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This case study is part of the 2019 Canadian City Parks Report, showcasing Inspiring projects, people, and policies from across Canada that offer tangible solutions to the most pressing challenges facing city parks.
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Though the impression from outsiders of Canada as an always cold, frozen country is a myth, it’s impossible to deny that for many months our cities are chilly, snow-covered places.
Some Canadian cities have embraced their wintery-ness, celebrating it as a time to get outside and enjoy parks rather than hunker down indoors with a cup of tea.
Edmonton leads the pack with its WinterCity Strategy and organizing of the inaugural Winter Cities Shake-Up conference in 2017. Saskatoon, which hosted the Winter Cities Shake-Up in 2019 is working on its own WintercityXYE Strategy.
Edmonton actively promotes and runs a variety of winter programming—from snowshoeing to winter picnicking—to invite people outdoors. A recent survey by the city found 44% of residents said they had a more positive perception of winter since the program began.
The City also expanded its popular Green Shack Program—where City staff help program parks with recreational amenities housed in a green shack—to all year round in a 2017 pilot. The $120,000 pilot included eight green shacks that rotated through parks between September and June. Attendance was on par with summertime programming.
But it’s not just Edmonton that’s having fun in the snow.
Another Canadian city that truly embraces winter creatively is Montreal. In January 2018, a group of collaborators including La Pépinière Espaces Collectifs*, Rues Principales* and Vivre en Ville* launched the Winter Laboratory*. The project aims to reclaim winter through fun activities, starting with the publication of an active winter public spaces guidebook*.
Boasting the largest fleet of artificial outdoor ice rinks in the world, Toronto worked in partnership with Montreal-based Le Pepiniere to kick off its Rink Social Program in early 2019. The program animated outdoor rinks with fireplaces, food and beverages, social gathering spaces, and skate lending. The City also hosts training sessions for residents that want to create natural ice rinks in parks, including a handy tip sheet for would-be ice makers.
Both Halifax and Charlottetown have found creative ways to get people outside and moving around in winter. At Halifax’s Emera Oval, one of the largest skating rinks in Canada, you’ll find movie and DJ nights and artist-inspired warming huts. And Charlottetown hosts WinterlovePEI every February, which is put on by a grassroots organization that promotes cold-loving events like “snoga in the park.”
Go to a park and take a deep breath. Feel better? You’re not alone. Research has established strong links between spending time in nature and improved mental health. A partnership between the City of Victoria and Human Nature Counselling builds on that with a program called New Roots.
The program brings youth out into city parks for nature-based therapy that targets anxiety and negative thinking. Participants take part in a variety of solo and group activities such as mindfulness, journaling, hiking, and nature play. It helps “them to slow down and dip into their senses and connect them to the natural world,” said Katy Rose from Human Nature Counselling.
Running the program in city parks is an important part of its success because youth “want to be there,” Katy said. Other mental health programs are indoors, which can be uncomfortable for some people. “It’s just so much easier to build community outside,” she said, adding that youth are also building connections to their local parks.
The City is a crucial champion of the program, helping to find funding and making connections to specific parks. The afterschool program, fully funded by Island Health in 2018, is open to youth in middle and high school.
Staff also provide youth with service projects, such as pulling invasive English ivy, which is then dried and woven. Katy said this helps show youth how so-called negatives can be translated into positives by using the invasive species as a metaphor.
One of the program’s key champions is Shelley Brown, a City Parks and Recreation Programmer. She had been working with students on a meadow restoration program and “saw how quickly the youth became passionate about parks and natural spaces,” she said.
Shelley said a big part of her job is to help find funding to keep New Roots free. “Because this program is fairly new and quite different to what people think of when they think therapy, we wanted as few barriers as possible,” she said.
The role of nature in positive mental health outcomes is also key to another partnership, this time in Guelph. There, the City hosts a registered charity that runs the Enabling Garden in Riverside Park, offering therapeutic experiences through horticulture in an accessible garden space.
“The therapeutic garden provides both a soothing and engaging atmosphere that allows individuals, with the assistance of the Registered Horticultural Therapist, to connect creatively in their community and share stories that encourage wellness and ease suffering,” said Anna Kroetsch, a Horticultural Therapist at the garden.
The garden is specifically designed for those of all ages and abilities. “With a low-glare, wide accessible pathway, Braille signs, and raised garden beds, people that may not usually be able to access nature are able to comfortably engage with the natural world’s smells, textures, and tastes no matter their ability,” Anna said.
Vancouver is turning would-be empty park buildings into hotspots of arts and culture in its inventive Fieldhouse Activation Program.
In a you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours partnership, the City connects community groups with vacant park buildings that used to be caretaker’s suites, providing rent-free space in exchange for 350 hours of community animation.
Running since 2011, it now operates in 22 parks and accepts applications from groups working in arts, sport, environment, local food, or social engagement to host three-year residencies.
For the next residency, which started in 2019, programs include Indigenous food, intergenerational activities, girls rock camps, seed swaps, eco-film workshops, and more.
In Toronto, the city is heading into the third year of its popular Arts in the Parks program, which is run by the Toronto Arts Council. As TAC Director Claire Hopkins said in a 2018 blog, the idea came from the fact there were few venues for artists to present their work outside the downtown.
