This course will provide participants with the underpinning skills and knowledge required to be a successful Leisure and Recreation Planner in Australia. The Leisure Planners Course has been designed for those early in their sport and recreation planning journey in the public sector, or those transitioning into a planning role. The course is delivery by industry professionals with significant expertise and experience in their chosen fields. Specifically, the course will help participants to:
- Develop / enhance base level competencies of those who plan facilities in order to meet the organisational needs.
- Improve the skills and knowledge of current and emerging practitioners, in line with industry best practice.
- Strengthen capacity to plan, design, coordinate, organise and manage projects.
- Provide networking and potential mentoring opportunities for participants to seek advice, share information and problem solve well after the course has been completed.
- Provide a high quality, industry-based course, that is an extension to formal tertiary / education pathways and work experience.
It will be an intensive four-day course where the following topics will be presented in different modules:
Module 1 – Leisure and Recreation Planning in the local government context
- Introduction to Leisure and Recreation Planning
- What is a Leisure and Recreation Planner?
- Industry challenges and trends
- Influencing Legislations
- Land-use planning Legislation
- Integrated Planning & Reporting Framework
- Council Governance
- Introduction to strategic planning documentation
Module 2 – Resourcing documentation and data for projects
- Situation Analysis
- Gap Analysis
- Developing facility provisions framework for your organisation
- Influences on provision standards
- Other provision and planning approaches
Module 3 – Community and stakeholder engagement within the Local Government context & Persuasion Lab Masterclass – Nature Positive Storytelling for Impact
- Principles of community and stakeholder engagement
- Developing a stakeholder engagement plan for your project
- Masterclass
Module 4 – Planning for projects
- Project Governance
- What is a project / project management?
- Developing a project plan
- Site analysis
- Preparing a design brief to inform initial design drawings
Presenters
Fiona MacColl – Director, SCAPISM – Landscape Architects and Stragtegic Planners
Dr Megan Taylor – Adjunct Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
Megan is an urban planner and researcher interested in a deceptively simple question: when a city grows, how do we make sure there is still enough room for people to play, gather, exercise and spend time outdoors?
Her work focuses on public open space provision and the planning decisions that shape it. Megan’s PhD at UTS examined the politics of park provision in Sydney, looking at how land, planning policy, funding, governance and competing priorities come together to determine where parks are provided — and whether enough space is secured in the first place.
Megan has worked across planning, governance, strategy, research and the built environment. She brings a perspective that sits between policy and practice, with a particular interest in what happens between having a good idea for a park and actually getting that park delivered.
For the Leisure Planners Course, Megan will explore the realities of planning for public open space in growing communities, including the assumptions and regulations behind provision, the choices and trade-offs that planners face, and the opportunities to influence open space outcomes before the most important decisions have already been made.
Sarah Reilly – Founder and CEO, CRED Consulting
Sarah is the Founder and CEO of CRED Consulting and one of Australia’s leading thinkers (and doers!) on community led and participatory planning for social assets, social cohesion and community resilience. Sarah champions collaboration for design, delivery and management of equitable and beautiful places and services for and with the people they are for. With over 25 years industry experience, she is a big ideas generator who is changing the way things work in social policy and practice. She is known within the industry for her passion, strategic thinking, ethics, and ability to work across diverse sectors and communities to reach mutually beneficial outcomes.
The depth of Sarah’s experience is always apparent – she facilitates, and advises at all levels from community groups to senior executives, to councillors and ministers. Sarah brings her emotional intelligence, energy, and extensive subject matter expertise and strong networks to every project.
Sarah leads and mentors her growing national team of experts, (and all female executive group) with passion, care, and commitment to the highest ethics. She has built a solid business with a team of values-driven experts, clients, and communities, all striving towards Social Cities and Complete Communities from the site to the city-scale. Sarah is an active member of Parks and Leisure Australia and a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia. She delivers national Social Planning training for PIA.
Jen Guice – Executive Director, national Lead Engagement and Resilience, CRED Consulting
Jen has over 25 years industry experience in engagement, strategic communications, strategy development and project management for government, not-for-profit organisations, and the private sector in Australia.
Jen loves nothing more than bringing people together. Whether it’s community members who start as strangers but become colleagues and friends, colleagues or stakeholders who need to align, or an auditorium full of delegates looking to be lead through an event, Jen creates community. Jen is trusted by her clients and sought after for her creative, warm, strategic, successful, and fun facilitation and innovative approaches to community and stakeholder engagement.
As an IAP2 accredited engagement professional, leading state and national award-winning engagement and research projects each year since she started at CRED in 2020, Jen brings her leadership, insight, creativity, and energy, to make CRED’s community and stakeholder engagement projects exemplary
Jen has forged a reputation in the industry as a leader by designing and delivering research and engagement projects that build community resilience and social cohesion. Jen is an authentic, empathetic, and caring leader who connects with people across generations, cultures and places. Jen specialises in designing research and engagement processes that elevate the voices of diverse and under-represented communities
Belinda Bean – Founder, Wilder Impact
Belinda is the founder of Wilder Impact Pty Ltd, a nature-positive strategy and communications consultancy helping governments, businesses and communities turn big sustainability goals into action. She is Executive Director of the Australasian Green Infrastructure Network and past Chair of the National Urban Green Infrastructure Roundtable, working nationally to advance greener, cooler and more resilient cities. Belinda brings systems thinking, storytelling and practical insight to conversations about how nature-based solutions can shape better urban futures.
Mark Bruhn – Contract manager, Greater Sydney Parklands
Mark is currently employed as Contract Manager for Greater Sydney Parklands and is a current member of the ACT/NSW PLA Regional Council.
Mark’s previous roles include Director Service Delivery, Manager Parks, Parks Senior Consultant, and as a stakeholder engagement manager for a Primary Health Network over the COVID period.
Ensuring successful service delivery is a passion of Marks whose experience in procuring and managing parks and facilities contracts extends over 25 years in Australia and New Zealand.
In his spare time, Mark continues to play hockey, advocate for mental health, volunteer on sports committees and find time to spend with his wife and four “semi-adult” (who are hopefully leaving home soon) offspring.