In 2021, Metropolis – a global network of major cities and metropolitan areas – launched a global call for children to draw their hopes for the city of the future. The resulting report: “How do children imagine the future of their metropolises” is the result of an analysis of children’s contributions in response to that...
The 2022 Park People Report focuses on how collaboration, mindfulness, and power-sharing in parks can help nurture and repair relationships between ourselves, our communities, and the wider natural world. The report includes data on the latest national and local trends in parks including the observed trend of increased interested in adventure play in parks (e.g.,...
The Nature Connection Handbook, by Finding Nature's Dr. Miles Richardson and Dr. Carly W Butler, offers guidance and support to those seeking to promote connections with nature. This beautifully illustrated online resource highlights the importance of fostering nature connections, offers five simple pathways to start building nature connection, outlines the evidence-based pathways to nature connection...
On April 7, 2022 Dr. Trevor Hancock delivered a webinar on behalf of the Canadian Public Health Association entitled 'Our Planet, Our Health, Our Public Health Responsibility', in which he discusses climate change as the greatest public health challenge we now face, and efforts such as promoting outdoor play and learning as part of the...
This report from Maximum City summarizes data on children and youth's play, physical activity, emotions and healthy growth during the third wave of the pandemic in Ontario, in the spring and early summer of 2021. The results highlight the role of outdoor play and physical activity in maintaining emotional wellbeing and healthy growth during this...
The report 'Les bienfaits de la nature sur la sante globale' produced by Dr. Louis Bherer and a team of researchers from the Centre EPIC at the Montreal Heart Institute provides a summary of the available literature and an evaluation of the quality of the evidence on the health benefits of nature. In the report,...
Play to Thrive, a white paper produced by Maximum City, makes the case for the fundamental importance of play for children's ability to learn and thrive in the 21st century. The report provides an overview of the current state of global crises, how play may help children navigate these crises, why it is important to...
Schoolyards Count, produced by Kelly Gallagher-Mackay (Wilfrid Laurier University), Christine Corso (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), and Tammy Shubat (Ophea), reports on the quality of schoolyards across Ontario using data from citizen scientists. The report provides a review of why schoolyards matter for the health and wellbeing of students, a review of the gaps...
In May 2021, an online Stakeholder Survey was developed, in both English and French, to solicit review and comment from the Canadian outdoor play sector on the nine outdoor play priorities and associated actions identified by a 63-person Consultation Group as part of the Outdoor Play in Canada: 2021 State of the Sector Report. View the...
Inclusive Playgrounds, led by the Canadian Disability Participation Project, presents thirteen evidence-informed recommendations for designing inclusive playgrounds to enable participation for children with disabilities, provides a diagram of a potential inclusive playground illustrating how these recommendations can be implemented, and provides a short description of how the recommendations were identified. Check out the Inclusive Playgrounds Resource...