She also noticed that many artists were having difficulty getting park permits and permissions. As Claire put it: “Taxpayer dollars are going to fund arts organizations to make art, and they’re forced to spend most of their money on permits and marketing for a free public event.”
The program isn’t meant to parachute arts into neighbourhoods, so a lot of attention is dedicated to working with local community groups to make sure the art is appropriate and locally-responsive.
In 2018, the program saw 282 events in 36 parks across the city, with the majority of those happening outside the downtown. A 2019 toolkit provides more information for those wanting to create similar programs, with information on funding, partnerships, outreach, and evaluation. The City of Waterloo operates a smaller scale program with their Artist in Residence. An initiative of the City’s Culture Plan, this program provides “opportunities for artists to partner with the City to deliver community art projects to citizens of all ages, abilities, and experience.” In 2018 the program showcased the work of artists Denise St Marie and Timothy Walker in Waterloo Park, including word walks, storytelling activities, and treasure hunts.
Abundance, the theme of Park People’s 2022 Conference, is an invitation to radically reimagine city parks. For three days, September 21-23, the virtual event will focus our collective attention on the transformational park work charting a new path forward in cities.
Community park groups, park non-profits and park professionals are recognizing parks as essential urban infrastructure and building new approaches to collaboration, community engagement and nature connections. The Park People Conference is an invitation to engage with the incredible people, places and projects that manifest abundance in our city parks.
We’ve identified 4 key pathways to generating abundance in parks: decolonizing practices and narratives, engaging in power sharing, recognizing parks as sites of healing and justice, and cultivating human/nature connections.
Indigenous leaders and allies are calling for settlers to reckon with colonialism and decentre settler approaches in park work. We’re hosting numerous sessions during the Park People Conference that feature people and organizations that are leading the movement to collectively decolonize Canada’s city parks.
How can municipalities, community groups, non-profits and residents meaningfully work together to create spaces that address community needs in parks? The Park People Conference features several sessions that approach collaboration as an act of power-sharing where the process is just as important as the project itself.
What would parks look like if we saw everyone as equally worthy of having their needs met in shared spaces? Inclusion and access look much different from the perspective of those who are too often viewed as outsiders. But, their experience in parks tells us much about our communities, our cities and ourselves.
Several Park People Conference presenters demonstrate how centring nature builds both community and ecological resilience.
Check out the whole agenda, and 100+ speakers bringing together the incredible people, places and projects that manifest abundance in city parks.
See you at the Park People Conference!
This case study is part of the 2020 Canadian City Parks Report, showcasing inspiring projects, people, and policies from across Canada that offer tangible solutions to the most pressing challenges facing city parks.
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While small-scale biodiversity projects are important, there’s no question that when it comes to nature, size matters: larger spaces allow for a greater diversity of plants that in turn support a greater diversity and number of species. They also provide critical ecological services, such as cleaning the air, managing stormwater, and mitigating urban heat—all of which only become more important as climate change increases environmental stress.
Cities use different policy and planning levers to protect sensitive urban ecosystems or important habitat links, often designating them as Environmentally Sensitive/Significant Areas. For example, Toronto expanded its ESA’s by 68 areas, Montreal instituted an Ecosystem Management Program for its large parks, and Fredericton released two new large park management plans.
However, with 19% of cities reporting citywide biodiversity strategies in place, and a further 52% who have biodiversity objectives embedded in other environmental plans, there’s a need for more holistic citywide planning that examines key species, develops education and stewardship plans, and identifies habitat corridors.
It’s not enough to have habitat patches—even large ones—if they are isolated.
Whether it’s an urban landscape or a pristine natural area, you need connected networks for ecosystems to function properly, said Pamela Zevit, Surrey’s Biodiversity Conservation Planner.
Connectivity ensures wildlife are not confined to what Zevit called “habitat islands,” which can easily become degraded by pollution, disease, or disturbance, leaving wildlife with nowhere else to go.
This is why Surrey has spent so much energy planning what it calls its green infrastructure network: a series of cross-city habitat corridors connecting larger habitat hubs. While important at the city scale, planning must also connect within regional networks—after all, animals don’t stop at city borders—so Surrey has made sure their network matches up with the natural systems of neighbouring cities.
“Surrey has a very strong desire to be a leader,” Zevit said. “So we made this effort early on to connect a lot of the dots and we’ll be able to fit into whatever happens over time at the regional level.”
Within its own borders, the city is also working towards approving its first biodiversity design guidelines. The guidelines will cover not just natural areas but places in what Zevit referred to as the “urban matrix”—all those other land uses outside of parks and natural areas that have an impact on biodiversity.
“The [guidelines] are this long overdue, comprehensive approach to linking all the existing design guidelines and construction documents and everything that we have around us and saying how do we integrate biodiversity objectives into everything that the city does,” said Zevit.
Calgary is another city that has been working hard at restoring natural spaces and ensuring connectivity through a biodiversity strategy the city approved in 2015.
Over the past two years, the city has identified and evaluated the components of its ecological network so it could prioritize restoration and enhancement projects. It has even produced a guide on how to naturalize existing parks.
Until this evaluative work was underway, Calgary didn’t have “a mechanism to set citywide priorities for biodiversity conservation or habitat restoration,” with actions largely done as needed over time, said the city’s Landscape Analysis Supervisor, Vanessa Carney. Like many Canadian cities, she said, urban development happened neighbourhood by neighbourhood, meaning environmental planning has occurred largely at the local scale, rather than comprehensively across the city or region.
