W E A R E P A R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N
How CAPRA Learned to Love Zoom and Maintained Continuity in the Wake of COVID-19 By Jennifer Schleining
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t was Friday, March 6, 2020. The CAPRA Commission had just wrapped up a productive retreat at NRPA headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia, when suddenly the conversation quickly shifted to the growing concern about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and how it was going to impact NRPA activities, such as the upcoming CAPRA visit season. Commissioners expressed some concerns about what types of travel and physical distancing restrictions agencies were implementing, including some of our site visitors’ agencies. It quickly became clear that the CAPRA Commission, in partnership with NRPA staff, would have to conduct all 2020 CAPRA visits virtually. It was one thing to make that decision — it was another to figure out how that would happen. The CAPRA Commission and NRPA staff had to develop plans very quickly since visits were due to start on March 30.
The Plan On Thursday, March 12, the CAPRA Commission sent a communication to all 2020 agencies, reviewers and visitors that instructed them to immediately halt travel arrangements for all CAPRA visits; that visits would take place virtually; and that NRPA/CAPRA would be hosting a webinar to discuss details. Positive feedback from the 2020 agencies, reviewers and visitors signaled that the CAPRA community was willing
Maria Nardi, director of Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces, participates in a virtual CAPRA visit. 10 Parks & Recreation
and able to make this transition, providing a much-needed confidence boost for the success of the commission’s plan. Right after sending this communication, NRPA closed its headquarters building, in response to the severity of the pandemic nationwide. NRPA staff and the CAPRA Commission introduced their plan to 189 attendees during a March 20 webinar. Agencies would be given five days for their visits (Monday to Friday) and NRPA/CAPRA would host the kickoff and wrap up meetings via Zoom during the week. The Visit Teams received the agency self-assessment reports upon their approval, giving the teams the opportunity to start their review right away and compare notes in advance of the scheduled visit. At least seven to 10 days prior to the start of the visit, Visit Chairs provided the agencies with a list of outstanding issues and concerns that they expected the agency would need to address. NRPA/CAPRA provided each
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team with a Google Drive folder to help them stay organized. Visit Teams could collaborate at the same time on the final visit report and have private conversations about the visit. The agency had access to a designated folder where they could upload additional materials as requested by the Visit Team.
The Results The Visit Teams conducted 37 virtual visits during a 19-week period from March to September. All Visit Teams included at least one first-time visitor. Park and recreation professionals are known for their creativity, and a number of agencies demonstrated that during their virtual visits. A few examples included agencies sending daily videos of specific parks and recreation centers; creating virtual backgrounds highlighting some of the parks and facilities that they described during kickoff meetings for the visit; and sharing images that described and demonstrated the unique culture of each agency.
The Feedback The CAPRA Commission received positive feedback from staff at many of the agencies that participated in virtual visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Katie Lockhart, outdoor education and parks manager at Garner (North Carolina) Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, says, “I think we may have been the first virtual visit. We could not have asked for a better experience given
