This keynote address was delivered at the inaugural National Recreation Summit held in Lake Louise, Alberta, in October 2011.  The presentation focused on three main areas.

First, it discussed the burgeoning evidence that highlights the wide-ranging value of recreation.  For the purposes of this discussion, ‘recreation’ is a broad concept that includes formal sport, active living such as walking and hiking, and activities such as cultural dance.  Quality of place and the value of social infrastructure were also considered.

The presentation then set out a framework on building healthy communities that had been developed in the Caledon book Shared Space: The Communities Agenda.  The framework builds on the concept of resilience.  It describes four major clusters of activity that help build healthy communities related to sustenance, adaptation, engagement and opportunity.  Recreation figures prominently in the engagement theme.  The importance of joining up activities within and between clusters was identified.

Finally, the speech discussed the key actions and policy measures that can be taken to help advance the recreation agenda.  These include repositioning recreation, embedding it in other policy agendas, such as health care and infrastructure development, and removing barriers to participation.  Broader fiscal issues related to municipal financing were also discussed.