20240807-003: Cities Connecting Children to Nature Presentation — original pdf

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Austin Parks and Recreation Department Cities Connecting Children to Nature Initiative Update August 7, 2024 Briefing on the City’s CCCN initiative Melody Alcazar, CCCN Program Manager, Park Planning Division Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) The CCCN initiative helps city leaders and their partners ensure that all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in nature, from urban parks and community gardens to the great outdoors City Partners City Goals + CCCN Plans/Programs that call out CCCN Other related plans • Heat Resiliency Playbook (Office of • Community Health Improvement Plan Resiliency) (Austin Public Health) • Climate & Environmental Initiatives at • Climate Equity Plan (Office of CoA (Office of Sustainability) Sustainability) • Sustainability & Resilience Program • Food Plan (Office of Sustainability) (Parks and Recreation Dept) • Urban Forest Plan (Development • Long Range Plan (Parks and Recreation Services Dept) Dept) • Green Building Program (Austin Energy) • Comprehensive Library Strategic and Facilities Plan (Austin Public Library) • Rain to River (Watershed Protection Dept) Local Partners Guiding Resources CCCN Austin: Our Evolution City adopts Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights & begins collection of nature deficient area data Four focal strategies with Outdoor Learning Environments (OLE!) Temp, Full-Time Coordinator position funded through WPD; FTE CCCN Program Coordinator position reclassified as Program Manager Critical look at integration of racial equity lens to all strategies; Integration into City-wide plans 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023-present Austin receives strategic planning & implementation grant from CCCN Focus on Green School Parks, Nature Play, Youth Leadership & FTE CCCN Program Coordinator position through PARD Five focal strategies with addition of Nature Smart Libraries Temp, Full-Time Coordinator position becomes FTE, funded through WPD + PARD; Dedicated funding for Nature Play and Joint-Use sites in City Budget CCCN Strategies NATURE SMART LIBRARIES EARLY CHILDHOOD EMERGING GREEN LEADERS GREEN SCHOOL PARKS NATURE PLAY Green School Parks Evolution PILOTS DATA COLLECTION DESIGNATION Barrington ES cistern Green School Parks: Pilots WOOLDRIDGE EX. Design plan with who does what for each feature Urban Forestry Watershed Protection Department Maintenance & Operations Transportation Parks & Recreation Partners Green School Parks: Data Collection RESEARCH ASSESSMENTS ● 2018 data collection found discrepancy in park amenities at joint use site ○ ○ 2019-2021 new amenities added 2023-present updating signage ● 2023 ESAC subcommittee formed to conduct data collection at all AISD campuses Bond sites priorities 18 complete, 5 scheduled for Aug. ○ ○ ● Data to be used for: ○ District in long-range facility and educational plans Partner programming Feature maintenance Addressing equity disparities ○ ○ ○ Green School Parks: Designation 3 16 AISD + CCCN/PARD Partnership • Joint Use Agreement + Easements • AISD Bond + Modernization • Adjacent Parks • Fencing + Access • Community-Initiated Projects • Tree Planting • AISD Sustainability Plan PARD-installed nature play features at Wooldridge ES On the Horizon COMING UP: • Annual assessments • Nurturing community-based organizational partnerships • Addressing maintenance gaps • Continued AISD/PARD coordination • Updates to collateral material OPPORTUNITIES: • Sign COBOR • Attend Stakeholder Briefing • Spread the word • Continued support for positions + funding within City and District Questions? Melody Alcazar, CCCN Program Manager, Park Planning Division melody.alcazar@austintexas.gov