How many of the 22 County Parks did you get to this year? 2022 is about to come to an end and it is a good time to check in and wrap things up for the 22 in 22 project. Our goal was to create a community effort that would lead to more awareness of the natural beauty in our parks, greater connection among our neighbors, and ultimately a healthier community. This project took on a life of its own and by many measures it was a huge success.
As an experiment in community building where people contribute what they can to a core set of ideas and activities it is hard to know exactly what the impact was but some of our evidence that this was a success include:
- 1,300 visits to the website (Roc22in22.org)
- 100 trips logged on our website
- 1000s of cards distributed
- More than 300 participants in events we organized in parks
Our stories are also part of the success. We heard from people across the county who were visiting parks for the first time with their families, trying new activities, and pushing themselves to get to all 22. We would love to hear your stories.
There is clearly a community need we met with the 22 in 22 project and we want to celebrate the efforts of anyone who contributed to getting others out into our parks this year as part of this initiative. Even if you just said to your friend, “Let’s go see what Genesee Valley Park looks like.”, you did important work toward getting our community more connected to nature and each other. On January 1 we will have our First Day hike at Highland Park from 1-3. Please join us to celebrate the 22 in 22 project.
Looking forward to 2023
A sports and recreation management class at St John Fisher University has proposed a set of 23 City and Town parks in Monroe County for the next stage of this project.
(Read more: https://www.sjf.edu/news-and-events/news-archive/fall-2022/a-mission-to-encourage-engagement-with-nature/)
In January we will bring together an organizing committee to develop and launch 23 in 23. There is the potential for this project to grow with enough support from volunteers.
Please reach out to get involved:
Chris Widmaier, Executive Director – cwidmaier@rocecology.org
Much Appreciation to the 22 in 22 Organizing Committee and Supporting Partners
- Kyra Stephenson
- Wendy Quarles
- Debi Bower / Day Trips Around Rochester, NY
- Richard Burack
- Atim Okung
- Jesse Pryor
- Ken Parulski
About Rochester Ecology Partners
Rochester Ecology Partners serves people in Greater Rochester through nature-based experiential learning and activities that cultivate community connectedness. We believe that by employing integrated and innovative approaches to helping people find nature where they live, work, and play, we can improve our community’s capacity to co-create a hopeful future.
Please consider supporting the work of Rochester Ecology Partners with a donation.
