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Parks for the Planet Forum Fellows conclude their six-week online program with plans for collaboration at the upcoming World Urban Parks Forum
Following a series of engaging and thought-provoking online discussions, the Parks for the Planet Forum participants brought the 2021 program to a close by sharing their key reflections and planning the actions they will now commit to taking together.
Throughout “Urban October” and into November, almost 50 Salzburg Global Fellows from across the world explored the meaning of belonging, how to re-establish meaningful relationships between humans and nature and how to ensure equitable access to and inclusion in the design of public parks and spaces. They will now take this learning beyond Salzburg Global’s digital space and out to wider audiences through presentations at the World Urban Parks congress.
The diverse international, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary group of experts, activists, and changemakers convened on a weekly basis, sharing real-world experience and examples of projects involving parks, nature and public spaces that are actively tackling the major issues being faced by cities around the world.
The first virtual session of the Forum explored the use of public spaces to combat urban loneliness, looking at the importance of green spaces in improving mental and physical wellbeing. Sustainable community initiatives as a means to strengthening support networks was discussed in depth, and the way in which technology can play a positive role in an age where digital and social media are so dominant was also highlighted.
The importance of multi-actor collaboration in the design process of parks and public spaces was a key takeaway from the next session, in which participants considered how cohesion and a sense of belonging are impacted by levels of inclusion and the acknowledgement of community needs in the creation and maintenance of public space.
How parks and public spaces affect peoples’ sense of safety and security and the intentionality behind the design of space formed the basis of a conversation around the interactions between different groups of society, and the use of plants, trees and natural space to reinforce green infrastructure and connectedness in cities and help build climate resilience as a matter of urgency gave rise to plenty of ideas in further sessions.
Bringing together these threads of discussion, the Fellows are now devising an awareness campaign around the concept of belonging and nature, with a key message to be presented at the World Urban Parks congress, taking place December 5-10, 2021.
World Urban Parks are a long-serving partner of Salzburg Global Seminar, supporting both the Parks for the Planet Forum and the Emerging Urban Leaders program.
Salzburg Global Seminar’s Parks for the Planet Forum’s 2021 program was The Way We Live: Parks, People and Public Spaces. The program was held in partnership with AIPH, Diplomatic Courier, The Future City podcast, ICLEI, ICUN, #NatureForAll and World Urban Parks. For more information, please visit: https://www.salzburgglobal.org/multi-year-series/parks