Advancing Resilient Park Access in Lynnwood, Washington — Episode 140

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Lynnwood, Washington,
with a few of my colleagues to visit the Lynnwood Parks,
Recreation and Cultural Arts Department, who was recently awarded
one of NRPA’s Resilient Park Access grants.


Our trip consisted of visiting local parks, meeting with members
of the community who are collaborating with the department,
meeting with the mayor, attending a community “Meet Me at the
Park” event, and learning more about Lynnwood’s ParksLove
project, which is in the works thanks to NRPA’s Resilient Park
Access grant.


This grant is dedicated to advancing community-driven,
systems-level strategies for equitable park access that improves
the environmental resilience and health of communities. This
grant supports park and recreation professionals in partnership
with leaders from community-based organizations. Lynnwood is one
of six communities nationwide selected to advance equitable park
access.


Tune in to the full episode below to learn how the Lynnwood
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department plans to use this
grant as an opportunity to complete a community-driven,
comprehensive Park & Trail Capital Project Plan and
prioritization project centering equity in its park system
planning. The department also is creating a park capital
prioritization framework tool to evaluate and score all future
possible park capital projects by creating equity, resiliency,
inclusive and health indexes.


You’ll hear from Lynnwood Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts
Deputy Director Sarah Olson, MPA, CPRP, as well as NRPA Director
of Community and Environmental Resilience Ayanna Williams. We
discuss:


What resilient park access means

How the ParksLove project is addressing equitable access to
parks and recreation in Lynnwood

How members of the community have been brought along
throughout the process

How this project supports NRPA’s goals of building more
resilient communities, and much more!



Related Links:


·       City of Lynnwood ParksLove
Project


·       Press Release: NRPA
Announces More Than $2.5 Million in Funding to Support Equitable
Access to Parks