“While this approach helps to conserve highly biodiverse and landscape diverse parcels of land as public, we’ve been missing that ecological backbone that allows us to look at how neighbourhood development contributes or constrains citywide and regional connectivity,” Carney said.
To perform its evaluation, the city examined the permeability of landscapes for wildlife movement, the size of habitat areas and their adjacent land uses, and how integral the space was to the functioning of the overall ecological network.
Despite the citywide view, Carney said that both small and large parks play a role in connectivity. The larger parks serve as “biodiversity reservoirs,” while smaller parks—whether natural or manicured—provide habitat for smaller species, serve as stepping stone habitats, and allow people to connect with nature in their everyday lives.
At this smaller scale, cities can turn to development policies to preserve and enhance connectivity. For example, through its Greenway Amenity Zoning, Langley Township ensures every community includes green corridors and buffers to support biodiversity and Red Deer creates Ecological Profiles for new subdivisions to ensure natural features are protected.
Riparian areas (habitat along waterways) are particularly rich areas for biodiversity and can help create important habitat connections. They are also important for climate change mitigation as flood protection from increased extreme weather damage.
Surrey’s Nicomekl River Park project will restore and enhance unique riverfront ecological zones into a 3km linear park, aiming to combine nature with art, heritage, recreation, and social space. The city has released a heritage plan and public art strategy, along with a management plan that highlights opportunities for recognition of Indigenous history, practices, and plants through programming, signage, and naming.
Led by Waterfront Toronto, Toronto is also undertaking a massive restoration project in naturalizing the mouth of the Don River, which flows into Lake Ontario. The project, which also includes creating biodiverse “park streets” as part of new neighbourhood development in the area, will create flood protection and restore lost landscapes.
At a smaller-scale, Vancouver is moving ahead with daylighting a creek through Tatlow and Volunteer Parks, restoring a waterway into English Bay. The creek is one of many that have been buried throughout Vancouver’s development—something many cities did as part of urbanization.
The project acts on priorities in Vancouver’s new parks master plan, VanPlay, for restoring wild spaces and increasing connectivity. Restoring the creek to aboveground will create new aquatic habitat, manage stormwater, improve water quality, and create habitat for birds and pollinators.
The often large swathes of mowed grass in hydro corridors that cut for kilometres through cities are also increasingly being seen as areas ripe for habitat connections.
Take The Meadoway, a project of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority in partnership with the City of Toronto, Hydro One, and philanthropic funder The W. Garfield Weston Foundation.
Already partly constructed, the plan will naturalize a 16km hydro corridor across Scarborough connecting two large natural areas on either side: Rouge National Urban Park and the Lower Don Ravine. When finished, The Meadoway will feature hundreds of acres of meadow habitat with restored wetland areas, a connected trail, and social gathering spaces. An online visualization toolkit showcases the potential of the project, which is expected to be completed by 2024.
Montreal has also announced plans for a biodiversity corridor in a Saint-Laurent borough hydro corridor. “Climate change issues are requiring us to act quickly with innovative solutions,” said the borough’s mayor, Alan DeSousa, calling the project a “laboratory” from which others can learn. Ultimately constructed on 450 hectares of land, the project will include native habitat, trails, and green roofs installed on neighbouring buildings.
Here’s what other Canadian cities are doing to create and enhance large nature parks and increase habitat connectivity:
With climate change and biodiversity loss increasing stress on ecosystems, engaging residents in urban conservation is more important now than ever.
The question becomes how to reach people in their busy lives, respect traditional knowledge, and bring more people into the conversation about conservation.
In order to reach people, we need to articulate biodiversity in a way that is meaningful for them, said Jennifer Pierce, a biodiversity researcher at the University of British Columbia.
She recommended starting from questions such as “how does biodiversity relate to their lives. To what they value?” This may mean dropping the solely environmentally focused arguments and connecting biodiversity to other top-of-mind issues for people.
As we noted in our story on neighbourhood-scale urban biodiversity projects, one of the benefits of local initiatives is how they can make biodiversity tangible and relevant. Recent research has also shown how people’s exposure to local nature can positively impact their involvement in wider environmental issues.
By leveraging people’s attachment to their own home or neighbourhood—and by showing them how native plant gardens and rain gardens could, for example, save them money like Guelph’s rebate program does—more people can be brought into the conversation.
Another way to reach people is by working with youth. Schools are a great cross-section of society, Ryerson University Associate Professor Nina-Marie Lister said. Students can bring back messages of the importance of biodiversity to their parents, the same way that they did with recycling in the 1980s. “It was kids that pressured their parents to recycle,” Lister said. “They led by example.”
Joce Two Crows Tremblay is an Earth Worker with the Indigenous Land Stewardship Circle in Toronto who works directly with street-involved youth and urban Indigenous populations planting and tending Indigenous species in local parks and public spaces.
These gardens are an important way of connecting with the land, traditions and ceremony—ties which have been severed through the colonization process.
“For the 50% of Indigenous populations that are now living in urban settings, parks are often our only place to connect with the land,” explained Tremblay. “A lot of healing happens by just getting your hand in the ground.”
