With Pennsylvania’s new five-year Outdoor Recreation Plan seeking to connect citizens to healthy outdoor recreation now released, a series of webinars this fall aims to inform Pennsylvanians of how "natural connections" can be made.

Each of the four webinars will focus on a priority outlined in the plan, and cover challenges and opportunities facing Pennsylvania communities, research findings and best practices.

Participants in the webinars will learn how to use the plan to support Pennsylvania’s community planning needs as well as funding requests.

All webinars will run from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. and are scheduled for:

-- October 7: Health and Wellness: Promoting Healthy Living through Outdoor Connections. Learn how the Foundation supports local park and recreation activities in the Pottstown Region through various programs such as On Your Park, Get Set, Go!

-- October 14: Local Parks and Recreation: Enhancing Close-to-Home Outdoor Recreation. Kids are now playing at one of Pennsylvania’s new nature play areas in Scranton. Hear about what makes it unique, how it was built, what it cost and the fund raising needed to build it.

-- October 21: Tourism and Economic Development: Creating Opportunities for Community Prosperity. What is Nature-Based Placemaking and how can communities of all sizes embrace their natural assets and recreational resources for economic benefits?

-- October 28: Resource Management: (Note: this webinar will extend to 2:15 p.m.) Sustaining Natural Resources and Public Investments and PA’s new five-year plan for Trails. Pennsylvania is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its historic Land Recycling Acts. Since its inception in 1995, more than 5,000 Pennsylvania brownfield sites have been remediated. Learn about brownfield projects across the state that opened up riverfronts and created more recreational opportunities for communities.

With over 11,000 miles of trails, Pennsylvania’s vision to create a statewide network of trails is well underway. Hear about plans for the next five years to close difficult gaps, build capacity to address trail needs, promote trails as destinations, and bring trails closer to home through connections to sidewalks and bike lanes.

The PA Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, Natural Connections, lays out a vision to create healthy and liveable communities throughout the state that support jobs that pay and successfully serves the recreation needs of those who live, work, and play in them.

Over 10,000 Pennsylvanians responded to three in-depth surveys. Residents are calling for access to close-to-home recreation, walkable and bikeable communities, protected lands and waters and well maintained park facilities.

The plan’s four top priorities—which will make up each of the webinar topics—are: Health and Wellness; Local Parks and Recreation; Tourism and Economic Development; and Resource management. Special guests already helping implement the plan will share their stories.

Register Now

The webinars are free, but advance registration is requested.  Click Here to register online. A follow-up email will be sent with more information.

If you are unable to participate, the webinars will be posted on the PA Outdoor Recreation Plan website.

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