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Equalizer: Breaking down the barriers at informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces

Högdahl, Elisabeth LU and Book, Karin (2022) In Leisure Studies
Abstract
A popular strategy for activating the urban population physically is to provide informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces. However, building an infrastructure does not assure physical activity among the wider population. For instance, girls tend to be underrepresented at public sport places. To create more equal physical activity opportunities in public space, we need to uncover and interpret the barriers. Therefore, outdoor sport and recreational spaces are interesting to examine, as they provide a possibility to understand gender in relation to norms, activity, and public space. The project Equalizer – a tool for equal and inclusive activity places deals with the perspectives of gender, place, and physical activity to create changes... (More)
A popular strategy for activating the urban population physically is to provide informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces. However, building an infrastructure does not assure physical activity among the wider population. For instance, girls tend to be underrepresented at public sport places. To create more equal physical activity opportunities in public space, we need to uncover and interpret the barriers. Therefore, outdoor sport and recreational spaces are interesting to examine, as they provide a possibility to understand gender in relation to norms, activity, and public space. The project Equalizer – a tool for equal and inclusive activity places deals with the perspectives of gender, place, and physical activity to create changes in the use of public informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces. This paper aims to discuss the experience-based, participatory method of disturbances used in the Equalizer project and some of the central findings and solutions. The findings indicate that the barriers for engaging in physical activity at informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces are multi-faceted, as are the possible solutions to overcome the barriers and open up the places to more people. We identified four types of solutions based on the identified barriers: spatial/physical, organisational/support-related, activity-related, and norm/representation-related. (Less)
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author
and
organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
Equalizer, Vinnovafinansierade projekt, Inclusion, public places, Sport, method development, norm-critical approaches, disturbances, inkludering, gender, genus, Metodutveckling, normkritik, offentlig plats, public sport spaces, physical activity, gender, norms, place development, co-creation
in
Leisure Studies
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85132841866
ISSN
0261-4367
DOI
10.1080/02614367.2022.2088833
project
Service Studies Culture
Equalizer
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c04bcf18-f3f3-49f0-8089-e9e536ce619d
date added to LUP
2022-07-01 10:58:45
date last changed
2023-11-21 09:56:16
@article{c04bcf18-f3f3-49f0-8089-e9e536ce619d,
  abstract     = {{A popular strategy for activating the urban population physically is to provide informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces. However, building an infrastructure does not assure physical activity among the wider population. For instance, girls tend to be underrepresented at public sport places. To create more equal physical activity opportunities in public space, we need to uncover and interpret the barriers. Therefore, outdoor sport and recreational spaces are interesting to examine, as they provide a possibility to understand gender in relation to norms, activity, and public space. The project Equalizer – a tool for equal and inclusive activity places deals with the perspectives of gender, place, and physical activity to create changes in the use of public informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces. This paper aims to discuss the experience-based, participatory method of disturbances used in the Equalizer project and some of the central findings and solutions. The findings indicate that the barriers for engaging in physical activity at informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces are multi-faceted, as are the possible solutions to overcome the barriers and open up the places to more people. We identified four types of solutions based on the identified barriers: spatial/physical, organisational/support-related, activity-related, and norm/representation-related.}},
  author       = {{Högdahl, Elisabeth and Book, Karin}},
  issn         = {{0261-4367}},
  keywords     = {{Equalizer; Vinnovafinansierade projekt; Inclusion; public places; Sport; method development; norm-critical approaches; disturbances; inkludering; gender; genus; Metodutveckling; normkritik; offentlig plats; public sport spaces; physical activity; gender; norms; place development; co-creation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Leisure Studies}},
  title        = {{Equalizer: Breaking down the barriers at informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2022.2088833}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/02614367.2022.2088833}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}