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Toowoomba Cycle and Pedestrian Strategy 2002

This ~68-page strategy, (55 MB) published in March 2002 and prepared inhouse by officers of Toowoomba City Council, aims to improve “the equity, accessibility, convenience and safety of cycling and pedestrian travel” for residents and visitors.

Principles articulated in the report:

  1. Consultation should be an open and accountable process and participation and input should be encouraged from all of the community, throughout the development and implementation of the strategy.
  2. Cycling and walking* need to be recognised as integral parts of the transport system and be considered in all landuse planning and transport designs.
  3. Cyclists can ride on the road or use paths (unless signed otherwise) and this choice should be supported with the appropriate combination of on-road and off-road facilities and integration into the planning and design of road networks.
  4. Facilities should be designed to encourage safe and responsible sharing of pathways and roadways by accommodating the different travel speeds of users.
  5. Education should form part of the provision of infrastructure to encourage people to use it appropriately and safely.
  6. Partnerships with other agencies, private enterprise and community groups are required for successful implementation of this strategy.
Review Status: Pending

Victorian National Parks Association Newsletter – Index, 1953-73

a href=”https://parcaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/VNPA_Index_NL_Comp.pdf” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”> by Sandra Bardwell lists the substantive articles published in this important publication from Volume 1 in 1953 to Volume 93 in 1973.

“The history of the Victorian national parks movement over the last 20 years has been shaped to a very significant extent by the growth of the Victorian National Parks Association. The Association has been and continues to be the leading spokesman for the general public on national park issues.
“An important medium for this expression has been the Newsletter which has grown from a modest leaflet to an informative and substantial booklet. It is also an invaluable and rich resource for anyone seeking to read or write about Victoria’s national parks system. In view of the potential value of the Newsletter for research purposes, there seemed to be a clear need for an Index to simplify the researcher’s quest for specific information. From initially modest intentions, the project grew to major proportions with approximately 2000 entries.”

Despite the advent of powerful modern search engines which are able to ferret out materials from all manner of historical sources, we have scanned this Index and uploaded it to PaRC because it assembles in one document a summary of the immensely significant endeavours of the early VNPA.

The file has been compressed to save byte space. (Now 4.2 MB).

 


 

Review Status: Pending

Towards a definition of the horticultural professional – c.1990

In the words of its author, horticultural eminence Dr James Hitchmough:

“The characteristics of professions, and the need for professionalisation in the landscape and nursery production sectors of horticulture are discussed, and the relationships between professionalisation and professionalism investigated. When compared with the broadly accepted vital attributes of professions, horticulture as a discipline can clearly not be considered as such. The vast bulk of people who currently describe themselves as horticulturists are involved at the occupational or semi-professional level, only a few sub-groups satisfy the criteria associated with true professions. Horticulture contains so many disparate sub-groups both in terms of sector of activity and secondly educational level that it presents the community and other disciplines involved in the landscape with a very confusing picture. This is a particular problem for degree graduates as it “greys” the distinctions between themselves and horticulturists with much more basic levels of training. If horticulture as a discipline does not embrace increasing professionalisation, then it faces the possible loss of management positions and skill areas, traditionally occupied by horticulturists, to more educated disciplines.

“The present and future role of educational institutions, the horticultural industry, and professional bodies in influencing the development of professionalisation, and professionalism in landscape and nursery production horticulture is discussed.”

This paper
, of uncertain publication status, is dated about 1990.

Review Status:

Leisure management webinars

Leisure management is the means by which organisations manipulate their resources to deliver leisure programs, facilities and services to stakeholders and the general community. The programs, facilities and services fall within the range of leisure, recreation, sport, tourism and events industry, within the mixed economy of leisure provided by government, non-profit, commercial organisations and households.

Leisure management has evolved over the decades to steadily increase the range of responsibilities and tasks required to deliver leisure programs, facilities and services. Leisure management books have covered fundamental responsibilities such as planning, delivery, management and control of services. Some recent publications also address quality and performance management, community planning, accountability, partnerships, inclusion of diversity in the community and workplace competency-based management, personnel practices, project management and allocation of resources. Leisure management has been explained as a focus on the ‘what’ and the ‘who’. The ‘what’ relates to the leisure organisation’s understanding of the key leisure concepts, how organisations function and manipulate their resources to deliver programs, facilities and services. The ‘who’ relates to the understanding of leisure service consumers and key stakeholders.

Leisure management is more than working to achieve effective and efficient programs, facilities and services. Often leisure projects are designed to address issues of inequality, access and to help make the world a better place based on leisure’s contribution to a community’s quality of life.

The Leisure Management Special Interest Group (LM SIG) of the World Leisure Organisation (www.worldleisure.org) aims to articulate and document the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of delivering leisure experiences. It is co-led by Dr. John R Tower, Honorary Fellow, Victoria University Melbourne; and Dr Jo An Zimmermann-Somoza, Associate Professor, Texas State University. The LM SIG It aims to encourage contributions to leisure management scholarship and sharing of best practice activities that contribute to excellent leisure experiences.

Recordings of a series of leisure management webinars commencing in 2021 are available online:

Designing Leisure Experiences – December 2021

Serious Leisure in Practice – April 2022
Crisis Preparedness – June 2022
Managing Safe Places – September 2022
Public Leisure Management for Social Transformation – April 2023
Future of Public Sector Leisure – August 2023
Building Community through Leisure Programs and Services for Older Adults – November 2023
Embracing Digital Horizons in Leisure – April 2024.

