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Participation

Welcome to the Participation Pillar! We’ve enhanced the user experience by providing an interactive video and workbook that takes you through this pillar so that you can feel equipped and confident to take action in building healthy places in your community. Remember – This is a ‘choose your own’ adventure so you can choose which tools to use in this journey.

Community participation is the underlying foundation in which you work to build a stronger and more healthy community. Participation in Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL)(1):

  • Improves mental and physical health
  • Enhances social wellbeing
  • Creates stronger families and communities
  • Interactive Video
  • PDF Workbook
  • Read on the Web

More than any other service, recreation has the ability to reach all citizens, and to bring people together in a non-threatening, pleasurable atmosphere.

Canadian Parks and Recreation Association, Framework for Recreation in Canada(1)

Importance of Fostering Participation

Community participation is the underlying foundation in which you work to build a stronger and more healthy community. Participation in Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL)(1):

  • Improves mental and physical health
  • Enhances social wellbeing
  • Creates stronger families and communities

When encouraging participation, we need to recognize the diversity within our communities. People have different ages, abilities, religious beliefs, economic statuses, lived experiences, and more. Acknowledging these differences allows us to strategically address our community members’ barriers to participation.

As you, your team, and your community build a healthy and active community, strive to include and value the perspectives, contributions, and needs of all community members(1). The Participation Pillar offers strategies, tools, and resources you and your team can use to increase participation across all Pillars of the Healthy Community Framework.

Further Your Understanding

Increasing Inclusion and Access is Goal #2 of the Framework for Recreation in Canada. Check out the Framework to see the specific priorities the Canadian Recreation and Parks Association (CPRA) identifies to increase and address inclusion and access(1)!

  1. Canadian Parks and Recreation Association/Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council. A Framework for Recreation in Canada 2015 Pathways to Wellbeing. [report on internet]. The Association; 2015 [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://cpra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/FrameworkForRecreationInCanada_2016wcitation.pdf

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