Equity and diversity will feature prominently in the development of a new parks and recreation comprehensive plan.
Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said the plan is the long-term document that is used within the department for shaping the services, the facilities and the park spaces needed for serving today’s population, but also for the community into both the medium- and the long-term.
Gibson said “much has changed” since the city last updated its parks and recreation master plan in 2008, including an increased population density in a land-constrained boundary, demographic and cultural shifts, an urgency to respond to climate change, a greater understanding of the economic disparities that exist in the community, and increased efforts to advance issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism, as well as truth and reconciliation.
At a May 8 workshop, staff sought council’s feedback about the key themes being explored as part of the update to the parks and recreation comprehensive plan.
Since the last plan was approved, Gibson said the city has done a considerable amount of work on issues in the areas of arts and culture, planning strategies, environment, transportation and asset management and will be somewhat less prominent in the new plan than in the past.
“Looking at things from an equity lens, looking at things from a diversity lens in terms of our services and our staffing is really where I think the focus of this effort is going to narrow in that further,” he said. “Do we need to answer the question: Do we have enough sports fields to serve our community sport organizations today and into the future? Yes, we need to answer that particular question. At the same time, we need to be saying is … how is it (sport) being used as a vehicle to make sure that it is addressing the diversity of needs that exists within our community? How is it serving the population groups have typically, perhaps been underrepresented in some of those activities? And that’s, in part, where we’ll be focusing a lot of this.”
According to the staff report, conversations with residents, staff, partners, stakeholders, experts and people with lived experience will be “interwoven” throughout the development of the plan.
“This exercise with parks and recreation comprehensive planning is a lot about listening to what the community says,” Gibson told council. “So … the community will be driving what the outcomes are from this work and what the recommendations are into the future.”
Erika Mashig, the city’s manager of arboriculture, horticulture, parks and open space planning , said the development of the plan is expected to take 18 to 24 months.
Themes being explored
At Monday’s workshop, council members indicated their support for the themes put forward by staff for consideration in the plan and endorsed the next steps in the process – which includes retaining a consulting team to work on the plan. A consultant could be hired by August.
These are the themes being proposed for study as part of the update to the parks and recreation master plan:
* Diversity, equity and inclusion: Identification of barriers to access parks and recreation services for diverse populations, such as economic, gender identity, cultural, age, geographical and physical.
* Anti-racism: Study the culture within the department and embed anti-racism throughout the department and its work.
* Truth towards reconciliation: Identify policies, processes and procedures to identify areas that are incompatible with UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) and conduct explorations to further advance integration of local First Nations art, stories, culture and values.
* Local economy: Examination of the role of connected parks and recreation services to the city’s economic vitality, including tourism and public events/celebrations.
* Connectivity of networks: Consideration of the connection and relationship of parks to other public amenities/infrastructure, such as greenways, bike lanes, transit tops and pedestrian networks.
* Service adequacy: Study of parks and recreation service adequacy over the medium- and longer-term, based on an analysis of projected growth patterns, future demographics and trends in parks and recreational programming and condition of the city’s infrastructure.
* Service standards: Study of public perceptions regarding the standards of parks and recreation services delivery provided to the community.
* Community belonging/connecting: Exploration of opportunities for individual and community involvement and partnerships.
* Adaptation to a changing climate: Study of the impact of climate change to people, parks and infrastructure, and how to prepare for these impacts now and in the future.
“I think it looks really, really great,” said Con. Nadine Nakagawa. “I’m happy with the angle that’s been taken. I think it’s really shows a lot of leadership from the parks and rec department.”
Nakagawa said it’s fantastic that the city is looking at aligning the parks and rec strategy with UNDRIP, as truth and reconciliation is something that must be embedded in every department. She’s also pleased that climate change impacts and equity in programming are also part of the work plan.
“Equity isn’t treating everybody equally, it’s giving people what they need to be successful,” she said.
Coun. Tasha Henderson said she’s also really interested in the efforts to consider equity around parks and recreation services.
“We’ve already started that conversation with the registration process, which is great and I look forward to that broadening,” she said.
