The Importance of Collaboration During COVID-19 — May Bonus Episode

The May issue of Parks & Recreation magazine is out now, and
on today’s bonus episode of Open Space Radio, we’re diving deeper
into one of the feature articles, “Collaboration in the Time of
Pandemic.” We’re honored to be joined by the author, and
executive director of NOVA Parks, Paul Gilbert, as well as Jane
Rudolph, director of Arlington County Department of Parks and
Recreation, and Kirk Kincannon, executive director of Fairfax
County Park Authority.


On today’s episode, we talk with these three park and recreation
leaders from the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.,
about their collaborative response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their three agencies, as well as other local agencies, have been
collaborating for many years, but that existing relationship has
been even more beneficial during this time. While each of them
has navigated tough decisions related to public health and their
parks systems, having each other’s support has been key.


We discuss the difficult decisions they’ve had to make as far as
closing their parks and the tough conversations that happened
prior to making that decision. Although most trails are still
open, these agencies, along with others in the area, ultimately
decided to close their parks and confront the situation from a
public health perspective, hoping to slow the spread of COVID-19.
And, in an area like Northern Virginia, where many of the parks
and trails that these agencies manage intertwine, it was
necessary to have a unified approach.


Their unified approach and collaboration have ensured simple,
consistent messaging to the communities they serve, as well as
consistent messaging to their staff — many of whom are still
working, while maintaining proper physical distancing, to make
sure that when the parks are cleared to open, they will be ready.


Tune in to learn how these three agencies have been supporting
each other and their communities in a time filled with
uncertainty, as well as what types of messaging have been most
impactful for them and how this collaboration is helping them
plan for the future.