Tremblay’s work extends to compiling research and educating about less-invasive management practices with a keen awareness of how colonial thinking is often re-enacted in how we manage species and landscapes.
Introducing new ways of thinking needs constant effort, and reinforcement of intentions through all layers of staff, as Tremblay learned when one of their Three Sisters gardens was accidentally mowed down. It is as important for the staff cutting the grass as it is for management to understand efforts to increase biodiversity and reconciliation work in parks.
How little we embed Indigenous knowledge and land management practices into our biodiversity work “is an enormous gap, and it’s also an irresponsible gap,” Lister argued.
She pointed out that while city staff have good intentions with biodiversity strategies and are aware of the need for more Indigenous involvement, they also recognize that many Indigenous organizations and communities are often stretched to capacity.
“It’s long been recognized that patterns of colonization and colonial history are repeated and entrenched through the way we build our landscape,” Lister said. “And we know that there needs to be, in Lorraine Johnson’s words, an unsettling of the garden.”
While not looking specifically at city parks, the importance of Indigenous land stewardship practices was highlighted by a 2019 University of British Columbia study which found biodiversity was highest on Indigenous-managed lands—finding a 40% greater number of unique species.
Getting to a place of collective care can be challenging. Some people may “love a place to death” while others may be ignorant of sensitive ecosystems, dumping trash or allowing their dog to run around.
However, as research by Mount Royal University’s Don Carruthers Den Hoed has found, how a place is framed—the name we give it and the narrative we embed in it—can impact people’s understanding of its importance. Humans are constantly looking for cues that suggest how we should act or what a place is for.
Carruthers Den Hoed pointed to one study where by telling people they were going to a park, people perceived it as a restorative place before they even got there. Even by naming something a “park” or a “sensitive landscape” we frame it in such a way that it affects how people relate to it.
Another research study set up by Carruthers Den Hoed included a “blind taste test” of nature. He brought participants to the same place through different ways: one group saw a park sign, one saw no sign, and another connected with Indigenous elders who talked about the place’s spiritual significance.
Carruthers Den Hoed found that people’s perception of the space—the importance and the level of care needed—was affected by the narrative of the place they were presented with, whether through signage or story. As a result, he noted it’s important to think about what the amenities, signage, and management of a park says about its significance and purpose.
Here are some of the creative practices that cities and communities are using to involve people in the preservation and enhancement of urban biodiversity.
LEVERAGE THE POWER OF ART.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE QUIRKY.
TURN NATURE INTO A LEARNING LABORATORY.
DEMYSTIFY WILDLIFE.
MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE.
Take a walk in a park. It’s something many of us intuitively do when we’re feeling anxious, which, as COVID-19 courses through our lives, is a growing collective emotional state. Nature is even something doctors have begun prescribing. But are all parks created equal in their benefits to our psychological well-being?
Pioneering research from the 1990s showed how exposure to nature—even getting a glimpse of it out of a window—could reduce stress, improve concentration, and help us heal faster. However, this research often painted nature with a broad brush: green space was green space whether it was a wild space or a treed lawn.
Recent research has been going deeper by exploring people’s response to different natural environments. Studies have looked at the length of time spent in biodiverse areas (the longer time the greater the positive effect), the types of vegetation present (bright flowers were stimulating, green plantings were soothing), and whether the presence of park furniture like benches reduced the well-being impacts of natural areas (it didn’t).
Overall, the research has found that people report a greater sense of well-being in areas that they perceive to be more biodiverse—a finding that has deep implications for how we plan and engage people in urban biodiversity.
The importance of access to nature and biodiversity for our mental health becomes even more urgent in light of COVID-19. As the pandemic increased stress and severed personal support networks for many, half of Canadians reported worsening mental health and the Canadian Mental Health Association warned of a potential “echo pandemic” of mental illness.
People were left trying to balance government direction to “stay home” with a desire to get some fresh air and clear their heads. A global survey of 2,000 people found mental and physical health were key drivers of public space use during the pandemic. The same survey found that people took refuge in places close to home, highlighting the pressing need to ensure natural areas are equitably distributed throughout our cities.
The benefits of biodiversity are often couched in environmental impacts and ecosystem services—the work that natural areas do to help clean the air, provide food, mitigate flooding, control extreme temperatures, and more. Viewing nature as green infrastructure is critical, but it misses how these same spaces are also psychological infrastructure.
“The intersection of the richness of life on earth with human well-being is now well established in science and is fast becoming an imperative in design and planning practice,” said Nina-Marie Lister, Associate Professor and Director of the Ecological Design Lab at Ryerson University, who added that the area is a “new frontier.”
“Never before have our parks and public green spaces been more important to city dwellers, especially in terms of the mental health and wellness benefits of urban nature,” she said. “From birdsong to sunshine, wildflowers and shady walks, we now know that the ability to safely access the outdoors is a critical necessity—and a vital prescription for wellness.”
“The sooner we recognize that we take psychological solace being in nature, the better we are able to protect nature for our own well-being,” she added.
Don Carruthers Den Hoed, a researcher at Mount Royal University who also manages the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership, has conducted his own studies on the connection between biodiversity and well-being. He argued that the well-being narrative can be a “doorway” through which to get more people involved in conversations about parks and biodiversity, noting the Canadian Index of Well-being as a model for how to talk about the multiple benefits of parks.
