Benefits of Parks and Recreation Update

• expressing benefits as OUTCOME STATEMENTS
• outcome-based BENEFIT
• PERSONAL Benefits/Outcomes
• SOCIAL Benefits/Outcomes
• ECONOMIC Benefits/Outcomes
• ENVIRONMENTAL Benefits/Outcomes
• Marketing Messages - THE BENEFITS

The update of the 1992 catalogue documenting ‘The Benefits of Parks and Recreation” is progressing very well. The RETHINK West team (Ken Balmer and Brenda Clarke) are the coordinators of the ‘Benefits Update Project’ as well as the “Indicator Pilot Project” currently taking place with five cities across Canada. Here’s a brief overview of these two exciting projects and ways you can get involved. Please, help us help the field create worthwhile results and documentation that best expresses the values and benefits of our business.

What’s New and Next with these two Projects

1) Benefits Update - The original 1992 benefit statements have now been expressed as outcome statements in the same four categories as before - personal, social, economic and environmental. The intent is to show more specifically ‘how we do make a difference’ and the outcomes we do achieve with our programs and services. The attached pages rephrase the benefit statements as outcomes plus there are 2 pages restating these messages with a ‘marketing focus’. You can help by:

a) providing feedback to RETHINK on the quality, quantity (comprehensiveness) of these statements. How can we better express them?

b) continue to search for Research documentation that proves these statements and mail or fax this information/proof to us

c) tell us whether the ‘marketing messages’ have hit the mark - create interest and leave a positive lasting impression on the reader. Are there more messages/statements or better ways to express them?

2) Indicator Pilot Project - There are five cities leading the way with this innovative project; North and West Vancouver, Dauphin (Manitoba), Grande Prairie, and Markham. RETHINK has completed the background research phase and has written a resource book that provides strategic context and concepts on ‘Indicators’. We’ve taken the benefits outcomes statements (attached) and added possible indicators and measurement tools. This 50 page resource book can be made available for $10.00 (to cover basic costs) by contacting RETHINK WEST. In the next 2 months, these 5 pilot cities will be defining community priorities; then, in a two-day workshop they will develop indicators/evaluation techniques related to their priority benefits. You can help:

a) by sending us any indicator or performance measurement tools/information you may have done or know about related to benefits

b) by responding to the request for help above - improve the outcome statements

3) What’s Next/Timing - We will continue to search for/receive documentation proving the outcomes statements until the end of March. Next, draft information on both projects will be discussed at the Parks/Recreation Ontario Conference in late April, then final writing in May. The benefits catalogue will be made available for purchase at the CPRA conference in St. John’s in August/97.

4) Contact Information: RETHINK West - 860 Strathcona Dr. S.W. Calgary, Alta T3H1Y4 Ph: 403-246-7254 or FAX: 403-246-7783 or email - bclarke@rethink-group.com or kbalmer @rethink-group.com. Please visit us on our web site- www.rethink-group.com

Thank-you for your time and we hope to hear from you!!

expressing benefits as OUTCOME STATEMENTS

The first step in the recommended process is to rephrase the benefits that are listed in the Catalogue of Benefits of parks and recreation so as to better focus on the specific outcomes that are intended. The suggestions below are based on work that has been completed since the publication of the first catalogue in Ontario:

• the excellent book entitled Benefits of Leisure edited by Bev Driver, Perry Brown and George Peterson (State College, Pennsylvania: Venture Publishing, 1991)

• the Benefits of Recreation - ALBERTA KIT published by the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association in 1994

• the Benefits of Recreation Research Update prepared by Alberta Centre for Well-Being

• the Benefits of Sport, Recreation and Active Living - An Overview prepared for Alberta Community Development by Judy Sefton in 1995

• the Recreation-Health Alliance Resource Kit published by the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association

• Brenda Herchmer’s Benefits Columns in the Niagara Weekend - Just for the Fun of It

• The Benefits of Parks and Recreation - Putting the Pieces Together, a training program developed by the National Recreation and Park Association

• a US nationwide study of the perceptions of the American public, The Benefits of Local Recreation and Park Services by Geoff Godbey, Alan Graefe and Stephen James - sponsored by NRPA, 1992

• Beyond Fun and Games - Emerging Roles of Public Recreation (NRPA, 1994)

• The Economic Impact of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services by the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association, 1993

• the Phoenix Project Handbook - Leveraging the Benefits of Parks and Recreation compiled by the California Park and Recreation Society in 1995

• the statements used in Saskatchewan’s Culture Counts marketing program

• and the Benchmark Indicators project of the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, the Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council, and Health Canada.

All of these documents have added value to the wording of the original benefits messages to improve their clarity and/or validity. These rephrasing exercises have undoubtedly been influenced by the overall move towards outcome measurement, towards governance focused on ends rather than means, and by the increasing urgency of getting our key messages across in a convincing manner.

