YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
In May 2013, the first meeting of the “Movement trail in public space” BSFH working group was held in Paderborn.
“We can increasingly see that the need of people to move in public space has increased sharply in recent years. As a sub-group of the BSFH, it is important for us that the movement spaces being created are well-planned in terms of quality and well equipped. That is why we want to be available as an information forum for municipal decision-makers and landscape architects” said Steffen Strasser, who heads up the committee. “We believe that the cross-generational movement space is not just a trend, but also the logical consequence of unstoppable demographic change that has persisted for a number of years. Precisely from the perspective of people taking on responsibility for maintaining their own health, it is ever more important to offer well-conceived and high-quality solutions for individual movement to those conscious of the need to keep fit. The desire for this can be found among all age groups and is not, of course, limited to our so-called senior citizens”.
Ultimately, it is essential to offer such solutions if one wishes to take account of demographic change. Just as the idea of public space dedicated to children at play has been fully accepted, the public movement trail is also a development that will find acceptance. Already today, there are many municipalities planning to create such offerings across their areas and many have already begun to do so.
Movement trail in public space
Almost everybody knows him: Trimmy! He was the face of a campaign organised by the former German Sports Federation in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, very much has changed, including people’s movement behaviour. While the movement offers of that time took the form of keep-fit-paths on the periphery and in local recreation areas, the current trend is towards offering movement facilities as close as possible to the local residential area.
Organised leisure sport has suffered from mobilisation problems for years, since sporting activity, above all in an urban environment, is increasingly an individual pastime. Here movement equipment in public space offers people possibilities and opportunities to do free and/or guided activities. The BSFH promotes and supports this development! They do so in the knowledge that, for example, adding movement equipment to existing children’s playgrounds makes no sense. Rather, success can meaningfully and ultimately be achieved through a profound examination of this topic.
Health and movement
More movement leads to better health and a more intensive experience of life, while enhancing the quality of life. Alongside nutrition and a healthy lifestyle, movement is the basis of a sense of fulfilment in people's lives. More and more people are looking after their health through individual movement behaviour. Sports and fitness clubs are an important pillar here. Public movement spaces are a second important pillar in people's perception as an offering that is accessible at all times and free of charge. If improved health, primarily also in the context of an ageing society, is an aim for the whole society, the creation of more movement spaces is definitely one more means of achieving that goal.
The creation and preservation of physical autonomy through more movement must be an objective of the public planning of green spaces. The use of movement trails offers a further opportunity for people to adopt or return to an active lifestyle, or to further develop their fitness. The concept of the low demands made by the movement trail, one that is intended to address primarily beginners, appears to be appropriate. Exercise and training on such a trail not only reduces the risk of falling, but is also clearly a good means by which many different forms of physical performance can be covered. Correspondingly, the likelihood of healthy ageing improves, since has been proven that sufficient physical activity enhances the quality of life and can reduce the risk of numerous, mostly chronic illnesses.
Research findings underline the positive impact of using movement trails in preventing incorrect physical behaviour and in the municipal promotion of health. People achieve better social integration in the long term by participating in a movement course programme. Of course, the nature of the whole offering should be one of absolutely voluntary participation. Concepts such as performance, ambition, strength and self-assertion are regarded critically. It is not always just a question of being faster, jumping higher, going further! This also means that the images favoured by an economy dominated by advertising of “everlasting youthfulness and an obsession with beauty and health" should not adversely impact recommendations that people should be involved in more sport and movement in old age. Every single one of us should find exactly the level and form of sport and movement that meets their needs and corresponds to their possibilities, and is tailored to their life. A movement trail not only strengthens the body, mind and soul, but also improves social relationships and reduces trends towards the exclusion and stigmatisation of older people.
Interaction rather than immobility
Movement spaces form an integral part of local sport and movement structures. The fact that they are accessible to all at any time means that they are particularly salient in public perception. If these offerings are to be used sustainably, local institutions must be closely involved. This means all local institutions whose responsibilities include movement. These may be public structures such as public offices for sports, as well as sport clubs, physiotherapists, freelance sport trainers, schools and similar.
The BSFH, promote those towns and cities that already have a movement space or are considering establishing one, initiating a local network or indeed organising one.
In this way, long-term and meaningful use in line with the objectives can be achieved more easily and quickly.
Target-group oriented movement trail in public space
Above all, in times of increasing isolation, are we to lose areas where people can meet? On the contrary: The BSFH promotes the preservation and creation of movement areas. A movement trail is understood to be an outdoor facility with equipment for training different physical abilities. With instructions from signs or given by a trainer, people can do a variety of exercises using this equipment and thus improve their ability to move, increase their strength, develop their balance and enhance their general sense of wellbeing. Individuals can promote their health through regular use of a movement trail. A movement trail for younger and older adults features equipment that is easy to use and also tempts walkers to try it out. This equipment is very stimulating and is well accepted by adults, and above all by women and older people.
These trails are characterised by equipment on which people can train without using too much strength, and which does not require high levels of mobility, coordination and stamina. Simple instructions make the equipment easier to use. There are also pieces of equipment for massaging acupuncture points and loosening up muscles. Much of the equipment can be used by two people at once, thus encouraging communication. The pilot trail of this type funded by Hesse’s ministry for social affairs was established in the Schlossgarten in Hanau.
There are also public movement trails for athletes and the physically active with ambitions.
Here even those less keen on sport can be motivated by supervised exercise. A movement trail of this kind was set up as a pilot trail in Darmstadt’s Bürgerpark and is used by athletes and guided exercise groups. These mixed trails offer equipment and thus opportunities for movement for athletes, those less accustomed to exercise and older people. A further type of movement trail provides the opportunity for children and adults to exercise together. They combine training equipment with play equipment, creating a shared experience for the whole family. This kind of trail is predominantly used by children to play and move, but many of the accompanying adults also play on the equipment with the children or at least occasionally try out the equipment.
Quality made in Germany from the members of the BSFH
In addition to high-quality and durable products, detailed and focused planning plays a key role in creating good and popular movement spaces. This is quality not only in terms of the equipment and its solid construction and execution. Quality is also achieved through sound planning and matching the offering to people's needs. It is also essential not to disregard safe use of the equipment. Member companies of the BSFH took the first steps towards the creation of the DIN norm DIN 79000, which describes safe construction, also from the perspective of knowledge gained from sports sciences.
More information:
Bundesverband der Spielplatzgeräte- und
Freizeitanlagen-Hersteller e.V.
An der Pönt 48
40885 Ratingen
www.bsfh.info
