The Generate Network is an initiative established to support, connect and engage young professionals in the sport and recreation industry.  It was launched at the 2017 Parks and Leisure Australia National Conference, and since its inception, Otium Planning Group has a three year partnership with Parks and Leisure Australia to support the network.

With the recent appointment of Kristen Davies as the Chair of the Australian Generate Network, the program was relaunched at this years’ International Parks and Leisure Congress.

To highlight our commitment to developing young professionals in the parks and leisure industry, our own Otium Recreation Planner, Caitlin Christie, attended the national conference for the first time.  Following is her reflection of her time at and key learnings from the conference, as a young professional in the industry.

The International Parks and Leisure Congress held at the MCG here in Melbourne was my first experience at such an event. There were some amazing speakers, the chance to develop networks with people from across Australia and an opportunity to learn about areas of the industry that you might not otherwise be involved in.

We had the opportunity to listen to speakers from around the world. Some of my favourites included:

  • Dr Bridie O’Donnell and Josie Crea discussed professional women’s sport and the manner in which Victoria is leading the way to promote the growth in this area.
  • Margaret Gormley spoke about Phoenix Park in Dublin and the Master Plan they are implementing to improve the park. Surprisingly they found that 50% of visitors to the park were aged between 19 and 34.
  • Carl McClean discussed the Green Flags Award scheme which is an innovative program that recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreation outdoor spaces across the world.
  • Gil Penalosa presented an inspiring second keynote talk about the future of today’s cities and the role that parks will play in them.
  • Mitchell Silver presented as part of the Masterclass in Diversity and Equity and spoke about how New York undertook a study to determine how much funding had been allocated to all parks in the previous 20 years and set about spending money improving the parks that had received the fewest resources.

The Generate Networking Dinner was a fantastic opportunity to connect with people who were relatively new to the sports and leisure industry. We were given the chance to listen to some world class speakers including Jayne Miller (Chair of World Urban Parks), Gil Penalosa (Founder and Chair of 8 80 Cities), Mike King (Director at Otium Planning Group) and Kristin Davies (National Board Director of Parks and Leisure Australia/Chair of Generate Network Australia). They spoke about how they began in the industry and some of the lessons they had learnt along the way. It was fantastic to chat to such well respected people in their field in an informal and social setting.

Otium’s support of the Generate Network includes a financial commitment as well as some technical support for Generate projects and provision of mentoring opportunities for a number of young professionals every year. The first recipient, Sarah McPhee, Recreation Development Officer at Macedon Ranges Shire Council, is being mentored by

Kate Maddock, Otium’s Managing Director.

Further information about the Generate Network may be found at their website at http://www.generatenetwork.org.