Empowering Parks for the 21st Century

On 26 September 2019, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in partnership with the Parks Action Group, Landscape Institute and The Parks Alliance held a major conference on 'Empowering Parks for the 21st Century'. #empoweringparks

The conference opened with Caroline Macdonald giving a talk on the role of Government and Green Space. Sue Morgan followed with a discussion on the business case being prepared to support investment in parks.

Dr Anna Barker presented a 'think piece' on the future of public parks, based on reflections on the challenges facing the parks section and our historically-informed research projects in Leeds. The event was live streamed and the presentation can be viewed at here. To listen to Anna's thinkpiece go to 2hr 2mins.

Dr Nicola Dempsey, University of Sheffield, gave reflections on the the IWUN project. Providing the findings of research on how health and well-being can be improved through urban nature.

Paul O-Brien from APSE followed with research underpinning a new competency framework for park managers and other landscape professionals.

The afternoon saw a diverse range of workshops on natural capital accounting, parks power, The Rethinking Parks programme, the Future Parks Accelerator and others. More information can be found at: https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/event/empowering-parks-21st-century/