Sustainability and Environmental Resilience in Parks — Episode 163

Sustainability and Environmental Resilience in
Parks — Episode 163


On today’s episode of Open Space Radio, I’m excited to share our
collab episode with GovLove Podcast, which we recorded live back
in October at the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference.


This was our first live episode recording — with an audience. So,
besides the obvious nerves that came along with that, it was such
a fun, enriching conversation and it definitely won’t be our
last! I was honored to co-host this conversation alongside Ben
Kittleson, manager at Raftelis and co-host/producer of GovLove.
GovLove is a production of Engaging Local Government Leaders and
is a podcast about local government with the goal of telling
informative and unique stories about the work being done at the
local level.


On this episode, we discuss the important environmental
resilience work taking place in Columbus, Ohio, and Boulder,
Colorado, as well as how NRPA’s Sustainability in Practice
program equips park and recreation professionals to develop and
implement community-driven sustainability practices. Joining us
were the brilliant:


Bernita Reese, director of recreation and parks for City of
Columbus, Ohio

Ali Rhodes, director of parks and recreation for the City of
Boulder, Colorado

Michele White, senior program manager for NRPA.



Tune in to learn how park and recreation professionals are
essential in advancing climate solutions to build a healthy,
resilient and equitable future. You’ll also learn:


How you might already be doing this work, just not naming it
explicitly

Park-specific sustainability actions and planning principles
to assist your efforts

Strategies to enhance support from your community and local
leadership

Ways of embedding sustainability and resilience into your
organization, as opposed to having it perceived as “another
thing”

And so much more!



I want to give a special shoutout and thanks to everyone who
joined us for the live recording — we appreciate you showing up
and supporting both of our shows and the important work we
discussed. And for those about to listen for the first time,
thank you for tuning in! I hope this transports you to the
conference so you can feel a bit of the energy if you weren’t
able to join us.


I hope you enjoy the episode, learn something new, and if you
have any ideas for a topic we can discuss on a live recording at
next year’s conference, send us an email at openspace@nrpa.org!


Related Links:


  NRPA’s Sustainability in Practice Program (Apply by
November 15!)

  Columbus Recreation and Parks

City of Boulder Parks and Recreation

GovLove Podcast

Have feedback about this episode or Open Space Radio
overall? Share it with us! If you enjoyed this episode or
learned something that might help you make a positive impact in
your community, please consider donating to NRPA to not only
support our storytelling efforts, but also our mission to advance
parks, recreation and conservation efforts that enhance the
quality of life for all at nrpa.org/donate.