 

Links to LM SIG webinars in future may be provided as they become available. Some webinars are available in Spanish and Portuguese. They are used internationally as teaching resources.

Review Status: Pending

Charter for Leisure

The World Leisure Organization passed the updated Charter for Leisure in 2020. Its text reads:

Articles
1. Everyone, whether adult or child, has the right to adequate time for rest and for the pursuit of leisure activity.

2. For those engaged in remunerated work, Article 1 requires recognition of the right to reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays. Securing these rights generally requires national/ provincial legislation.

3. Article 1 also applies to those engaged in unpaid labour, for example domestic care-givers.

4. Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community.

  • Culture is viewed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as including:
    ‘music and song, ceremonies, sport and games, natural and man-made environments’ and ‘the arts, customs and traditions through which individuals, groups of individuals and communities express their humanity and the meaning they give to their existence’. These activities depend on the provision of: ‘libraries, museums, theatres, cinemas and sports stadiums; literature, including folklore, and the arts in all forms; the shared open spaces essential to cultural interaction, such as parks, squares, avenues and streets; nature’s gifts, such as seas, lakes, rivers, mountains, forests and nature reserves, including the flora and fauna found there’.[i]
  • Participation in social and cultural activities includes engagement as: an active participant, a learner, a spectator or audience member or an unpaid volunteer.

5. Leisure is also a medium through which other rights and related benefits set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and associated covenants can be exercised, including: the physical, mental, emotional and social development of the child through play; support for family life; personal expression and development; sustaining of cultural life of the community; and promotion of physical and mental health and well-being through sport, physical activity and cultural engagement. Conversely, denial of time for beneficial leisure activity can have serious consequences for the well-being of individuals and societies.
6. These rights should therefore be observed and supported by all of society’s institutions, including commercial organisations, education institutions, professional bodies and non-government organisations. Governments at national, regional/provincial and local levels have particular responsibilities reflecting commitments under United Nations treaties and, in some cases, provisions in national constitutions and legislation.
7. Recognising that governments at all levels are not the only providers of facilities and services for leisure and that they face many challenges and competing demands for resources, they nevertheless have particular responsibilities to:

  • ensure availability and protection of land for open space for recreation in residential areas;
  • ensure preservation of, and public access to, natural and culture heritage;
  • ensure the provision of suitable space and facilities for children’s play;
  • support provision of health-enhancing amenities, such as facilities for sport and exercise;
  • support cultural institutions and activities;
  • ensure that all members of the community, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, ability or income, have access to beneficial leisure facilities and services;
  • support suitable training of a technical and professional work force for the leisure/ sport/cultural service industries;
  • support research on the benefits and costs of leisure activity and on the provision of leisure facilities and services;
  • include recognition of leisure-related rights in relevant national/provincial legislation and regulations, including those concerned with regulation of mass communications and digital media;
  • recognise, in national, regional and urban policies and plans, the contribution which leisure-related provisions can make to personal, social, cultural and economic development;
  • support other human rights which facilitate the participation in the cultural life of the community, including the right to food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services and security, as set out in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[i] UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2009). Guidelines on Treaty-specific Documents to be Submitted by States Parties Under Articles 16 and 17 of the ICESCR. Document E/C.12/2008/2. New York: UN, pp. 4-5.

Review Status: Pending

English Gardens Traditions in Contrast with the Australian Natural Environment

This memorandum presents a proposal for a 13-day tour of Victorian gardens, signed by Hank van Apeldoorn. It also reports on the Cultural Tourism Conference of August 1987 and progress in establishing a Cultural Tourism Association.

“Our 13 day tour explores the contrasts between the traditional English garden designs with the use of exotic species and the increasingly popular use of native Australian plants in the changing gardens styles of Victoria.”

 


Review Status: Pending

Parks and Recreation Portfolio Planning Presentation

Parks and Recreation Portfolio Planning

 

This is a presentation that I gave at the Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) 2024 National Conference in Brisbane.

The presentation outlines the portfolio approach to planning for parks and recreation.

Review Status:

Brisbane Statement

The Brisbane Conference Statement, arising from the 2024 Parks and Leisure Australia Annual Conference, builds on the foundation from the 2023 International Congress
Adelaide Statement. The Statement continues to pursue the six Pledges in the Adelaide Statement:

  •  Promote Sustainability
  •  Advocate for Equity
  •  Foster Collaboration
  •  Embrace Innovation
  •  Champion Health and Wellbeing
  •  Community Engagement.
Review Status: Pending

The Health of Young Aborigines – Aged 12 to 25

This report dated 1992 by consultant Pamela Lyon was published by the National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies, Department of Education, University of Tasmania (Hobart).

In 1989, the National Youth Affairs Research Scheme (NYARS) had research done into the health issues affecting young Aboriginal people aged 12 to 25 years. The
researcher was also to look at how culture and life situations, living conditions and relationships with other people (”social factors”) may affect the health problems of
Aboriginal young people. The result was the report The Health of Young Aborigines, by Maggie Brady, an anthropologist with much experience of Aboriginal people and Aboriginal issues in many different parts of Australia.

The report:

• identifies the most important health issues affecting young Aboriginal people in cities and towns and in country and remote areas,
• looks at some of the ways people are trying to do something about these issues; and
• recommends other ways of making young Aboriginal people healthier.

The report is based on published studies, Ms Brady’s previous fieldwork, and several field trips to South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. This summary of the original report was prepared by Pamela Lyon for NYARS so that Aboriginal people living in communities, and community-based health professionals who work with young Aboriginal people, may understand more easily what is in the report.


 

 

 

Review Status: Pending