Back to Top

Parks and Recreation Collection – Narratives

Category: Health, fitness and well-being

nature play; role of open space in mental health

The Preconditions of Well-being

Updated on date by author

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.

«««««»»»»»

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.

 

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Narratives, Planning, policy and legislation | Leave a reply

Sport knowledge – the Australian Clearinghouse

Updated on date by author

The Australian Clearinghouse for Sport is the pre-eminent information and knowledge-sharing platform for Australian sport.

The Clearinghouse brings together Australia’s leading sport and active recreation agencies, using Sport Australia as the principal information coordinator, to share news, evidence and insights about sport, human performance and physical activity. The Clearinghouse works to:

  • Identify and acquire information of relevance to the Australian sport and active recreation sectors;
  • connect people in sport and active recreation with complementary expertise;
  • inform Australian sport practitioners (such as athletes, coaches, physical educators, scientists, medical providers, researchers, administrators, students, facility managers, policy makers, volunteers, and sporting officials) about good and promising practice in sport and active recreation;
  • provide Australian governments at all levels with comprehensive and policy relevant analysis of research relating to sport and active recreation, and its value to the community; and
    Provide Clearinghouse members with high quality information on sport, physical activity and active recreation.

The Clearinghouse is a central access point for knowledge about the Australian sport sector and for communication between sportspeople and sporting organisations. It is an entity of the Australian Sports Commission, itself an agency of the Australian Government. Access its website https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/ here.

Given the existence of the Clearinghouse with its focus on ‘active’ recreation and sport, the PaRC document library and this PaRC narratives website have purposely focused on ‘passive’ recreation, open space and park management, although of course no clear distinction can be maintained.

The Clearinghouse’s useful list of definitions of key terms in sport, for example, has been extracted and converted to a durable PDF format in a post in PaRC.

Canadian Sport Information Resource Centre

The Canadian equivalent is an excellent source of technical knowledge about sports played in that country. Click on SIRC Resources or its French version.

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Infrastructure, facilities and urban environments, Narratives, Organised sport | 1 Reply

Parks and Recreation Portfolio Planning Presentation

Posted on date by author

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:
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Infrastructure, facilities and urban environments, Leisure activities, Management and governance, Natural resources and environment, Open space and recreation areas, Organised sport, Planning, policy and legislation, Tourism and events | Leave a reply

The Health of Young Aborigines – Aged 12 to 25

Updated on date by author

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
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Narratives | Leave a reply

MidCoast Recreational Boating Infrastructure Plan 2024 – 2035

Posted on date by author

MidCoast Recreational Boating Infrastructure Plan 2024 – 2035

 

This boating infrastructure plan is part of the MidCoast Parks and Recreation Planning Portfolio.

 

It covers more than a hundred individual boating assets, which include boat ramps, pontoons and jetties, across our coastline, rivers and lakes, many of which are sensitive ecosystems. The Plan not only focuses on the assets but also on the activities that are conducted on the waterways, and which use the facilities. Environmental protection is the main focus of the Plan.

Review Status:
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Infrastructure, facilities and urban environments, Natural resources and environment, Open space and recreation areas, Organised sport, Planning, policy and legislation | Leave a reply

Healthy Spaces and Places

Updated on date by author

“Healthy Spaces and Places” was a web-based national guide for planning, designing and creating sustainable communities that encourage healthy living.n regional cities, towns, villages and remote communities. The Healthy Spaces and Places material was developed over 2008-2016 and was previously hosted on a dedicated website www.healthyplaces.org.au, but this has since closed down. (It was however snapshotted by the National Library in 2011).

This resource was developed by a collaborative team comprising the Australian Local Government Association, the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Planning Institute of Australia and funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

The material has been entirely superseded by the Healthy Active by Design (HAbD) website hosted by the National Heart Foundation. From 2016 all the previous resources of HSP have been brought under the HAbD online platform. Over 2024-25 the Foundation has an exciting program to further enhance and update the HAbD resources on its website.

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Narratives | Leave a reply

The Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition

Updated on date by author

The Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) is focused on reducing the rates of chronic disease through research excellence in nutrition and physical activity. It is hosted by Deakin University, Victoria.

“IPAN is a multi-disciplinary research institute focused on understanding – and influencing – physical activity and nutrition to improve health across the lifespan.​

“Our research spans from the lab to real world settings. We conduct metabolism, physiology, clinical and behavioural studies, and community and population-based research.​”

Visit the IPAN website

IPAN research covers four research domains, one joint department and a research centre.

Research domains

Biology of health and disease
The overarching aim of research in this domain is to characterise and understand the biological mechanisms by which exercise and nutrition impact health. Research in this domain includes healthy and clinical populations across the lifespan – from growth in the womb to ageing.

Healthy active living​
This domain focuses on real-world solutions to increase population levels of physical activity and consists of three research groups; Physical activity and sedentary behaviour from infancy to young adulthood; Built and natural environments for healthy living​; and Worker health and stress.​

Preventing and managing chronic conditions
The focus of this research is the development, implementation, evaluation and translation of lifestyle-based solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases . This includes cardio-metabolic and musculo-skeletal-related conditions, brain, cognitive and mood-related disorders, and cancer. ​

Food, nutrition and health
Unhealthy diets are the leading contributor to the global burden of disease and research in this domain includes developing and evaluating interventions and translating research into policy and practice.

Baker-Deakin Department of Lifestyle and Diabetes

A collaborative partnership between the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and PAN, the Baker-Deakin Department of Lifestyle and Diabetes has been established to advance research into one of the greatest health challenges of our time – the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes.

The Department focuses on developing evidence-based lifestyle approaches to address the growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes, drawing on shared interests in physical activity, sedentary behaviour, nutrition and chronic disease management research.

The Centre for Sport Research

The Centre (CSR) is focused on influencing practice in sport to enhance the health and performance of people and organisations participating in sports. CSR researchers are experts in sport, exercise and health.

 

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Narratives, Organised sport | Leave a reply

Peter Nicholls: Life Enjoyment Mentor

Updated on date by author

Peter Nicholls, of Adelaide, a long-term Trustee of the AIPR Trust Fund-Education (forerunner of PaRC), has described himself as “Australia’s People Gardener”. His inspiring life story has been summarised in his “Manifesto“, a challenge to people enslaved by an economic  worth ethic to substitute “life enjoyment” for “work” as their purpose in life.

 

Peter has made his updated Manifesto available to PaRC readers. Further details  of Peter’s vision may be obtained from his website, https://australiaspeoplegardener.com.au/.

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Human resource management, Inspirational People, Narratives | Leave a reply