Parks and Recreation: Outlets for Innovation

By KEZIAH LESKO-GOSSELIN on January 11, 2022.

When thinking about organizations that implement exciting new projects and ideas, parks and recreation departments may not be the first to come to mind. However, innovations in this sector are be more prominent than one might think, improving how people interact with nature and each other, exercise and play.

In Medicine Hat, Parks and Recreation is improving its service delivery and efficiency through technological innovations. Automation can help accomplish more work, and by using machines like electric mowers, efficiency can increase while costs decrease.

In the summer, the department conducts regular soil moisture monitoring to improve irrigation efficiency. This monitoring program provides us information to work with existing conditions, not what we think plants and grass may need.

Year-round trail traffic monitoring also helps us plan for projects related to Medicine Hat’s extensive trail system, and adjust maintenance schedules so people can make better use of the trails.

In the future, we hope to follow the lead of cities like Calgary and use wearable technology to monitor residents’ active transportation and physical activity habits to increase the city’s capacity to make decisions based on what the community is already doing, and needs. The future is full of opportunities to use innovations evidenced to be successful in other communities!

Innovation can also branch beyond technology. Parks and Recreation is introducing nature-based methods of connecting people with nature and managing land that are often lost in urbanization.

In recent years, Parks and Recreation has utilized goat browsing to successfully manage leafy spurge, a noxious weed, in Police Point Park. Targeted herbivory may seem new, but is in fact a return to land management principles that have been used for centuries. Biocontrol has also been used in the park to manage leafy spurge weed, which consists of releasing beetles that will eat the plant.

The back-to-basics approach to innovation is also unfolding in Kiwanis Central Park, where a natural playground was newly installed. These play structures are more accessible and inclusive than traditional playgrounds, encourage creativity and positive social behaviour, and foster connections with nature that are integral to human health and development.

Parks and Recreation is also implementing community engagement innovations to improve future endeavors. The department’s new master plan and facilities direction plans were largely framed by community consultation, which is important to plan and deliver services representative of the community we serve.

As it is a new year, it is also be time for new ideas and innovations! To learn more about what the city has in store, visit http://www.medicinehat.ca, or interact with us on social media.

Keziah Lesko-Gosselin is Parks Technician with the City of Medicine Hat’s Parks and Recreation department