Community Parks and Playgrounds: Intergenerational Participation through Universal Design Final Report For The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design at the National Disability Authority By Dr. Helen Lynch Alice Moore Dr. Claire Edwards Linda Horgan Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and Institute for Social Sciences in the Twenty First Century (ISS21) University College Cork December 2018 1 Contents Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... 11 List of abbreviations and acronyms ......................................................... 12 Terminology ............................................................................................... 13 About the authors ..................................................................................... 17 Executive Summary .................................................................................. 18 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 18 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 18 Universal Design for parks and playgrounds: what literature and policy tells us ............................................................................................................................................ 18 Findings from the PlayAUDIT ...................................................................................... 19 Physical design issues ................................................................................................. 19 Users’ perspectives .................................................................................................... 20 Overall Play Value and Universal Design .............................................................. 20 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 21 Developing and implementing policy and guidelines .......................................... 21 Building capacity and expertise amongst public park and playground providers ...................................................................................................................... 21 Creating participatory mechanisms in inclusive playground development .... 22 A research strategy ................................................................................................... 22 Evaluating progress .................................................................................................... 22 1. Introduction ........................................................................................ 23 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 23 1.2 Background to research ......................................................................................... 23 1.3 Research aims and objectives ................................................................................ 24 1.4 Research governance .............................................................................................. 25 1.5 Structure of the report .......................................................................................... 25 2. Methodology ....................................................................................... 26 2.1 Research design ........................................................................................................ 26 2.2 Ethics .......................................................................................................................... 27 2.3 Methods ..................................................................................................................... 27 2 2.3.1 Phase 1: Method for identifying relevant literature for review .............. 27 2.3.2 Phase 2: Method for identifying relevant guidelines for review ............. 27 2.3.3 Phase 3: Method for developing the PlayAUDIT ...................................... 27 2.3.4 Phase 4: Method for conducting the PlayAUDITs .................................... 28 2.3.5 Phase 5: Method for exploring the perspectives of park and playground providers ...................................................................................................................... 29 2.4 Recruitment .............................................................................................................. 29 2.4.1 Identification of playgrounds .......................................................................... 29 2.4.2 Recruiting child-adult units ............................................................................ 32 2.4.3 Recruiting park and playground providers ................................................. 33 2.5 Data collection ......................................................................................................... 33 2.5.1 Data collection for literature and policy review and guideline analysis 33 2.5.2 Data collection for the PlayAUDITs ............................................................ 33 2.5.3 Data collection for exploring the perspectives of park and playground providers ...................................................................................................................... 34 2.6 Data analysis ............................................................................................................. 34 2.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 34 3. Findings: Review of literature and policy ............................................. 35 3.1 Policy for parks, play and playgrounds ................................................................ 35 3.2 Barriers to inclusion in community environments ........................................... 35 3.3 Benefits of parks and playgrounds ........................................................................ 35 3.4 Evidence-informed Universal Design for parks ................................................. 36 3.5 Evidence-informed accessible design for playgrounds ............................... 37 3.6 Traditional approaches for playground design and provision ........................ 37 3.7 Playground standards and safety ........................................................................... 38 3.8 Involving users in the design process .................................................................. 38 3.9 Moving from exclusion to inclusion ..................................................................... 39 3.9.1 Increasing the knowledge base of playground providers, planners and designers ...................................................................................................................... 39 3.9.2 Involving children in the design process of playgrounds .......................... 39 3.9.3 Planning and designing playgrounds that embrace Universal Design principles ...................................................................................................................... 39 3.10 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 39 3 4. Findings: Analysis of guidelines for inclusive playgrounds ................. 41 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 41 4.2 Review and analysis of guideline documents ...................................................... 41 4.3 Critical analysis of the application of Universal Design to playgrounds ....... 43 4.4 Findings ...................................................................................................................... 44 4.4.1 Adapting the 7 principles of Universal Design for playspaces ................ 44 4.4.2 Identification of core overarching principles .............................................. 46 4.4.3 Identification of core considerations ........................................................... 47 4.4.4 Identification of characteristics related to play value ............................... 49 4.5 An integrated model of play provision ................................................................ 49 4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 51 5. Findings: PlayAUDIT Step 1 – Play Value Audits ............................... 52 5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 52 5.2 General descriptive analysis of park-playground units ..................................... 52 5.3 Findings from the Play Value audit ....................................................................... 54 5.3.1 Findings from the assessment of the physical characteristics of the design and play value ................................................................................................. 54 5.3.2 Assessing parks and playgrounds for different play types and play styles ....................................................................................................................................... 56 5.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 60 6. Findings: PlayAUDIT Step 2 – Universal Design Audits ...................