Human well-being is central to the worldview of parks and leisure people, it’s a, and perhaps THE primary purpose of parks and leisure activities and facilities. So there is likely to be wide interest in a series of thought pieces being published in The Mandarin, a national online newsletter of public administration, under the aegis of the Royal Societies of Australia.
The series has its origin in a conviction by the scientist members of The Royal Society of Queensland that the knowledge held by scientists and medicos about human health and well-being is not being adequately reflected in national public policy and there is a need for public advocacy of scientific insights to better inform policy settings in health, education, and a range of other portfolios.
Some of the columns published to date don’t overlap much with the interests of parks and leisure people (speaking generally), but some will resonate strongly with readers of this website:
- under-resourcing of public goods
- under-resourcing and politicisation of the public sector departments responsible for public infrastructure and services
- timidity in tackling alcohol, drug, gambling and other industries that are threats to well-being
- absence or weakness of forums for crossing the disciplinary and sectoral silos to bring evidence and insights from all quarters into the senior policy apparatus.
Articles 3-7 will be of particular interest to operational managers who struggle to implement good ideas: they explain that there are five major ingredients to a successful program or project, and the absence of any of the one can be fatal to success.
The Mandarin is tagging the articles and the full series can be accessed by clicking on this link. The parent website, a page under the Royal Societies of Australia banner, is being developed as a knowledge hub on the subject.
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Most of the articles published to date have been written by one author, but the project envisages contributions from a range of people with expertise. Any parks or leisure practitioner who would like to write a column of about 1000 words on a well-being subject of their choice is warmly invited to contact the Coordinator via health AT SYMBOL royalsocietyqld.org.au or the secretary of PaRC via secretary AT SYMBOL parcaustralia.com.au.
Many parks people will be highly sensitive to the need to protect green space within and around areas of urban settlement. This has long been understood by town planners and by the parks and recreation officers of local governments. However, in the contemporary push for densification of urban development, this deeply held principle is being set aside as lot sizes shrink and vacant government land is being re-described as “under-performing” and targeted for blocks of flats. Parks and recreation people who have some anecdotes to share can write for PaRC. Those with more policy-orientated advocacy to share can write for The Mandarin. Those with a social media aptitude are warmly invited to join the LinkedIn account.
Please see the Call for Authors for details of style and format.