Understanding how parks contribute to Index areas like leisure and environment are a “no-brainer,” Carruthers Den Hoed said. But what about democratic engagement and community vitality? Through the Index, cities can make the case that volunteer stewardship programs aren’t just about natural restoration work, he said, but also about strengthening community vitality and well-being.
The impacts of well-being and biodiversity often depend as much on people’s perceptions as on actual levels of biodiversity present in a natural area.
For example, one 2012 study found people reported high levels of well-being in areas they perceived to be more natural, even if their perception did not align with actual levels of biodiversity.
This leads to an opportunity, the researchers pointed out. Closing the gap between perception and reality through natural education and stewardship initiatives could “unlock win-win scenarios” that “can maximize both biodiversity conservation and human well-being.”
In other words, the more we improve the biodiversity of our city and provide people ways to learn and steward these areas, the more people are able to appreciate natural spaces and the better they will feel as a result.
Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote of this reciprocal relationship between land stewardship and human well-being in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, which weaves together Indigenous knowledge and natural science.
“Restoring land without restoring relationship is an empty exercise,” she wrote. “It is relationship that will endure and relationship that will sustain the restored land. Therefore, reconnecting people and the landscape is as essential as reestablishing proper hydrology or cleaning up contaminants. It is medicine for the earth.”
Lister views the public health and well-being impacts of biodiversity as a “missed opportunity” in Canada. “For a country rich in biodiversity, we are behind on protection strategies that can improve human well-being. I think it’s an urgent necessity to put biodiversity and health together in our public policies.”
Carruthers Den Hoed pointed out that park managers often speak about the spiritual benefits of nature and yet “that’s not mentioned in any management plans. It’s one of the really important values people come to nature for and yet it’s just kind of shuffled to the side of the table.”
Our review of Canadian biodiversity strategies found that while they mention the human well-being benefits of biodiversity, they do so often only in general terms rather than in policy or recommended actions.
However, that doesn’t mean cities aren’t thinking about the connection between biodiversity and public health. Recognizing the scientific link between mental health and biodiversity, Vanessa Carney, Calgary’s Landscape Analysis Supervisor, said that one of the goals of the city’s work mapping ecological networks “is to help find ways to expand Calgarians’ access to park spaces to include more easily accessible nature experiences.”
The well-being benefits of experiencing biodiversity and nature raise important questions about equitable access to these spaces—especially given rising mental health pressures due to COVID-19.
As health researcher Nadha Hassen found, racial and socioeconomic inequities in access to quality green spaces can be a determinant of mental health outcomes. “In urban settings, neighbourhoods with low-income, newcomer, and racialized populations tend to have lower access to available, good quality green spaces compared to other groups that are higher income or white,” she wrote.
Equity is a “massive piece of work,” Carruthers Den Hoed noted. Indeed, equity is a missing lens from many biodiversity strategies. He argued that equity should not just be about access (do people have nearby nature to enjoy?), but about inclusion (how involved are people in shaping those natural spaces?).
“Where’s the equity focusing on the decision-making, the employment, the economic benefits of the things that are happening in that park?” Carruthers Den Hoed said. “That’s where I think the most interesting work will go.”
When we think of healthcare, we frequently picture hospitals, prescription drugs, and waiting areas. But what if the journey to recovery also included strolls in the park or gardening with your neighbours?
Park People views community and connection as a powerful tool for improving health and wellbeing. This is the essence of green social prescribing, an evolving practice that encourages individuals to reestablish connections with nature and one another to enhance their mental, physical, and social wellbeing.
“The thing about parks and ravines and natural areas is that they really deliver on a lot of public good. I mentioned physical health. Obviously, you’re active, you’re getting exercise, fresh air. Mental health is huge. You know, I live close to High Park, which is close to St Joseph’s Hospital, and I think of St Joe’s and High Park as the two key health care providers in my neighborhood, physical health, mental health, social cohesion, particularly in a city like Toronto.”
City of Toronto staff
Green social prescribing involves connecting individuals to nature-based programs and activities in the community, such as gardening, cultural gatherings, walking clubs, or arts in the park, to enhance their overall wellbeing1.
It’s about healing through connection with nature, with those around us, and with ourselves.
Such programs are not limited to clinics. They happen on the ground where individuals reside and gather. They are led by community leaders and passionate residents who understand what matters most to their neighbourhoods.
Traditionally, this model follows a pathway: a healthcare professional identifies a need, a link worker supports the person in exploring their interests and then connects them to community-based, nature-focused activities2. In this pathway, community programs serve as the social intervention, which allows the prescription to come to life.
A Link Worker (also referred to as a community connector, navigator, or coordinator) is a committed support person who ridges health and social care. They work with individuals to identify needs, set goals, and overcome barriers, while connecting them to community resources. Link Workers establish trust, co-create plans, and work alongside healthcare and social service providers, offering wraparound support as part of broader care team.
The prevalence of social isolation, anxiety, and burnout is increasing4. For numerous individuals, particularly those from racialized, immigrant, and low-income communities, accessing mental health services continues to be a challenge and poses several barriers5.
That’s where green social prescribing provides something impactful:
Research indicates that time spent in nature can alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression6. A study discovered that spending as little as 20 minutes in a park can greatly reduce cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress.
