Working on Wellness Environments
Working on Wellness Environments (WOW-E) is a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension multidisciplinary community development program

Utilizing Communications to Increase Park Awareness

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By: Valerie Jauregui and Kelsey Coats

There are many reasons people might not use their local parks and recreation amenities. According to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Urban and Municipal Parks program (UMP), some reasons cited by residents for nonuse are time, age/age appropriateness, proximity/connectivity, utilizing other resources, lack of knowledge, and usability (Walker et al.,2022). As practitioners, we cannot necessarily address some of these reasons (i.e., time), or they require additional time to address (i.e., proximity/connectivity). However, lack of knowledge is one barrier that can be reasonably addressed in the short term. The Working on Wellness Environments (WOW-E) and WOW-E communities have sought communication strategies to address the lack of knowledge of parks and public spaces for being active.

‘How do you Park’ communication campaign – Vernon, Texas

The City of Vernon Community Development department, Vernon Main Street and Tourism, and other partners identified a lack of knowledge of public parks, outdoor spaces, and ways to be physically active in the community. Together, they applied for the 2024 WOW-E Community Challenge to receive technical assistance to develop, plan, and evaluate a communications campaign to promote their local parks and physical activity amenities. 

With assistance from the WOW-E team, the local Vernon group attended WOW-E cohort sessions to define and analyze their audience, assess communication strategies to best fit their audience, complete an amenity inventory of all of the amenities available at their parks and public spaces, conducted community engagement to inform their graphics and messaging for the campaign, and planned their communication campaign and evaluation methods. 

The group kickstarted their campaign in May. Their billboard is currently running, and they have placed concrete clings promoting their parks around town. The group has also started posting on their social media profiles and will engage with their local community through messages, shares, and hashtags. The local team will continue to evaluate and monitor their campaign to gather feedback and responses. To learn more about these efforts, visit the City of Vernon Facebook page and the Vernon Mainstreet and Tourism Facebook page.

Concrete Cling (ground sticker) at local park
Concrete cling at everyday destination to promote campaign

WOW-E’s 2023 Active People Healthy Nation pilot awareness campaign

WOW-E collaborated with three communities in South Texas to pilot test a communication campaign to increase park and public space awareness for people to be active. The campaign was part of the CDC’s Active People, Healthy Nation effort to get 27 million more Americans active by 2027. Listening sessions found that an existing shared value among the audience was time with family and friends, which helped guide the campaign. Focus groups helped ensure that communication materials, messages, and imagery were relevant to the community. The focus groups also increased awareness themselves, as one participant said, “I did not know there were this many parks.”

WOW-E’s APHN awareness campaign ran for approximately eight weeks. The communication campaign consisted of billboards, social media posts, banners, ground stickers, bookmarks, amenity inventories, and maps of the communities’ parks and places to be active.  The campaign website included the maps and amenity inventories. Billboards included a short URL to the campaign website, social media posts included links to the campaign website, and ground stickers and bookmarks included QR codes to the campaign website. Social media posts, billboards, bookmarks, and banners were offered in English and Spanish. Different versions of the communication products ran in different communities. To read more about this effort, visit our blog! Interested in becoming a WOW-E community? Click here to see if your community is eligible.

Resources:

Walker, J.R., Lee, J., Gunderson, E., & Coats, K. (2022, September 20 – 22). If you build it will they come? the nonuse phenomenon. [Poster presentation]. 2022 National Parks and Recreations Association Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ, United States. https://agrilife.org/urbanparks/files/2024/12/Urban-and-Municipal-Parks-2022-NRPA-Poster.pdf 

USDOT Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Notice of Funding is Open

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USDOT Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) notice of funding opportunity is open. RAISE funds surface transportation projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. Eligible applicants are states, territories, a unit of local government, a public agency, and tribal governments. 84% of current RAISE grants are bicycle, pedestrian, or transit projects. If a recipient was involved in an Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment (ATIIP) project that was not funded, they may be able to apply for the same project under RAISE. Eligible projects include capital projects and planning projects. Deadline: January 30, 2025. Here are successful applications submitted by previous awardees: https://localinfrastructure.org/resources/winning-applications/raise/ 

TxDOT’s 2025 Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TA) Program Call for Projects Opens

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TxDOT officially opens its 2025 Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TA) Call for Projects for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and planning. The TA program provides funding to plan for and construct a variety of alternative transportation projects that improve safety and mobility for non-motorized travelers and mitigate congestion by providing safe alternatives to motor vehicle transport. 

