Rejuvenating Neighborhoods and Communities Through Parks—A Guide To Success www.NRPA.org National Recreation and Park Association © 2011 All Rights Reserved 66 This list of potential indicators can be expanded or replaced with actions and results that better reflect the needs of your project or situation Outputs Feedback from the Partnerships for Parks New York City’s Partnerships for Parks incorporates outputs assessment throughout its projects You may recall that he first step of the Partnerships for Parks’ Catalyst project was “to build ” Even in this initial step the group tracked, highlighted, and shared activities and results as shown here During Step One: Build, Catalyst • Presented programs that drew more than 30,000 people to Catalyst parks • Met with representatives from more than 75 different community-based organizations • Offered 20 workshops on topics ranging from event production to working with elected officials • Secured $11 5 million for physical improvements • Distributed $38,900 in small grants to 15 community partners • Helped community groups to produce brochures, signs, and other materials • Supported 175 volunteer projects with staff, tools, and supplies, resulting in more than 41,460 in volunteer hours Source: Catalyst: Step One. Partnerships for Parks Sustainability Assessment An even greater assessment challenge is sustainability assessment—not because of the assessment process but due to the significant challenge of managing for sustainability An important action in this type of assessment is determining which indicators might be relevant to long-term sustainability While the intense relationships between the stakeholders involved in the park project—the public agency, citizens, and partners—may wane after the development of the project, sustainability has clear links to the continued relationships among these stakeholders Since the park renovation project is intended to result in community revitalization, the longer term sustainability of the joint endeavor between the park and the neighborhood can serve as a basis for creating the assessment The assessment may decide to identify both internal and external indicators of ongoing support and progress • Internal Possibilities Presence or absence of trash Presence or absence of graffiti Number and type of activities held in the park Number, age, and gender data for park visitors • External Possibilities The local jurisdiction will fund redevelopment projects in the neighborhood New businesses are open in the area Dwellings are improved by owners and landlords Recalling a suggestion in the previous section—that an agency create its own model of change—quite likely the agency also should create its own list of sustainability outcomes Consider some of the following outcomes as possibilities
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