Engaging the Community

A crucial part of providing parks and recreation is engaging the community in which you’re a part of. This can help with issues of awareness of the programs and services provided, especially with regards to more vulnerable segments of the population. It’s important to communicate with citizens and listen in return, involving them in the planning when possible so that your services are aligning with the needs of the citizenry. You cannot deliver services adequately if you don’t know who you’re trying to service and what they want. It’s also important to engage with other members of local government, communicating with each other about perceived problems to ensure that you’re “on the same page” so to speak. It’s all well and good to want to provide these services, but if other major issues in the community are ongoing, it’s important that you’re able to communicate these issues to other departments or local government members and vice versa. Parks and recreation can serve an essential role in community building – by building connections to the public and with other members of local government it can help aid in the creation of a vibrant community.