History in the making: urban park agenda launched at NRPA headquarters.

On June 16, I had the privilege to witness what may turn out to be one of the most significant days in the history of parks and recreation. On that day, 24 directors, superintendents and CEOs of departments and districts from America's largest cities met at NRPA headquarters to begin formulating a new national agenda for urban parks and recreation. Representatives from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Seattle, Los Angeles and other large cities were present.

This leadership summit was sponsored by NRPA, in cooperation with the Urban Park and Recreation Alliance (UPRA), the City Parks Alliance (CPA), the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the Roundtable Associates and the National Recreation and Park Ethnic Minority Society (NRPEMS), and was made possible by a generous grant from the National Recreation Foundation (NRF).

At the outset of the summit, the directors were asked two fundamental questions: Is it even possible to create a unified national urban agenda for parks and recreation given the diversity of America? And, if it is possible, is it useful to do so?

Surprisingly, the directors answered both questions with a resounding "yes!"

Many of the directors immediately jumped to a host of national issues that affect their departments. For example, the Urban Park and Recreation and Recovery Act (UPARR), which was enacted to help support and rehabilitate facilities and programs, has not been funded for the past three years. Others pointed to the likelihood that Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) funding will be eliminated this year.

One director commented that "large cities need to band together to change the current federal mindset that park and recreation is solely a local issue."

Some of the directors suggested that the way to change the federal mindset is to develop a common agenda that can be advocated locally. Educating local citizen leaders and having them educate congressional leaders in their respective districts is the way to ultimately prevail in Washington.

I was also somewhat surprised at the resolve of the group to make something happen. They agreed that we need to have an Urban Parks and Recreation Convention, which we have scheduled for next May in Chicago. Delegates to this convention, which may include a city's park and recreation director as well the city's mayor or other prominent citizens, would debate and hopefully adopt a new agenda for urban parks and recreation. Invited to the convention would be delegates from large cities who many times have significant challenges.

As I listened to these urban park and recreation leaders discuss their plans, I sensed we were re-living history: The National Recreation Association, an NRPA ancestor organization whose 100th anniversary we'll celebrate at the convention, was created to address the problems of cities cropping up throughout America at the turn of the century: Fighting those issues means the same today as it did then--the park and recreation field needs to position its services as essential to any thriving city.

When the Urban Park and Recreation Convention takes place next May, city park and recreation leaders can once again step forward to show that they are united in their efforts to address an agenda that deals with family issues, transportation problems, funding deficiencies and the obesity crisis. Although still in the planning stages, the convention is sure to be a momentous event for urban park and recreation departments as well as citizens they serve. Organizers are working on securing speakers such as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

We are looking forward to working with UPRA, CPA, TPL, the Roundtable and NRPEMS, with the financial help of the NRF, to facilitate development of this agenda, and for the ultimate benefit of the park and recreation field and the citizens it serves.