All Ages, All Abilities, All the Time
Parks today face the challenge of providing environments where all visitors can feel safe, secure and fully engaged. Universal design increases usability, safety, health and social participation. Discover how applying the principles of universal design can ultimately contribute to social equity and social sustainability.
View Learning Objectives:
- Disabilities as defined by environmental conditions.
- Concepts of social equity and social sustainability and how they are supported by Universal Design.
- The history and evolution of Universal Design as compared to accessible design (ADA compliant design) in the context of architecture and landscape architecture.
- How the goals and principles of universal design contribute to a park design that goes beyond accessibility and encourages inclusion.
- The concepts of social equity and social sustainability is important to the long term success of parks.
Design Excellence in Play
What role does good design play in society? How do you know it when you see it? What goes into creating it? Is excellence ever easy? Through these questions and examples from around the world, we will examine global trends and their impacts on designing impactful playground environments today.
View Learning Objectives:
- How great design in everyday life directly impacts playground environment design and maximizes community participation.
- How great design influences great playground design—from new ideas to new materials, bringing design aesthetic to great collaboration to play environments.
- Global design trends and how to integrate them into play environments.
Evidence-Based Landscape and Playground Design
More than just play, children with developmental disorders benefit from strategically designed sensory playgrounds and sensory gardens. A study, completed by the STAR Center in Denver, Colo., evaluated the outcomes of outdoor play by children, therapists and families experiencing the play space as a natural setting for rich, multisensory occupational therapy interactions.
View Learning Objectives:
- Research on working with children who have developmental disorders in the context of a sensory garden/playground.
- Elements of landscape design that facilitate self-regulation and social participation for all children and contribute to quality of life in sensory playgrounds/gardens.
- Research findings from this project, which go beyond playground design, and have implications for schools, early childhood and therapeutic play environments.
Innovation is Invitation: Defining what’s next in inclusive design.
The conversation surrounding inclusive play space design has grown tremendously since its beginnings. As foundational knowledge around inclusive design and disability has grown, so has the conversation around intentional design choices. This session takes an in-depth look at designing more intentionally for mobility devices, creating experiences for ADHD and other common motor coordination disabilities, and improving wayfinding for blind/low vision users.
View Learning Objectives:
- How to discuss disability with proper verbiage, positively integrate disability into a designed space and capture a snapshot of what disability looks like in their own respective communities
- Best practice design solutions for mobility devices, motor coordination disabilities such as Down Syndrome and ADHD, blind/low vision, medically complex and an introduction to DeafScape design
- How to articulate the maximum reach and impact of using inclusion and universal design practices in creating an impactful space
Inclusive Playground Design: A Case Study of Three New England Playgrounds
Research shows that a gap in literature exists relevant to how communities can initiate the process of planning and creating an inclusive playground, and how inclusive playgrounds truly impacts a child’s ability to participate. This research points out that lack of accessible playgrounds is a major contributing factor to decreased engagement of play for children of all abilities. In this presentation, participants will hear the research results of interviews held at three New England inclusive playgrounds
View Learning Objectives:
- The research around inclusive playground design found in current literature and impacts playgrounds have on every child’s ability to participate in play
- The features of a park and playground that families of children with disabilities say make a successful inclusive play environment
- The impact that inclusive playgrounds have on communities, the lives of children of all abilities and their families
The Power of Color: Impacts on Mood, Feelings and Behaviors on the Playground
Color is vital to the human experience. Whether it’s innate or learned, it’s undeniable that color has a vital impact on how we go about our lives. It can affect the way we feel, think, interact with one another and so much more. Color is a subtle yet powerful communication tool, which is why it’s one of the most important decisions that can be made when designing a playground environment.
View Learning Objectives:
- The basics of color theory and how the development of children’s visual skills can be used to influence childhood wellbeing
- That preferences for colors evolve and develop just as children/individuals evolve and develop
- The importance of using research over preference when it comes to selecting color
- The impact color has in the built environment including on the playground
Designing with Sensory Needs in Mind
Sensory-related disabilities are the fastest growing disability category among children today. In this presentation, we define this spectrum of childhood disabilities that is much broader than autism. Design strategies will be presented on how to create play spaces so that these children and their families can successfully GET there, PLAY there and STAY there, while having tons of fun.
View Learning Objectives:
- The concept of a multi-dimensional spectrum for typical children and those with a variety of childhood medical conditions that impact learning
- How to incorporate design strategies that help these visitors be able to GET to the play space
- How to incorporate design strategies that help these visitors be able to PLAY at the play space
- How to incorporate design strategies that help these visitors be able to STAY at the play space
Need to talk to someone about booking a Continuing Education seminar with us? Reach out to one of our representatives and they would be more than happy to help.
