College Station, Texas, July 23, 2007--Parks Canada and the United States National Park Service are pleased to announce today the establishment of a new cross-border working group to address issues of mutual interest, as well as to share expertise and support social science research efforts in both countries.
The new shared effort, undertaken between the Chief Social Scientists and social sciences branches of Parks Canada and the United States National Park Service (USNPS), includes a commitment to exchange information and ideas, hold an annual meeting, develop annual cooperative plans on specific projects, and promote exchange visits between agency social scientists, related staff, and university researchers.
“We have issues in common, including the very important areas of methodologies and standards for collecting and reporting visitation statistics, changes in visitor use due to demographic changes (e.g., aging society and immigration) and how to make existing parks and historic sites relevant in a changing social context,” said Dr. Brenda Jones, Chief Social Scientist, Social Sciences Branch, Parks Canada. “We need to understand how common issues are addressed in both agencies, so we can be more proactive and responsive, especially in the areas of program delivery and policy management.”
The scope of the new cooperative effort goes beyond efforts undertaken in the past between the two agencies. Prospects for applied social science research will be enhanced, and one of the benefits to the new alliance will be increased contact among social scientists working on park and historic site management and policy issues. The new working group may lead to a more formal alliance in the future between the two organizations.
“The research work in both countries stands to gain with this new agreement,” said Dr. James Gramann, Visiting Chief Social Scientist, United States National Park Service. “Some things we can look forward to are improved visibility for our research, increased opportunities for common research activities, better access to information, and improved data exchange on park policy and related matters.”
The new shared efforts promise to be mutually beneficial. Since the need to understand current and future visitors is critical, the two agencies plan to address concerns such as measuring visitor trends, analysing social trends, visitor experience, interpretation, and economic valuation.
Parks Canada has just hired a Chief Social Scientist to provide functional leadership for its social science program and established a Social Science Branch at its national office. The USNPS began its innovative Visiting Chief Social Scientist program in 1996. The social science programs of both agencies have a mandate to conduct and promote state-of-the-art social science related to their respective missions, and to deliver usable knowledge to managers at multiple levels of their respective agencies and the public.
Information:
Dr. Brenda Jones
Chief Social Scientist
Parks Canada (National Office)
T : 819.994.2746
www.pc.gc.ca
Dr. James Gramann
National Park Service
Of the United States of America
1849 C Street NW
Washington DC 20240
U.S.A.
e: jgramann@tamu.edu
www.nps.gov