Through TxDOT’s 2025 TA Call for Projects, the department will select projects for recommendation to the Texas Transportation Commission (commission) for FY 2027-FY 2029 federal appropriations consistent with anticipated funding levels associated with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and subsequent funding bills totaling approximately $250 million. Projects located in all areas of the state, regardless of population size, may be submitted under this call.

This Call for Projects features a two-step application process. The Preliminary Application (Step 1) provides high-level proposed project information to determine eligibility and funding opportunities. Following successful completion of Step 1, a Detailed Application (Step 2) provides more comprehensive project information. This two-step approach is intended to enhance the quality of project applications and to foster communication between prospective project sponsors and TxDOT District staff. Both steps must be completed in order for a project to be considered for funding under this program call.

TxDOT’s 2025 TA Program Guide and Preliminary Application (Step 1) are available on the department’s website at: https://www.txdot.gov/business/grants-and-funding/bicycle-pedestrian-local-federal-funding-programs.html. TxDOT’s 2025 TA Program Guide includes detailed information about eligibility requirements, specific procedures applicable to this Call for Projects, evaluation criteria, a map of the department’s district offices, a list of the District TA Coordinators, and a list of workshop dates for prospective project sponsors. 

The completed Preliminary Application must be received by TxDOT via Box.com, as outlined in the preliminary application instructions, no later than 5:00 p.m., CDT, on Friday, February 21, 2025. The Detailed Application (Step 2) will be distributed to eligible project sponsors on or about April 16, 2025.

Please attend one of the upcoming workshops to learn more about this opportunity. Below is link to the workshop schedule and invite.

2025 TA Project Sponsor Workshops

Bobcat Company proposes new grant for a Park and Rec Makeover Contest

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Is your favorite park in need of a favor?

Enter your community to win a $100,000 Park & Rec Makeover.

Bobcat Company, a global equipment, innovation and worksite solutions brand, has launched a nationwide Bobcat Park and Rec Makeover Contest to give one community a $100,000 park makeover.  

The Bobcat Park and Rec Makeover Contest is open to communities in the U.S. with a shovel-ready park and recreation project. Funds can be used to renovate or create a park and recreation space or facility based on the winning community’s needs.   

To learn more and to apply click here.

City of Vernon adopts WOW-E Proclamation

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On Tuesday, April 23rd, the City of Vernon in Wilbarger County held their city commission meeting where community leaders, practitioners, and advocates signed and approved the WOW-E proclamation. Signees included members of Vernon College, Wilbarger County AgriLife, Wilbarger General Hospital, Vernon Farmer’s Market Association, Vernon Boys and Girls Club, Wichita Falls Area Food Bank, Wilbarger County Campfire, Vernon Chamber of Commerce, and Carnegie City/County Library. WOW-E participants in Vernon were excited about the proclamation and are wanting to build public awareness about the program. The WOW-E proclamation is a commitment to the WOW-E program, can be used to garner additional community support and attention for the initiative and future efforts, can publicly recognize the community as a WOW-E community, and can be featured as a WOW-E community on the WOW-E website and in social media call outs. 

The signing of the proclamation comes after Vernon residents attended WOW-E’s January kickoff event in Dallas and hosted a local kickoff event in Vernon. The community plans to participate in WOW-E’s Community Challenge which provides technical assistance to improve local physical activity amenities and increase access to healthy foods. 

Way to go, Vernon! The WOW-E team is excited to continue working with you. Wilbarger county is now set to host their community challenge on April, 30th, 2024.