FOLAR
Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading

The Landscape of Public Health - FOLAR Annual Symposium 2024

Landscape of Public Health - FOLAR Symposium 2024

The Landscape of Public Health is possibly one of the most important subjects FOLAR has tackled - not just health, but how public open space and designed landscapes have been used in the past for the benefit of the general public. As populations have becomes increasingly more urban in the 20C, landscape architects and managers working today in this area as academics and practitioners can demonstrate, with confidence and research-based evidence, to landscape and associated professions, local and central government politicians, and the public, what can be achieved today, and how this can be done, and how long term management needs to be part of this healthy uplift for the population. The most important benefit, apart from nurturing a generally healthier population, is reducing the differences in health between the most economically deprived populations and those better off .

One theme for the FOLAR symposia is how the past can inform the present and the future. There is definitely a lot of past when it comes to wise city elders understanding and believing ie knowing the connection between being outside and being healthy. One speaker at this event looks back to ancient civilisations to demonstrate this. But for some time now this ‘knowing’ is deemed not enough to convince leaders today to provide funding to create or maintain green spaces, they want evidence. Another of the speakers says enough - we have more than enough research, stop please! As can be expected - with two or so serial career researchers present – this view was swiftly challenged.

It is not enough to be outside. The quality of public green space has to be of a particular standard, and it has to be accessible for all ages and all people. Green space is equigenic - ie it is associated with reducing the difference in health between the most economically deprived people and those better off. This has been proven through research. And the mechanisms linking landscape and health are explained in the final talk.

This was a thought provoking symposium, and it generated one of the best question and answer sessions we have had so far.

4. The Role of Public Parks during COVID - Impact and Outcomes of a Global Pandemic

There will not be many people in as good a position as Paul Rabbitts - an experienced Parks Manager and historian of public parks - to talk on this subject. The major park building movement in the UK was enabled by the 1875 Public Health Act, and today there are 27,000 public parks with the majority implemented by 1914. This represents an extraordinary investment and a considerable achievement, and undoubtedly like many acts of parliament many were involved getting this need recognised. In the 21C COVID caused significant management challenges for the public parks both during the pandemic and afterwards, with loss of revenue, loss of volunteer groups, but on the plus side visits from many people who had never been to a park before, but this also had its issues. How were these dealt with - or have they been resolved? How you learn to be a park manager? How do you protect the heritage and cultural value of a park when there is no statutory obligation for a local authority to support its park? (Unfortunately there were several technical difficulties at the beginning of this talk and it doesn't start properly until about 7 minutes in - but these first seven minutes are full of gems so we decided to keep them before the talk proper starts.)

Paul Rabbitts is an experienced Parks Manager of over 35 years, managing parks from  Carlisle, Middlesbrough, Watford, Southend-on-Sea to currently Norwich City Council. He is Chair and Founder Member of the Parks Management Association, a published author, a lapsed landscape architect and has just completed his PhD by Publication at the University of East Anglia on his favourite subject -The Victorian and Edwardian Bandstand

Annabel DownsComment