Moderated Conversations for Academy Members
Conversations That Matter focus on topics critical to advance the parks and recreation profession. Some topics may be challenging to discuss (i.e., sensitive, uncomfortable, or complex in nature). Our goal is to encourage and offer controversial, insightful, and challenging conversations to conventional thinking and practices. These conversations are not “instructional,” they are for sharing one’s thoughts and ideas. There is no formal “teacher.”
These conversations take place in an environment of mutual respect and inclusivity and are a safe place for people to speak their mind. All comments and questions are welcomed. No judgements. No recordings.
The Academy hosted a pilot Conversation that Matters in 2021 with a six-week series to discuss Public Parks and Recreation…crisis or prosperity? a paper written by Jamie Sabbach. Each week, the group discussed a different chapter.
In 2022, after the Academy adopted its Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion pledge and policy, it hosted a Safe Zone Conversation. A Safe Zone Conversation (SZC) is defined as dialogue amongst a group of people purposely engineered to discuss human topics that can be deemed sensitive, uncomfortable, or complex in nature. This conversation was generously facilitated by members of the Illinois Park & Recreation Association’s Diversity Leadership Task Force.
A second conversation was held in 2022 based upon the dissertation of Dr. Samantha Powers, Assistant Professor of Recreation Management at George Mason University. Her dissertation, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Intergroup Contact and Social Justice in the U.S. Urban Parks, won the Academy’s 2022 Best Paper Award. This paper can assist park and recreation professionals understand the pivotal role of interracial contact in the park experience, especially for users of colors.
In 2024, the Academy hosted its 4th Conversation that Matters on Implicit Bias: How to Discover our Innate Truths. This conversation sought to help us identify our unconscious biases. Through exercises and discussion, participants discovered their implicit biases, determined their various levels of privilege, and examined the impact of these biases on their professional interactions.
Do You Have a Topic You’d Like to Discuss?
We seek thoughtful ideas or topics that help advance the parks and recreation profession. If you have an idea, we ask you “frame” it within a paragraph or two and offer your suggestions on number of conversations, how many people, and when the conversation can be held. Send your idea(s) to info@aapra.org.
Conversations that Matter
Guiding Principles
- To position the Academy as a thought leader in the profession, encouraging and offering controversial, insightful, and challenging conversations to conventional thinking or practices.
- To offer topics that are of substantial importance to advancing parks and recreation.
- To be “conversational” rather than “instructional,” by sharing personal thoughts and ideas.
- To regularly solicit ideas for Conversations that Matter from our members, committees, and task forces; remaining open to ideas that may be stated in a few sentences to papers written by Academy members or others outside the Academy.
- Conversation groups will be small to facilitate dialogue.
- Conversations can be a single event or presented as a “series” lasting 2 to 6 weeks.
- Frequency of Conversations will be dictated by the ideas presented by the members. There is no formal schedule.
- Partnering groups may be approached to create CEUs for the Conversations that Matter on a case-by-case basis as determined by the facilitator and originator.
- Conversations that Matter is not a platform for consultants to promote their expertise.