Welcome Parks & Rec Visitors – Thank you for your help!
Parkour Visions is grateful to all of the representatives of Washington State Parks, WRPA, Bellingham Parks & Rec, Skagic County Parks & Rec, Burien, Seattle and other local parks & recreation groups.
Working with the parks systems in the Pacific Northwest is one of our top priorities. Parkour Visions is seeking guidance from parks officials on how to ensure that Parkour training in state, regional, and city parks is done safety and with the utmost respect for the natural and man-made structures in the parks.
Parks-related initiatives
The following initiatives are currently under way or in development
- Leave no trace. This is the basis for our interaction with any property – public or private – but is especially stressed in training sessions in parks. In most cases, this is second nature to new traceurs (Parkour practitioners) because we want to keep our training grounds in good shape. But to ensure this sense of respect for property is instilled in every new traceur we meet, we build the leave no trace concept into all of our beginner training sessions.
- List of training hot spots. Parkour Visions is seeking input from Parks officials on any suggestions regarding training in specific places. For example, we have discovered the Parcours Fitness Trails and identified these locations as ideal Parkour training grounds. Other parks have certain areas that are either not safe for beginners, or contain natural features, resources, or plants that need to remain undisturbed. Parkour Visions seeks to build a database of parks information that we can publish on our website for anyone interested in training Parkour in the Northwest.
- Fit & Healthy Lifestyles. We share your commitment to getting people back in touch with the natural world and back in shape. Washington State Parks have identified the Internet and television as contributing factors to children spending more time indoors and less time experiencing the outdoors and getting in shape (No Child Left Inside initiative). Parkour is in the unique position of having come of age in the Internet generation. Most Parkour communities are formed online, and Parkour receives a tremendous amount of media attention on TV and in movies. This offers Parkour Visions and our partners – including Parks & Rec departments all over the Northwest – the chance to reach new audiences and generate excitement about going outside again.
More Information
Although Parkour Visions already represents a large and rapidly growing constituency of traceurs in the Northwest, we are still very new. We are working hard to create documentation and online resources to keep up with both the general public’s demand for information about Parkour and aspiring traceurs’ demand for knowledge and training resources. Our resources page contains additional information you may find useful.
Feedback
Your input is extremely valuable to us as we shape our communication, safety, and outreach plans. Please contact us at parks@parkourvisions.org to share feedback, ask questions, or request an in-person meeting with Parkour Visions. We love to visit your parks and would be happy to visit your offices too!
