There are many demographic factors that park and recreation professionals must be aware of when developing recreation programming or park and facility design. The demographic trends to watch include economic, social, economic, cultural, political, environmental and geographic. Park and recreation agencies must respond proactively to emerging trends in order to remain an important role in creating community through people, parks and programs.

Trendscan is created by Leisure Lifestyle Consulting of Glastonbury, CT. Comments and questions can be directed to Dr. Ellen O'Sullivan at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please feel free to share with her other ideas you have for tracking prevailing winds as well as interesting trend information.

Trendscan is a members-only service of CPRS. To become a member click here.

May 2013 trendSCAN

• Australia completes a Sports Megatrends study.  Can you begin to imagine the implications for our society?  What positive outcomes does interaction between children and older adults  hold for greater community well-being?

April 2013 trendSCAN

• Check out the 17 actions parks and recreation agencies can take based on this month's trends - Adult Camps, Music Lessons, or the New Age of Aging.

March 2013 trendSCAN

• Technology makes a huge impact on bringing cocooning back, changes from online to mobile dating, and the need to disconnect.  Other trends in the economy and demographics lead to a Opportunities for parks and recreation.

February 2013 trendSCAN

• What are the opportunities out there for parks and recreation?  Well, JWT identifies 'play" as the #1 trend for 2013 - Millennials are experiencing high levels of stress - and the health of Americans when compared to other developed countries is worse than we can imagine.

January 2013 trendSCAN

• The future is ours to create -as organizations and individuals.  When is the last time you had a "value conversation"?  Are you Beta-tect?  Should you become one?  Will FOMO affect the psyche of our society?  These and more in this month's trendSCAN.

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