The National Recreation and Park Association on Tuesday announced a new program that aims to put a spotlight on inequities in recreation opportunities in the United States.
The initiative includes a new suite of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) resources, including a story map that illustrates policies and examples of park and recreation inequities throughout U.S. history, an equity action plan, and a statement on creating an equitable future for all people.
“We estimate that as many as 100 million people – 30 percent of the U.S. population— lack access to the lifesaving and life enhancing benefits parks and recreation provides,” read a statement describing the initiative. “Achieving a future where all people have fair and just access to quality parks and recreation requires that we recognize the systemic inequities that have created very different experiences for people. Policies, land use decisions and design approaches at the federal, state and local level — rooted in racism and discrimination — brought us to where we are today.”
According to NRPA, the plan will focus on four key areas:
- Recognizing the systemic inequities that have created very different lived experiences in communities across the country and seek to learn from the past. Visit our story map here.
- Strengthening organizational culture and practices centered around equity and our core values of diversity, inclusion, trust, and continuous learning. Read more about our values work here and action plan here.
- Embedding equity, inclusion, and diversity (DEI) into how we prepare the park and recreation field for the future. We are excited to launch DEI training at the 2021 NRPA Annual Conference, as well as many other opportunities to come. You can fuel your commitment to centering equity in parks and recreation by staying up to date with the latest resources, trainings and more by signing up for alerts here.
- Creating equity-centered outcomes while working to dismantle the barriers to equity. Read more about our programs here.
