The intent of the Strategic Direction 2023 is to provide city departments and their staff with a blueprint for how to realize the vision outlined in Imagine Austin. It is because we strive daily to be the most livable city in the nation, that we find ourselves always looking for ways to provide the greatest impact for our community in the most responsible and ethical way achievable.

It is through SD23 that departments get to collaborate with each other and work towards a common goal. For the Culture and Lifelong Learning Outcome Category, number of participants in City-offered lifelong learning events, activities, and resources is a way the city can monitor and assess how well we are serving the communities creative needs. This year the Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) will take the lead on reporting data for this metric in FY19, however, will include data from contributing departments such as Austin Public Health and Economic Development Department.

Currently there is limited data available for this metric, however, the metric is intended to capture the volume of participants utilizing lifelong learning opportunities offered by the city of Austin. In this case, the creative community sponsored by city departments like PARD, Austin Public Health, and Economic Development provide numerous opportunities for professional development of artists and arts instructors who provide programming to the community at large. In addition to providing professional development opportunities for artists and creatives, the reporting departments also provide special events and community outreach activities that benefit the creative community and contribute to the enhancement of Austin’s creative economy.

The 2019 data shows we are close to our target, due to enhanced effort to coordinate the creative resources offered on behalf of the City of Austin. The three collaborating departments see the value of the collective impact and have a commitment to partner and share resources in order to further this outcome now and well into the future.

Site and program specific information is currently only available for the Parks & Recreation Department; however, the intent is to provide a collective PARD, APL and EDD combined outcome by 2021 reporting year.

The Museums and Cultural Arts Programs Division of PARD offers many opportunities for the community to explore interests and learn about art or new cultures through instructor led programming or drop-in programming intended for viewing or individual interaction such as exhibitions/showings at PARD museums or cultural facilities.

 These types of opportunities enhance one’s personal exploration of hobbies and leisure interests and has been shown to lead to many overall health and wellness benefits over time. 

This strategic measure aligns with Our Parks Our Future, Long Range Plan; Strategy D—Align programs with community interest. Action Item #3—Increase the number, diversity, and equitable distribution of arts and cultural programs being offered through PARD.During the community engagement portion of Our Parks, Our Future planning, an emerging theme was interest and desire for increased arts/cultural programming in parks. This includes increased community-focused programming and more cultural centers that could host these kinds of programs.

 Note: to see the underlying data for this chart, please select the "View Source Data" link in the chart

Part of PARD’s model is to provide access to spaces within the park system for community use. The Museums & Cultural Programs Division has facilities where they provide both free access to the use of cultural and historic spaces through partnerships and co-sponsorship agreements, in addition to providing access to these cultural and historic spaces for a reduced or subsidized fee. This strategic measure is intended to be reported using a collective output with Austin Public Libraries and Economic Development Department. Through the strategic planning process, city departments realized the strength in collaboration and co-sponsorships to further community reach and impact. For fiscal year reporting 2021, all three departments will be presenting data that represents the collective city contribution to life long learning in Austin.