A Guide to the Healthy Parks Healthy People Approach and Current Practices

Stream Closing Plenary
Commitments
In the closing plenary, delegates made a range of
commitments to contribute to the movement.
Just some of those commitments, in their own
words, were:
– Integrate the Healthy Parks Healthy People
message as a benefit for the tourism industry
in its marketing for tours into national parks
– Expand the capacity of technology to increase
connection between parks and younger
generations
– Build cross sector partnerships to evaluate the
outcomes of Healthy Parks Healthy People
programs
– That Parks Victoria makes a commitment to
become a major positive factor in measurably
improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal
communities through access to Country and
being a venue for cultural renewal.
– Engage more Junior Ranger programs
– I promise (over the next year) to share IUCHN
Urban Protected Areas profiles and Best
Practices Guidelines with our State
Department of Parks & Recreation and in
Sacramento City and County Parks
– I promise to invite and engage our Church
Youth Group and other youth in Orinda, CA to
be part of National Geographic BioBlitz and
iNaturalist Online tools. Invite youth for a
monthly outdoor adventure
– I would like to enhance children’s access to
mentors to give them a network to work
towards nature conservation in their own way
- to give them support and resources to make
changes and a way to turn their passions into
positive action
– I commit to contributing to at least three
public health - park partnerships in the next six
months by contributing to the written report
and being part of the planning committee
– I will talk with maternal and child health
nurses about connecting new mums to nature
and also to indigenous staff at work about
connection to country through pregnancy,
birth and babies
– Coordinate with other states to infuse nature
based learning into educational curriculum
frameworks in our states, using examples from
other countries and successful US State models
– Help park staff gain fuller understanding of
capabilities of individuals with disabilities and
make parks more welcoming to them through
physical improvements and innovative
programs
– Use some of the lessons from international
delegates to connect new residents of
Australia
– New learning strategic partnerships across
sectors and build on existing and emerging
partnerships
– Identify opportunities for access to spiritual
health places
– Facilitate and regulate planning in urban areas
to ensure an appropriate level of access to
green space
– Help preserve the nocturnal environment in
parks, protected areas and urban areas
– I pledge to approach health promotion and
medical groups working in my community to
see how we can assist each other with
improving people’s connection with our local
parks and green spaces
– To undertake research that provides useable,
quantifiable data for the health sector and to
communicate it to them by publishing that
research in publications that are read by
people outside of the parks industry
– To continue to work within my son’s school
with the sustainability program to support and
educate teachers for the development and
expansions of current programs
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