Results of PP&R and MURP partnership presented

Last fall, MURP students in Dr. C. N. E. Corbin’s Planning Methods 1 class partnered with Healthy Parks, Healthy Portland to gather data about how underserved communities in different neighborhoods access Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) parks and facilities. The team’s goal was to identify any barriers in order to tackle them and increase accessibility.

Over the past four months, Healthy Parks, Healthy Portland has been processing the findings of the MURP students as well as its own community engagement. Last month, the team from Healthy Parks, Healthy Portland presented the summary of their findings to their Senior Management Team.

Planning Methods 1 is a required class that is part of the MURP program. Students learn about “applied research in planning with emphasis on problem definition, planning and policy research design, collection and analysis for secondary data, and the use of qualitative observations.”

Healthy Parks, Healthy Portland serves to build links between PP&R’s strategy and the community. It prioritizes the voices of underserved communities and calls for an ongoing cycle of listening to and learning from the community to drive its strategy.

Photo from the Healthy Parks, Healthy Portland web page