Yet, beyond the scientific aspects, what Park People offers is this: supports for individuals reconnect with the environment, their culture, and one another.
Park People’s Sparking Change program wasn’t launched as a “green social prescribing” initiative. Rather, it represents the social intervention side of the pathway, the very kinds of community-led activities that people could one day be referred to in a healthcare-linked system.
Through cultural events, gardening, peer-led walks, and more, community champions are offering their own version of care rooted in place, culture, and joy. The program supports people to form groups that can organize activities in their local parks regularly over time, builds their capacity to advocate for improvements in their green spaces, and fosters partnerships to expand the range of activities and opportunities that community groups can take part in.
“We have witnessed firsthand the positive impacts that well-maintained parks and greenspace have on the health and wellbeing of our neighborhood’s residents. Through Sparking Change, we have worked to ensure that outdoor spaces are more inclusive and accessible, promoting physical activity, mental health, and bringing people together.”
Community member
In 2024, Sparking Change supported over 50 groups to activate greenspaces across Toronto. Together, they organized 110 days of programming and reached 3,300+ people. Nearly all participants (96%) reported stronger community connections7 and a large majority (80%) also said that through Sparking Change they feel a sense of belonging to their community.
Green social prescribing does not aim to replace traditional healthcare, rather, it seeks to expand our understanding of the various ways care can be experienced. It serves as a reminder that wellness does not only exist in clinics or hospitals, but can also be found in everyday settings: a nearby ravine, a community garden, or a group of neighbours gathered in the park.
At Park People, we’ve seen how community-led initiatives can reduce isolation, improve mental health, and bring joy through simple acts of gathering, caring, and connecting to nature.
“It’s been an eye opener and adventure locating and navigating Toronto’s beautiful parks, our seniors group facial expressions after entering the park, and seing such a wonderful site of luscious greenspaces with some of nature’s animals all around. Conversations of how good it feels to be in such a peaceful and serene place, offers a sense of wellbeing for us all. Thank you Park People.”
The challenge and opportunity is to build stronger bridges between community-led interventions like Sparking Change and the healthcare system. How can initiatives like Sparking Change be more connected to the healthcare system? What would it look like for healthcare providers to prescribe a walking group in a local park? How might link workers and healthcare providers collaborate with community champions to ensure people get referred to programs that reflect their needs, languages, and culture?
To make this vision possible, future steps could include:
By making these connections, cities can unlock the potential of green social prescribing.
Because when we invest in community care in every aspect, we’re not only creating healthier cities;
We’re fostering a sense of belonging.
With support from Parks Canada, Park People recently hosted a series of stakeholder engagement sessions to help inform a future national network of urban parks.
In these sessions, participants responded to one very important question:
What are the key components of an inclusive, accessible and welcoming national urban park network?
The participants were selected to reflect diverse perspectives, voices, areas of expertise and geographies. We heard from stakeholders from nature-based groups, as well as city-based organizations serving people with physical and developmental disabilities, youth, adults experiencing homelessness, newcomers, Black, Indigenous and people of colour.
Taken together, participants’ answers helped Park People identify 9 key elements that contribute to more inclusive, accessible and welcoming large urban park experiences.
Here’s what participants told us about the kind of spaces and experiences they feel help create inclusive, accessible and welcoming urban parks.
Because parks serve such a diverse range of needs, session participants told us that parks need to be flexible spaces that can simultaneously serve a number of different purposes and functions. Participants highlighted that if parks are to serve these purposes, they must have:
The participants we spoke to shared their reflections on the terms “park” and “urban park.”
In these conversations, we heard that the term ‘park’ is broad enough to reflect a wide range of users’ needs and interests.
The participants shared their reflections on the term “urban park.” In these conversations, participants found the term “urban park” confusing because the term “urban” may suggest that a park space has fewer natural or wild elements. They felt that this terminology might make more sense in Toronto or Vancouver, but is less applicable to parks in places like Winnipeg or Saskatoon.
When visitors enter a park they are likely to encounter many “unknowns.” The session participants we spoke to told us that these “unknowns” or unexpected elements or experiences can pose a significant barrier to visiting or enjoying a park visit. In some instances, they emphasized, these unknowns can pose very real safety risks.
Participants talked about the need for parks to be accessible to people with a range of abilities.
They particularly highlighted that to truly be inclusive, accessible and welcoming, parks must address the needs of individuals with varying mental and physical ability requirements, and people who experience language barriers.
Physically accessible trails, green spaces and amenities were all seen to support more inclusive and welcoming park experiences. The participants we spoke to emphasized that these amenities should be complemented by a variety of wayfinding experiences, including signage with text, pictograms and QR codes.
People had different preferences when it comes to the natural elements and nature-based experiences they want to see in urban parks. Some participants expressed that they prefer to experience “untouched” or pristine nature, while others enjoy experiences that invite people to engage directly with nature through activities like nature-based education and programming.
Some participants cited the need for greater integration of technology in nature, such as free wi-fi and tech-supported ways of finding and learning to build nature connections.
An emerging theme among participants was the need to balance the ecological integrity of urban parks with the social needs of individuals and communities. Participants in the sessions emphasized that education, programming and communication tools can help strike a balance between the ecological integrity of a park and its use and enjoyment.
