A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Accounting for diversity: Exploring the inclusivity of recreation planning in the United Kingdom’s protected areas
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4717-7615
Highlights UK equality objectives are not well integrated within protected area governance. Protected area organizations prioritize the delivery of environmental knowledge. Programming most often targets children and rarely focuses on ethnic minorities. To foster equity in recreation provisioning, social benefits need greater emphasis.
Abstract Protected areas (PAs) deliver a wide variety of benefits to visitors including mental and physical health, environmental knowledge, and a sense of community. Unfortunately, many barriers have led to the underrepresentation of several socio-demographic groups within PAs (e.g., minority ethnic groups, those with disabilities). In the UK, a clear national mandate exists for designing more accessible outdoor spaces, but despite a growing understanding of the access barriers experienced by underrepresented groups, the institutional factors contributing to these barriers remain underexplored. To help alleviate this gap, we examined governing documents for UK PAs and surveyed PA managers to explore links between PA management approaches in the UK and access disparities. We found that diversity and inclusion objectives were seldom emphasized within management plans, yet most PA managers held clear concerns about the underrepresentation of several groups. We also identified several shortcomings in PA management that could impede the achievement of diversity targets. Most notably, PA organizations seldom targeted minority ethnic groups and rarely placed purposeful emphasis on the delivery of social benefits, instead prioritizing environmental knowledge which they most often linked to environmentalism. These findings reflect the Anglo-normative lens that has historically governed PA management in the UK. To fully embrace national diversity objectives, PA organizations should explicitly prioritize diversity and inclusion and integrate alternative worldviews related to the human-nature relationship.
Accounting for diversity: Exploring the inclusivity of recreation planning in the United Kingdom’s protected areas
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4717-7615
Highlights UK equality objectives are not well integrated within protected area governance. Protected area organizations prioritize the delivery of environmental knowledge. Programming most often targets children and rarely focuses on ethnic minorities. To foster equity in recreation provisioning, social benefits need greater emphasis.
Abstract Protected areas (PAs) deliver a wide variety of benefits to visitors including mental and physical health, environmental knowledge, and a sense of community. Unfortunately, many barriers have led to the underrepresentation of several socio-demographic groups within PAs (e.g., minority ethnic groups, those with disabilities). In the UK, a clear national mandate exists for designing more accessible outdoor spaces, but despite a growing understanding of the access barriers experienced by underrepresented groups, the institutional factors contributing to these barriers remain underexplored. To help alleviate this gap, we examined governing documents for UK PAs and surveyed PA managers to explore links between PA management approaches in the UK and access disparities. We found that diversity and inclusion objectives were seldom emphasized within management plans, yet most PA managers held clear concerns about the underrepresentation of several groups. We also identified several shortcomings in PA management that could impede the achievement of diversity targets. Most notably, PA organizations seldom targeted minority ethnic groups and rarely placed purposeful emphasis on the delivery of social benefits, instead prioritizing environmental knowledge which they most often linked to environmentalism. These findings reflect the Anglo-normative lens that has historically governed PA management in the UK. To fully embrace national diversity objectives, PA organizations should explicitly prioritize diversity and inclusion and integrate alternative worldviews related to the human-nature relationship.
Accounting for diversity: Exploring the inclusivity of recreation planning in the United Kingdom’s protected areas
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4717-7615
Highlights UK equality objectives are not well integrated within protected area governance. Protected area organizations prioritize the delivery of environmental knowledge. Programming most often targets children and rarely focuses on ethnic minorities. To foster equity in recreation provisioning, social benefits need greater emphasis.
Abstract Protected areas (PAs) deliver a wide variety of benefits to visitors including mental and physical health, environmental knowledge, and a sense of community. Unfortunately, many barriers have led to the underrepresentation of several socio-demographic groups within PAs (e.g., minority ethnic groups, those with disabilities). In the UK, a clear national mandate exists for designing more accessible outdoor spaces, but despite a growing understanding of the access barriers experienced by underrepresented groups, the institutional factors contributing to these barriers remain underexplored. To help alleviate this gap, we examined governing documents for UK PAs and surveyed PA managers to explore links between PA management approaches in the UK and access disparities. We found that diversity and inclusion objectives were seldom emphasized within management plans, yet most PA managers held clear concerns about the underrepresentation of several groups. We also identified several shortcomings in PA management that could impede the achievement of diversity targets. Most notably, PA organizations seldom targeted minority ethnic groups and rarely placed purposeful emphasis on the delivery of social benefits, instead prioritizing environmental knowledge which they most often linked to environmentalism. These findings reflect the Anglo-normative lens that has historically governed PA management in the UK. To fully embrace national diversity objectives, PA organizations should explicitly prioritize diversity and inclusion and integrate alternative worldviews related to the human-nature relationship.
Accounting for diversity: Exploring the inclusivity of recreation planning in the United Kingdom’s protected areas
Edwards, Rachael C. (author) / Larson, Brendon M.H. (author)
2022-01-17
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Recreation and Tourism Management in Protected Areas
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996
| Springer Verlag | 2023
Inclusive Urban Planning – Promoting Equality and Inclusivity in Urban Planning Practices
| BASE | 2017