Our plenary will feature a moderated panel discussion with park leaders about new roles and responsibilities they are being asked to perform in times of great disruption. Climate-related stressors and shocks — such as flooding, fires and extreme heat — are forcing parks and recreation departments to collaborate with other public agencies, nonprofit partners, and funders to provide emergency social services like shelter, childcare, and the distribution of emergency supplies. Drawing on their assets and expertise, parks practitioners are finding themselves serving more often as first responders in an increasingly unpredictable world, responding to previously unimagined — and unbudgeted — needs in the communities they serve.
Join us for a discussion with parks leaders who are rethinking how parks agencies and their nonprofit partners should operate and collaborate today and in the future, and how they are innovating and evolving their partnerships to deliver needed services to their communities.