In 2021, Metropolis – a global network of major cities and metropolitan areas – launched a global call for children to draw their hopes for the city of the future. The resulting report: “How do children imagine the future of their metropolises” is the result of an analysis of children’s contributions in response to that...
Spirit North is a not-for-profit organization that aims to empower Indigenous youth through sport and play. Their 2021-2022 Community Impact Report provides a 5-year overview of their initiatives, shares stories of success, and highlights their reach, impact, and vision. In particular, they highlight how sport and play can serve to advance reconciliation in Canada, by...
The 2022 Park People Report focuses on how collaboration, mindfulness, and power-sharing in parks can help nurture and repair relationships between ourselves, our communities, and the wider natural world. The report includes data on the latest national and local trends in parks including the observed trend of increased interested in adventure play in parks (e.g.,...
The Nature Connection Handbook, by Finding Nature's Dr. Miles Richardson and Dr. Carly W Butler, offers guidance and support to those seeking to promote connections with nature. This beautifully illustrated online resource highlights the importance of fostering nature connections, offers five simple pathways to start building nature connection, outlines the evidence-based pathways to nature connection...
This report from Maximum City summarizes data on children and youth's play, physical activity, emotions and healthy growth during the third wave of the pandemic in Ontario, in the spring and early summer of 2021. The results highlight the role of outdoor play and physical activity in maintaining emotional wellbeing and healthy growth during this...
The report 'Les bienfaits de la nature sur la sante globale' produced by Dr. Louis Bherer and a team of researchers from the Centre EPIC at the Montreal Heart Institute provides a summary of the available literature and an evaluation of the quality of the evidence on the health benefits of nature. In the report,...
Play to Thrive, a white paper produced by Maximum City, makes the case for the fundamental importance of play for children's ability to learn and thrive in the 21st century. The report provides an overview of the current state of global crises, how play may help children navigate these crises, why it is important to...
The UK-based Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) project released a literature review on academic evidence that can inform OPAL's approach to play in schools. The report discusses the value of playtime in schools, in terms of monetary, intrinsic (children's enjoyment), and instrumental (play's value for things other than play itself), with the ultimate goal of improving...
Schoolyards Count, produced by Kelly Gallagher-Mackay (Wilfrid Laurier University), Christine Corso (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), and Tammy Shubat (Ophea), reports on the quality of schoolyards across Ontario using data from citizen scientists. The report provides a review of why schoolyards matter for the health and wellbeing of students, a review of the gaps...
Promoting Physical Activity in the Built Environment is a discussion paper that identifies physical designs, strategies, policies, and other solutions that enable and encourage physical activity in the built environment. It also includes a summary of suggested next steps to further promote physical activity across built environments in Canada. Learn more about designing for physical activity...
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