Healthy Parks Healthy People: Engaging Communities with Parks
Publisher/Sponsor:
Victoria Parks Department
Author:
Varcoe, Tony
In a time of rapid environmental and social change it is crucial that the value of parks be fully recognized. Parks Victoria’s Healthy Parks, Healthy People philosophy seeks to reinforce and encourage the view that parks are essential to individual and community wellbeing. It aims to demonstrate the connection between a healthy environment and a healthy society, at a time when more people are living sedentary lifestyles in urban-dominated environments and have less regular contact with nature.
This presentation, from the 2009 Parks Conference hosted by Alberta Recreation and Parks Association describes how beginning as a promotional campaign and underpinned by an international research review, Healthy Parks Healthy People has evolved into a new park management paradigm in which Parks Victoria is re-shaping its whole business. This includes collaborating with new partners, such as the health and community sectors, to identify how parks and the natural environment can contribute to broader societal goals. Other park agencies have seen the value of HPHP by introducing similar programs
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