prepare for, and recover from, heat waves, poor air quality, flooding, and other impacts.” According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, “During 2021, there were 20 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disaster events across the United States. The total cost from these events of 2021 was $145.0 billion and is the third most costly year on record…” The good news is that, according to the National Institute of Building Sciences, for every dollar spent in planning to address these issues, there is an $11 savings.
Investing in sustainability and resiliency is a smart decision.
NRPA helps park and recreation agencies build sustainable plans to ensure they are responsible stewards of their communities and resources. Sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” as defined by the United Nations Brundtland Commission in 1987. Planning efforts serve to protect and expand habitat, seek clean alternative energy sources, conserve water, and follow best practices. Plans advance climate solutions with parks as the focus, addressing climate change at the local level. Park and recreation agencies can center equity by building diverse partnerships to ensure everyone benefits from sustainable plans and practices, especially those most impacted by climate change. Local plans feed into larger goals, including the Biden-Harris administration’s “30x30” initiative to protect 30 percent of the world’s terrestrial and marine habitat by 2030.
Measuring Progress
To understand where the park and recreation field is with this work, NRPA launched a survey that resulted in the Sustainability in Parks and Recreation report. The report finds that nearly every park and recreation agency has sustainability strategies and takes action to reduce energy usage, decrease water consumption and/or protect habitat. Only 43 percent have or operate under a formal sustainability plan with specific goals and targets developed by either the agency or the city, town, county or state under which it operates. Of that group, only 14 percent operate under their own agency plan.
Most plans included such objectives as protecting natural habitat, reducing or eliminating the use of carbon-based energy, reducing landfill waste, using park infrastructure for stormwater management and reducing water usage. Community members and elected officials support these efforts, but there are opportunities to further advance their policies, plans and practices to ensure they are utilizing best practices. The report validated what we know, that communities support park and recreation agencies’ efforts to address pressing climate change impacts and protect those who are most vulnerable.
Collaborative Solutions
NRPA seeks to ensure park and recreation professionals stand as champions of sustainability and create and advance their own sustainable plans, strategies and goals. To do so, NRPA hosted a listening session with members with diverse backgrounds and experiences to identify key aspects of sustainable plans and practices. Participants suggested envisioning parks that were carbon sinks and carbon neutral, employing green energy and technologies — for instance, City of Denver’s solar project — using blue and green infrastructure, reducing waste, managing water and energy use, and pursuing equitable community engagement, among other solutions. Barriers also arose during the discussion. Some included budget, staff buy-in and external factors, including existing infrastructure, the increased impacts of climate change and climate planning at the city level not aligning with resources for parks.
Overall insight and feedback centralized the idea that the park and recreation field can advance sustainability as part of normal operations. One listening session participant said, “I’d love to see trainings for sustainable management practices as standard.” With collective research, insight and feedback, NRPA is building the capacity to create educational offerings that will help professionals increase their knowledge and develop sustainable plans and practices for their park agency.
NRPA partners with the park and recreation field to create sustainable, resilient communities and address the impacts of climate change while keeping equity at the core of our work.
Michele White is Senior Program Manager of Conservation at NRPA.