Rob Layton, Principal at Design Concepts and PhD Candidate at North Carolina State University presented two sessions at the National Recreation and Parks Association national convention in September:

• In the session on The Contribution of Parks and Trails to Community Health he and Attila Bality from the National Park Service presented the results of a year-long study aiming to identify measures to systematically evaluate health benefits of parks and trails. It was conducted jointly by the National Park Service, Centers for Disease Control, and North Carolina State University. A final report is being prepared and should be available soon. Contact Design Concepts if you would like to be notified when it is released.
• The study indicates that the evidence base for parks as part of a healthy environment is growing. This leads to the second session that Rob presented with Teresa Penbrooke from GreenPlay, LLC, Increasing Awareness – Physical Identity and Who We Are. In this session Rob discussed ways in which the design of a park can influence people’s awareness and motivate them to make use of it for a dose of healthy outdoor activity.

Both sessions were presented to full rooms of excited and engaged parks and recreation professionals, indicating that interest in the issues that Design Concepts is addressing through research and design is high within the industry.  We look forward to continuing our efforts to expand the knowledge base and share our findings through research and practice.