Abstract
In 2018 well-being was restored as a key purpose of New Zealand local government. Well-being is a multi-faceted concept, but play is undoubtedly an important component of it, and therefore intimately linked with the work of local government. Traditionally, local government strategies, policies, and services relating to play have focused on parks, playgrounds, and formal sport and recreation facilities, and overlooked risky play. A rethinking of what constitutes play, understanding the value of risky play, and where this play can and should occur (i.e., in locations outside of formal/traditional play spaces) is necessary to meet the statutory requirements of the four well-beings and support children’s holistic growth and development. Coinciding with the reinstatement of the four well-being’s, Hamilton City Council (HCC) developed the country’s first Play Strategy, and Sport NZ developed a national vision for play involving investment into local government to develop play advocacy roles. This article draws on the author’s first-hand experiences pioneering the first play advocate role tasked with activating the HCC Play Strategy. It introduces a play case study that led to the development of a novel design approach – Play Opportunities Through Environmental Design (POpTED) – aimed at achieving creative city-wide play enablement beyond traditional playgrounds. The article demonstrates how the strategies of national and local government in New Zealand are being established to help children have different kinds of play experiences than previously afforded to them; enabling the re-examination of organisational risk appetites to support play concepts that enable children to experience their own self-managed risks.
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Notes
Also note the work of Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and colleagues regarding Playful Learning Landscapes.
Iwi refers to a tribe or large kinship group made up of multiple hapū (clans with a common ancestor) which are in turn made up of multiple whānau (families).
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) is the founding document of New Zealand.
See for example, the ‘National guidelines for crime prevention through environmental design in New Zealand’ produced by the Ministry of Justice.
Developed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (2008).
The newly published international standard ‘ISO 4980:2023 Benefit-risk assessment for sports and recreational facilities, activities and equipment’ is worth consideration here.
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The author reports the following potential conflict of interest—At the time of writing, the author was employed (until September 22nd, 2023) as the Local Play Advocate by Hamilton City Council to support the implementation of its Play Strategy through funding by Sport New Zealand. The initial phase of the role (from December 2020 to December 2022), also primarily funded by Sport New Zealand, was via employment with Sport Waikato, a Regional Sports Trust.
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Puddle, D. Play opportunities through environmental design: a strategy for well-being. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 26, 383–402 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-023-00138-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-023-00138-0