Parks & Recreation Leadership Summit
parks & recreation leadership summit
This three-day summit at Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa brings together current and emerging leaders to explore visionary strategies, inspiring stories, and practical tools that are shaping the future of parks and recreation. This year, Parks & Recreation Leadership Summit presents a focused professional development event for those shaping the future of recreation, parks, and culture. Through interactive discussions, Q&A sessions, and meaningful networking, participants will explore current challenges, share ideas, and gain practical insights to strengthen their work and their communities.
THE RESILIENCE ROADMAP – HEART AND DOUBLE-LUNG TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT, FOUR-TIME MARATHON RUNNER, CERTIFIED SPEAKING PROFESSIONAL
Mark Black is a heart and double-lung transplant recipient turned four-time marathon runner who exemplifies resilience through lived experience. Born with a life-threatening heart defect, he underwent two open-heart surgeries before his first birthday and later received a rare transplant at age twenty-three. Within three years, he made history as the only person to complete a marathon with another’s heart and lungs. Today, Mark is a Certified Speaking Professional, a designation held by fewer than 1,500 speakers worldwide. As a resilience expert, coach, and author, he has delivered more than 750 presentations to over 175,000 people, working with organizations from ExxonMobil to Mercedes-Benz.
PROMOTING EQUITABLE ACCESS AND CREATING ENVIRONMENTS WHERE ALL CHILDREN THRIVE – INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED EXPERT ON CHILDREN’S OUTDOOR AND RISKY PLAY
Join Dr. Mariana Brussoni, internationally recognized expert on children’s outdoor and risky play, for an engaging session on promoting equitable access to outdoor play and creating environments where all children thrive. Drawing on the latest research evidence and community practice, Dr. Brussoni will explore how municipalities and their partners in design, construction, and planning can intentionally shape policies and built environments to support inclusive, developmentally rich outdoor play opportunities. Participants will share experiences and exchange ideas, gain insights, and leave with practical strategies to help ensure that every child in BC, regardless of background or ability, benefits from access to engaging outdoor spaces that strengthen child and community wellbeing
HCMA and Carscadden – Creative Use of Space and Reimagining Facilities
Melissa Higgs
hcma architecture + design
Glen Stokes
Carscadden Stokes McDonald Architects Inc.
As communities across Canada continue to grow and diversify, the demand for recreational infrastructure is increasing rapidly. However, this demand comes at a time of significant constraints, including rising capital construction costs, long-term operational expenses, and the need to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. Additionally, the availability of land—particularly in urban and suburban contexts—is increasingly limited, making the development of large-scale, traditional recreation and leisure facilities less feasible.
This presentation will explore innovative and emerging approaches to recreation facility planning, design, and delivery that respond to these evolving challenges and community needs.
Join us for an informative panel session with members from HCMA and Carscadden. Each will present on unique projects, reenvisioning how facilities are delivered. The presentation is sure to be inspiring, test our perception of traditional leisure spaces, and create great discussion.
ParticipACTION’s 2025 Adult Report Card - Municipal Insights for Stronger Physical Activity Recommendations
This interactive session introduces the newly released 2025 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Adults and invites participants to critically examine the adult-focused recommendations through a municipal lens. Following a brief overview, attendees will engage in small-group discussions to assess which national recommendations hold the greatest potential for local impact, and which may require adaptation to better align with municipal realities. Facilitated discussions will consider BC-specific opportunities and constraints, including geography, funding environments, population needs, intersectoral partnerships, and active transportation challenges.
By the end of the session, participants will have co-developed a set of practical, municipality-informed suggestions to enhance the clarity, relevance, and feasibility of the recommendations. These insights – ranging from policy ideas and program strategies to capacity-building needs – will be synthesized and shared with ParticipACTION to inform future national guidance and strengthen support for local governments striving to increase adult physical activity across diverse BC communities.
Lori Bowie, BSc Kinesiology, MA – Health Education & Physical Activity
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Hot topics in recreation & parks
Explore the latest discussions and innovations shaping the future of recreation, parks, and community services.
- Consistent Measurement: Establish clear, consistent performance metrics to enable meaningful comparison and long-term tracking.
- Purposeful Data Collection: Focus on collecting data that is valuable and actionable, guided by clear questions about what information is truly needed.
- Effective Dashboarding: Implement easy-to-use dashboards that present meaningful data, supported by skilled analytical staff, to inform decision-making, service planning, and peak-time staffing.
- Data-Informed Policy Development: Translate strong data into policy by sharing information early and widely, highlighting community benefits, educating vocal stakeholders, and advocating for underrepresented groups.
- Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Leverage partnerships with health organizations, school districts, and regional peers, including the use of AI, to enhance data sharing and collective insight.
- Risk Management and Compliance: Strengthen permitting processes, address unlicensed events, and support compliance through clear protocols and post-event debriefs.
- Municipal Coordination and Advocacy: Position municipalities as mediators between organizers, emergency services, police, and competing or antagonistic groups, with advocacy for event organizers.
- Staffing, Training, and Resources: Invest in consistent staff training, shared safety protocols, and adequate funding to build organizational knowledge and community development capacity.
- Design and Security Considerations: Integrate safety-focused physical design, including hardened perimeters and well-designed public plazas, supported by regional event networks.
- Community and Cultural Context: Recognize cultural sensitivities, including contexts where police presence may not be appropriate, while ensuring events remain critical to the social fabric of communities.
- Large-Scale Public Viewing Infrastructure: Municipal investments in temporary and permanent big-screen installations to support extended public viewing periods.