Participants voiced the need for easy access to and within urban parks. Various transportation requirements that were highlighted as helping people access parks were car access and accompanying parking spaces as well as public transit, biking, scooter and walking routes.
Not only do visitors need convenient ways to get to parks, but they need to easily move within the park so they can travel to and from amenities and activities.
Although participants used the term “access” broadly, taken together, their comments suggest improvements in the following areas:
Participants shared how a sense of belonging is integral to park use and enjoyment. In order for people to feel they belong in a place, they need to feel safe, welcomed and able to easily envision themselves there.
Often racialized and Indigenous park users as well as those who have lived experience with homelessness encounter park rangers, police and bylaw officers who communicate and enforce park rules. The presence of park enforcement is seen as an extension of the long history of oppression and racism in policing practices generally. In this context, the presence of park rangers, police and bylaw officers often makes BIPOC and unhoused park users feel both unsafe and unwelcome in parks.
Participants pointed out several ways that parks can be more integrated into the fabric of neighbourhoods and communities. We heard that parks would feel more integrated into people’s daily lives if places like libraries and community centres promoted park activities such as programs or volunteer opportunities.
Also, participants emphasized that community organizations and groups should be encouraged to host their programs in local parks.
Participants discussed the opportunity to better learn about and better integrate Indigenous stewardship practices and environmental education into parks.
Some participants shared their belief that the use of technology should not be encouraged in natural settings, while others said that technology can better connect people to nature. Participants mentioned that technology could be used to enhance safety and information sharing in parks, and felt that self-guided park tours and access to wifi, especially in no service zones, would be welcomed.
People mentioned that the data generated through park-based technology could help build insights to improve park activities, build more engagement in parks and could be leveraged so that park users can share any issues they encounter while in the park.
Participants told us that they want to see more creative partnerships in parks.
From concept, to design, to activation and governance, park users want to see more power sharing, collaboration and joint decision making between various levels of government and park-based NGOs and grassroots organizations.
The key findings from the stakeholder engagement sessions offer rich insight into how Canadian park-aligned organizations envision the future of large urban parks. We heard that Canadians are eager to see new approaches to parks that prioritize park users and diverse communities, offer a rich array of activities and amenities, and provide opportunities for both environmental stewardship and nature connectedness.
There was strong support and enthusiasm from stakeholders around Parks Canada’s efforts to better connect people to nature in cities through their future Urban Park Policy and Network. It was especially rewarding to hear from urban stakeholders who have not traditionally been part of past park engagement efforts.
It is abundantly clear that there are many opportunities ahead for all of us to build on these relationships and deepen engagement efforts as part of creating more inclusive, accessible and welcoming urban parks.
In the lead-up to the Park People Conference, taking place virtually September 21-23, 2022, Park People met with Lewis Cardinal, a communicator and educator, who has dedicated his life’s work to creating and maintaining connections and relationships that cross cultural divides. Lewis is Woodland Cree from the Sucker Creek Cree First Nation in northern Alberta, Canada. His consulting company, Cardinal Strategic Communications, specializes in Indigenous education, communications, and project development. Currently, Lewis is Project Manager for “kihciy askiy–Sacred Land” in the City of Edmonton, Canada’s first urban Indigenous ceremony grounds.
Lewis Cardinal: Listen, building relationships takes time. Nobody’s done a project like this before so there’s no blueprint. The City of Edmonton didn’t have policies and processes to do something like this. We had to make these things up as we went along and, naturally, that slowed things down.
I mean, the city’s not in the habit of giving land back to Indigenous people.
It took a lot of community consultation to make kihciy askiy happen– with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. The elders made it very clear, that we have to move forward in a good way, and take the time to build the relationships that need to be built.
We said, let’s just keep moving forward with this and try to be as patient as we can because the process is the product. If we want this to be a sacred site that is built on love, trust, respect, and understanding, that’s what we need to embody in the process.
LC: The city and community had to approach learning from each other with an open heart and an open mind. We start with ceremony, respecting our relationship with the city, and respecting the individuals we are working with because, at the end of the day, we’re all just human beings trying to do something to benefit people in our community.
We had to bring the City into how we do things and we had the opportunity to work with the City to learn how they do things too.
To do that you each need to have a clear vision of what you’re trying to build together. From there you share that vision with colleagues, friends, and partners. Then they each start to see themselves in that vision, that story. It is not just our vision, as Indigenous people. It’s a shared vision.
Working in a good way is also about being respectful, even during disagreements. Our Indigenous tradition teaches us that it’s all about relationships, and these relationships are critical to moving anything forward.
I mean, we’re all human beings, right? We lose patience. But when things start going sideways and you’re starting to feel the tension, you have to slip back into the ceremony to bring yourself back into a sense of balance so you can continue to move forward in a good way.
One thing I’ve learned from this process is that you really can’t drag anybody along to where you want to take them. They have to come willingly. And that’s why the vision needs to be shared so everyone involved sees themselves in that story.
LC: Yes, that’s right. We could have pulled all kinds of political cards and tried to force the City to do what we wanted to. But, kihciy askiy would have taken longer than 16 years or it may not have happened at all.
We continuously remind each other that we are in a good relationship, and it becomes almost like a mantra to continually remind us why we’re doing this.
