Minding the Science–Practice Gap to Reach the Goals of Sustainable Recreation Research

Authors

  • David Flores USDA Forest Serive
  • José J. Sánchez USDA Forest Service https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-5913
  • Emily Schlickman University of California, Davis https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5615-324X
  • Lorie Srivastava University of California, Davis
  • Maria Victoria Arias University of California, Davis
  • Jianho Cui USDA Forest Service
  • Antonio Davila USDA Forest Service
  • Jorge Cortez-Solis Outward Bound Adventures

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18666/JPRA-2024-12248

Keywords:

Youth, BIPOC, cocreation, diversity, public lands

Abstract

Scholars featured in a recent special issue of the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration and others have noted that public lands management has yet to integrate sustainable recreation policy and practice (Cerveny et al., 2022, p. 1). Additionally, there is growing recognition that inter-agency and scientist-citizen collaboration are needed to achieve this goal. In this commentary, we offer an example of minding the science-practice gap through cocreating research. Specifically, we describe how scientists from the US Forest Service and the University of California, Davis, and practitioners from the Los Angeles-based organization Outward Bound Adventures (OBA) operationalized ten essential characteristics of research (DePoy & Gitlin, 2020) in the development of a research proposal and implementation of a study on urban Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) youth perspectives of the outdoors.

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Published

2024-05-21

Issue

Section

Commentary