- Operational and Security Planning: Budgeting for security staff, operations, and long-duration event delivery.
- Community and Cultural Activation: Hosting inclusive viewing parties, youth activities, and culturally rooted programming such as pow wow–inspired events.
- Partnerships and Collaboration: Cross-sector partnerships between municipalities, First Nations, soccer associations, and professional sport organizations to deliver FIFA-related events.
- Capacity and Space Constraints: Ongoing challenges related to limited facility space and increasing demand from new user groups.
- Policy Development and Alignment: Need for clear, consistent allocation policies aligned with council priorities and community outcomes.
- User Group Definition and Accountability: Clarifying categories (clubs, non-profits, etc.) and holding groups accountable to Provincial Sport Organization (PSO) standards.
- Balancing Competing Needs: Managing year-round demands of existing users while accommodating dry sports and emerging activities.
- Equity and Regional Collaboration: Addressing lack of diversity in decision-making, involving PSOs, and encouraging regional cooperation to support fair and transparent allocation.
- Systemic Inclusion Challenges: Address lack of diversity in parks and recreation leadership and the misconception that the sector is already inclusive.
- Redefining Inclusion and Reconciliation: Clarify what DEI means in practice, recognizing inclusion as a pathway to reconciliation.
- Barriers to Participation: Reduce financial, equipment, clothing, accessibility, and “feeling welcome” barriers.
- Political and Social Context: Navigate political pushback while remaining committed to equity-focused work.
- Capacity Building and Education: Create dedicated welcoming programs and strengthen shared learning, communication, and staff understanding across the broad scope of DEI.
- Alignment and Expectations: Clarify cost recovery expectations across council, departments, programs, and facilities.
- Financial Frameworks and Policy: Explore shared frameworks, zero-based budgeting, subsidy levels, and user-fee bylaws.
- Operational Pressures: Address staffing shortages, neglected maintenance, and unrealistic recovery targets.
- Measuring Value and Impact: Better articulate health, wellness, and upstream community benefits, including tax impacts.
- Alternative Revenue Approaches: Consider sponsorships, voluntary contributions, and realistic benchmarking with other municipalities.
- Rapid Adoption and Use Cases: AI is widely used for editing, research, resumes, and internal workflows.
- Policy and Governance Gaps: Few organizations have clear or current AI policies, raising questions around openness, monitoring, and restrictions.
- Operational Opportunities: AI-supported monitoring and automation show potential to save staff resources, as seen internationally.
- Risks and Responsibility: Emphasize critical thinking, validation of AI outputs, and environmental impacts.
- Staff Education and Readiness: Proactive training is needed to keep pace with rapid change and ensure AI supports—not replaces—human decision-making.
- Cooling Infrastructure and Activation: Use misting, fountains, spray parks, wading pools, and extended hours during heat events, with budget impacts still uncertain.
- Warming Centre Challenges: Overnight operations often serve vulnerable populations with minimally trained staff.
- Daytime and Mobile Supports: Explore day-centre warming, mobile showers, and shared-use spaces with appropriate staffing and funding.
- Intentional Design and Equity: Design landscapes and facilities to provide shelter, cooling, and dignity.
- Partnerships and Training: Work with partners to support vulnerable populations while minimizing negative community impacts.
- Technology and Innovation: Increased use of AI, unstaffed or tech-enabled fitness models, and internal software pilots.
- Demographic Shifts: An aging population seeking active longevity and greater demand for inclusive, accessible services.
- Social and Economic Pressures: Recreation increasingly absorbs social challenges amid inflation and constrained family budgets.
- Programming and Space Evolution: Growth in free, unstructured, drop-in programming and covered outdoor amenities.
- Workforce and Infrastructure Challenges: Balancing remote work, succession planning, aging facilities, cost escalation, and smaller tax bases.
- Intentional Engagement: Be clear on why, when, and how engagement occurs, and who is being reached.
- Equity in Engagement Methods: Recognize limitations of online surveys and prioritize meeting communities where they are.
- Council Involvement: Engage council early, particularly during election years, to support understanding and implementation.
- Planning Sequence and Clarity: Establish a clear vision and align facilities master planning with parks, recreation, and culture plans.
- Implementation Focus: Build implementation plans into strategies and document engagement outcomes and participation.
(Implementing 30 by 30)
- Climate-Responsive Design: Apply energy standards, embodied carbon considerations, and context-appropriate building approaches.
- Adaptive and Efficient Use: Prioritize adaptive reuse, building less, and layering programming to maximize impact.
- Material and Cost Stewardship: Use local materials, mass timber, and cost-efficient construction strategies.
- Facilities as Community Assets: Recognize recreation facilities as disaster-response and social resilience infrastructure.
- Natural Asset Management: Protect and expand tree canopy and integrate natural assets into long-term planning.
- Year-Round Outdoor Operations: Expanding seasonal pools to year-round use is building new user groups and responding to increased public demand, while requiring thoughtful mitigation for temporary community group displacement.
- Infrastructure and Capital Needs: Successful year-round operations depend on added infrastructure such as wind breaks, pool covers, covered deck areas, upgraded boilers, saunas, and expanded electrical capacity.
- Health, Wellness, and Resilience: Outdoor aquatics support growing health and wellness trends and can serve as critical community cooling centres during extreme heat events.
- Safety, Risk, and Education: Increased investment in water safety education is essential to reduce risk, liability, and operational challenges.
- Accessible and Affordable Experiences: Enhancements such as swim platforms in wading pools, pop-up saunas and change rooms, and a focus on water quality support free or low-cost, inclusive community access.