The suggestions that follow here are also sensitive to the outcome language that is evolving in the related fields of health, social services, education, police/justice, environmental management, economic development and tourism.

Your feedback is welcome. The suggestions here are not intended to replace the thinking that must occur within your own performance management program, sensitive to local priorities and local messaging that might already be accepted in your community or organization. In the months ahead, the five pilot communities will be working with this language (in the ‘Pilot Indicator Project’) - as will the partners involved in the 1997 update of the Catalogue of Benefits.

Beside each revised benefit or outcome statement, we have also noted which aspect of recreation (using a broad definition which encompasses sport, fitness, community arts/culture, therapeutic recreation) and parks services is most likely to produce the outcome AND which parallel fields would most likely be strategic allies as we pursue the benefits.

outcome-based BENEFIT

Please note that these outcome-based benefits statements are designed and phrased to be of highest value in a performance management system. They are specific and clearly specify the difference that a program of service can make.

They are not necessarily the best phrases to use in marketing the benefits of parks and recreation. The box on the following page includes examples of how the field has marketed the personal, social, economic and environmental significance of recreation, parks and leisure services over the past five years - using benefits messages.

Marketing Messages - THE BENEFITS

Recreation and active living is the VERY BEST HEALTH INSURANCE you can buy!

¨ physical activity and fitness reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, combats osteoporosis and diabetes, reduces stress, and enhances overall health and wellbeing

¨ physical recreation and active living helps Canadians live longer and prolongs independent community living for our senior population.

Recreation is the key to BALANCED HUMAN DEVELOPMENT - helping Canadians reach for their potential.

¨ recreation is essential to the development of our children and youth - we learn motor skills, creativity, social skills and other life skills through play

¨ recreation provides the opportunity to adults to develop their full and holistic potential (physical, social, creative, intellectual and spiritual) - work only does so much

¨ in a society where life-long learning is essential - recreation, or adult leisure learning, provides exceptional opportunities.

Recreation and parks are essential foundations to QUALITY OF LIFE.

¨ recreation builds self-esteem and positive self-image - both essential to mental health

¨ leisure provides the primary opportunity for achievement of life balance & wellness

¨ recreation nurtures and supports independent living for those with a disability

¨ recreation and parks enhance perceived quality of life - for individuals and communities.

Recreation reduces ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR!

¨ recreation reduces self-destructive and negative social activity in youth

¨ recreation reduces crime

¨ recreation is an antidote to racism - building understanding between cultures

¨ recreation reduces isolation and loneliness.

Recreation and parks build STRONG FAMILIES and HEALTHY COMMUNITIES!

¨ families that play together stay together

¨ couples that share leisure interests are less likely to separate and divorce

¨ recreation provides safe, developmental opportunities for the latch-key child

¨ recreation produces leaders that serve their communities in many ways

¨ recreation builds social skills and stimulates participation in community life

¨ recreation and parks are often the catalysts that build strong, self-sufficient communities - sports groups, adopt-a-park programs, arts guilds, etc.

¨ recreation and parks services build pride in a community.

Recreation reduces HEALTH CARE, SOCIAL SERVICE and POLICE/JUSTICE COSTS!

¨ fitness and wellbeing reduces both the incidence and severity of illness and/or disability

¨ recreation supports families - reducing costs of intervention and foster care

¨ recreation reduces costs associated with crime and social dysfunction

¨ it is both needlessly expensive and inhumane to wait until crisis of dysfunction occurs before offering assistance - recreation is one of the very best forms of prevention!

Recreation and parks - significant ECONOMIC GENERATORS in your community!

¨ employee fitness and recreation improves work performance - increased productivity, decreased absenteeism, decreased staff turnover, reduced ‘on the job’ accidents

¨ recreation and parks attract and retain businesses - prime relocation magnets

¨ recreation and parks are the attractions that draw tourism - the third largest and one of the fastest growing industries in the world today

¨ recreation, parks, fitness, sports, and arts/culture are significant employment generators on their own - providing many jobs

¨ small investments in recreation and parks often yield large economic returns - the multiplier effect of events, capital development projects, and even provision of ongoing services.

Parks, open spaces and natural areas can PAY FOR THEMSELVES!

¨ through the multiplier effect of both the initial investment and ongoing expenditures

¨ through increased property value and taxes on adjacent land

¨ often the highest and best use of urban land when principles of sustainable development, risk management (e.g. flood control), and habitat protection principles are understood and respected.

Parks, open spaces and natural areas are ESSENTIAL TO ECOLOGICAL SURVIVAL!

¨ protecting biodiversity and ecological integrity

¨ improving air quality - the urban lung, trails encouraging non-polluting, non-motorized transportation (not to mention, saving energy)

¨ effectively handling many storm water and water table issues

¨ increasing ecological understanding through outdoor recreation and environmental education

¨ mitigating against potential environmental disaster - flooding, slip zones, aquifer depletion.