Healthy Parks Healthy People March 2010



Healthy Park Healthy People Congress Opening Ceremony - Indigenous Dancers

HEALTHY PARKS HEALTHY PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

Hon. Peter Garret (aka lead singer Midnight Oil) now Minister of the Environment

Healthy Parks Healthy People Congress Opening



Parks Victoria hosted the Healthy Parks Healthy People Congress in March 2010. Over 1200 people from 37 nations attended. This ground breaking event explored the many ways nature and parks significantly contribute to our health and well being.

Melbourne Exhibition Centre- Location for the HPHP Congress, was a quick 5 minute walk from our home in Docklands.

http://www.healhtyparkshealthypeoplecongress.org/

All of the Parks Canada exchangees were delegates at the congress and I also had the opportunity to plan and facilitate a panel discussion session to explore how heritage fits in to the healthy parks healthy people philosophy.

http://www.healthyparkshealthypeoplecongress.org/proceedings

(click here for more info on the session choose PDF 9)

Parks Canada delegates at the HPHP Congress Dinner.

(from left to right - back row, Rob Prosper, Steve Langdon, Helen Purves, Andrew Campbell, Renee Wissink - front row, Libby Gunn, Kathie Adaire, Barb Macdonald, Janette Gallant, Karen Bright, Anwareen Farouk

Here is an article that I was asked to for Bushy Tales - A Parks Victoria Newsletter

The June 2010 edition was focused on the Healthy Parks Healthy People Congress

Healthy Parks - Healthy Heritage

Anwareen Farouk - Canadian Exchangee

The HPHP Congress was an excellent opportunity for discussion on how protection

of heritage places connects people to nature,tells human stories and provides benefits to individuals and communities.The session, Beyond Bricks and Mortar: the Value of Cultural Heritage to Healthy Communities, explored issues and challenges in managing heritage places in parks. One of these is how to encourage new people to visit historic places and support their protection especially those who don’t share the history of the area. In Canada, Citizenship ceremonies are now being held at some National Historic Sites to reach out to new audiences.From PV staff we heard about Carome Homestead, an historic property located in


Carome Homestead Community Garden

Plenty Gorge Parklands with a fast growing

suburb along its boundaries. Carome is the site

of one of the State's earliest water powered

flour mills. A community garden has been

established on the grounds for those who live

in the nearby housing development, so they can

plant a garden and connect with the history of

the area at the same time.


Another project was the short films and podcast
tours called ‘Living Stories of the Victorian
Goldfields’. These highlight the historic times
of goldmining in the region and include stories
and personal journeys told by descendents of
Chinese gold seekers in the 1850’s.      
                                                                               
I am currently working on a review of PV’s Heritage Management Strategy, and the session provided some excellent information and ideas. One in particular is tapping into the local community to discover their personal stories about historical places. Doing this not only strengthens local ownership of historical places, but helps bring them to life for others.


Beyond Brick and Mortar - The Value of Cultural Heritage to Healthy Communities



My first sailing lesson! At Albert Park Lake, managed by Parks Victoria - We had to choose an activity as part of the Congress experiential tours for delegates.





Closing Ceremony - The Parks Victoria CEO was lying on a park bench next to the podium to show how relaxing a park experience can be...if you look closely you can see him!