All Ages, All Abilities, All the Time: How Socially Sustainable are Your Parks?
Track: Recreation Programming

Friday, May 1st | 1:15 - 2:30pm
Speaker: John McConkey, Landscape Structures
Room: 407

Description:

Parks today face the challenge of providing environments where all visitors can feel safe, secure and fully engage in play.  Universal design increases usability, safety, health and social participation. In this presentation, participants will discover how applying the principles of universal design ultimately contribute to social equity and social sustainability.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the definition of Ability as defined by environmental conditions.
• Identify the concepts of social equity and social sustainability and how they are supported by Universal Design.
• Articulate each principle of universal design and how they contribute to a park design that goes beyond accessibility and encourages inclusion.
• Explain why incorporating the concepts of social equity and social sustainability is important to the long term success of parks.

Speaker Bio: John McConkey, Landscape Structures

John McConkey serves as Market Research and Insights Manager at Landscape Structures.  He provides more than 15 years of experience in the healthcare field, and offers a unique perspective on health, fitness and children’s play on the playground. Since 2002, John has researched and tracked societal and industry trends to help create solutions that address evolving market needs. His recent efforts focus on playground accessibility and inclusiveness, health and fitness and environmental sustainability.