Picture a young man standing with his mom and his little sister at a bus stop in Edmonton with a towel underneath his arm. Somebody asks that young man: “Where are you going swimming?” He responds: “I’m not going swimming. I’m going to a sweat lodge. I want my mom and my sister to see it too.”
When you share that kind of vision, it shakes loose some of the rigidity we may have built up. It cuts through the titles that we have as individuals, and it puts it into the heart of the human being that you’re working with. And I think that’s what works because it’s consistent, it’s like ceremony.
Consensus is a ceremony of communication. Consensus is the sacred process of honouring each person’s vision so that they can connect themselves to an idea in their own way.
When communication fails it creates shadows. Those shadows create doubt and confusion. Then, the process becomes a playground for individuals who might want to take advantage of that communication breakdown. So being consistent in speaking together and building a shared vision is very important.
LC: We always begin with ceremony, prayer, and mindfulness, because they take us back to the essence of what it is that we’re trying to do. Creating consensus can be unnerving at the beginning because people aren’t used to working with it, and they may stumble and fall. But once you get used to it, things move really quickly. Suddenly, everybody’s agreeing to the same vision.
We always make sure to celebrate and honor our partners. Whenever I get a chance to talk to the media or groups of people, I always say what a wonderful relationship we have with the city and how honoured we are to work with the City of Edmonton. This is an act of reconciliation.
By honouring your partners you’re reinforcing the relationship and strengthening it.
Every relationship has its dark side. That is our flaw as human beings –we always tend to muddle things up more than they need to be. We can become controlling and destructive. But the opposite is also true. We can become very creative and very loving and very open and we can make positive changes for a lot of people. So working within this context of consensus and relationship building is foundational.
LC: Over the last 18 years we’ve had the Edmonton Urban Aboriginal Accord, the Edmonton Declaration and the new Indigenous framework. This has helped the city rethink how it works with other communities, beyond Indigenous communities. It’s created a freshness of possibility.
In Cree tradition, we have the word tatawâw, which means you are welcome. It expresses openness to embracing all the people and communities who make Edmonton their home. It says “there is room for you here.”
Here are some resources to help you learn more about Lewis Cardinal and his work:
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
In the lead-up to The Park People Conference, happening September 21-23, 2022, Park People met with Betty Lepps, Vancouver Park Board’s new Director of Urban Relationships. In her previous role at BC Housing, Betty co-led the housing of over 280 folks from Strathcona Park. She was also instrumental in developing the first Indigenous restorative justice court in Calgary. With a background in Childcare Leadership and Social Work, Betty’s work on systemic change with vulnerable populations is highly lauded at municipal, ministerial, community and national levels.
Betty Lepps: Everyone who lives in a city is a constituent. As a constituent, each person is entitled to basic rights, well-being and dignity. The city provides indoor and outdoor amenities that exist to support the well-being of its constituents. That extends to everyone – including those who are sheltering in parks.
It’s about thinking in terms of equity vs. equality. We can’t give each individual park user what they need. But in terms of equality, everyone deserves to be able to experience the well-being benefits that parks exist to offer. Parks are a human service that exists to support people’s well-being. We need to make sure that human service is universally available to everyone who lives in a city.
That’s equality and that has to hold true whether you’re in the park walking, pushing a stroller, using a wheelchair, biking, or whether the park is where you shelter.
But, I want to emphasize that supporting the well-being of constituents in a city is not just the responsibility of the people who run the city. It’s the responsibility of every person who lives in that city. People sheltering in parks are part of the life of the city and their rights and well-being are the responsibility of every person who lives there.
BL: Four things: communication, understanding, respect and collaboration.
Listen, everyone has a story. Building relationships is about hearing each others’ stories so we can break down stigma, shame and false narratives.
In my role as Director of Urban Relationships, the first of its kind in the country, I see myself as a conduit bringing different people together to really hear each other’s stories.
One thing I’ve learned working in community development for 35 years, it takes a long time to create systemic change. But the conversation is what keeps it going.
Without communication and understanding, people create their own narratives about each other. They become deeply disconnected and start to believe false narratives. They may think: “these people are not like me”, “these people are unsafe,” or “this is what these people need.” We have a lot of colonial practices that are barriers to listening and understanding each other.
Unhoused people living in parks is not a one-system issue. Vancouver Park Board has to be involved, fire has to be involved, health has to be involved, the city, the province, housing, and people that live in the neighbourhood. So many parties have to be involved. But, it’s an incredible opportunity to create systemic change. If we build toward collaboration, communication, understanding, and respect, we can keep the conversation going.
BL: Most importantly, we need to change our culture. For us to have parks and recreation services that serve the people they’re intended to serve we need to effectively listen and hear each other’s stories.
That’s the only way we can change the story that’s in our heads and change the culture.
Right now, we think this issue is everyone else’s responsibility or jurisdiction to “deal with.” Yes, we need to have bylaws and set boundaries, but how can we do that without a heavy hand? Without ticketing? How about conversation? Let’s start with conversation.
There’s no simple way to “deal with it.” The only way to “deal with it” is systemic change and that takes deep listening. When that happens, diverse people will be able to enjoy parks that serve their spiritual, physical and emotional needs. Parks will be places where everyone feels safe and welcome, and where we enjoy making memories, in the way they need to.
That’s equity and humanitarian responsibility, and that’s where we need to go when it comes to people sheltering in our parks.