Parks and Recreation
Natural Play and Learning Area Guidelines Project
The National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Learning Initiative began work towards developing national guidelines for play and learning areas in 2009. As outlined in the NWF's policy action plan, Connecting Kids with Nature, children are faced with many options for staying indoors and few options for getting outside, connecting with nature, and acquiring the life skills only available through interacting with nature. The U.S. Forest Service, with matching efforts from sites developing nature play areas will provide funding for the guidelines over the next two years.
This project will create policy and practice guidelines for natural play areas in childhood and family institutions: childcare centers, municipal parks, public schools, and federal lands. Research based design concepts that bring children and families together with their natural environments, in a variety of settings. The project will promote guideline adoption by stakeholder professional associations, governments, and regulatory bodies.
Walnut Creek Wetland Center
The Walnut Creek Wetlands Center (WCWC) is the cornerstone of Walnut Creek 2000, an action program developed by Partners for Environmental Justice (PEJ), focused on the conservation and restoration of the 60 acre Walnut Creek wetlands and floodplain in Southeast Raleigh, near downtown. NLI collaborated with Frank Harmon Architect on the design of WCWC, which provides an educational/recreational resource located on the City of Raleigh’s Greenway system and managed by the Raleigh Department of Recreation and Parks.
Heritage Park Natural Learning Environment
Heritage Park is a public housing community administered by the Raleigh Housing Authority. Communities in Schools North Carolina (CISNC), the leading dropout prevention organization in the country, established an after-school tutoring program based at the Heritage Park Community Center and wanted to create an outdoor learning area with easy access from the building. In 2002, the Junior League of Raleigh committed to assist and appointed NLI as a partner to facilitate the community planning process and to develop a schematic design.
Kids Together Playground
Kids Together Playground (KTP) is a universally designed family recreation facility, containing many uncommon settings and features, located in Marla Dorell Park, Cary, North Carolina. Design of the park started in 1994 with a community workshop involving children and adults in the design process.
Blanchie Carter Discovery Park
Blanchie Carter Discovery Park is a four acre outdoor play and learning environment (OPALE) located at Southern Pines Primary School in Southern Pines, North Carolina. In 1995, a group of parents decided that their children deserved more than a hot, dusty, barren, unsafe playground and initiated a process of transforming the area into an outdoor classroom where children could learn through play and investigation of living environments. Over $150,000.00 was raised through donations from the community, businesses, civic organizations, and foundations. The park was designed by Robin Moore, future NLI director, to serve the serve the dual roles of park for the surrounding community and model educational resource for the school. One of many visitor highlights was Susan Humphries from the Coombes Primary School, UK, who within two minutes captured the rapt attention of the children as she gave a lesson on air.