ABSTRACT

The health and well-being benefits of nature contact in parks and other forms of protected areas are now well established, but remain beyond the grasp of many due to century-old design legacies and inadequate investment in inclusive visitor services. This paper reports on lessons learned from an interdisciplinary workshop that brought together park agency staff, academics, and individuals representing accessibility organisations. The purpose of this workshop was to develop a shared vision and explore planning and management pathways for advancing accessibility in parks and protected areas. Four interrelated priority action areas were identified: (1) inclusivity through employment; (2) inclusive programming; (3) information sharing; and, (4) partnering in next steps. This paper contributes to an underdeveloped literature on accessibility and nature by identifying parameters around which park agencies can collaborate to empower diverse populations to enhance their health and well-being through nature contact. Findings strongly suggest the need for parks and protected areas planning and management to evolve at all levels of service delivery in order to keep in step with new federal and provincial legislation focused on building a more inclusive Canada.

摘要

在公园和其他形式的保护区内接触自然的健康和福祉益处现已确立，但由于百年历史的设计遗产和对包容性游客服务的投资不足，许多人仍然无法掌握。本文报告了从一个跨学科研讨会中吸取的教训，该研讨会汇集了公园机构工作人员、学者和代表无障碍组织的个人。本次研讨会的目的是制定一个共同的愿景并探索规划和管理途径，以提高公园和保护区的可达性。确定了四个相互关联的优先行动领域：(1) 通过就业实现包容性；(2) 包容性编程；(3) 信息共享；(4) 在接下来的步骤中合作。本文通过确定公园机构可以围绕哪些参数进行协作，通过自然接触来增强不同人群的能力，从而增强他们的健康和福祉，从而为关于可达性和自然的不发达文献做出了贡献。调查结果强烈表明，公园和保护区的规划和管理需要在服务提供的各个层面发展，以便与新的联邦和省级立法保持同步，重点是建设一个更具包容性的加拿大。