YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
On April 28 and 29, 2015, publishers Playground + Landscape were able to welcome more than 120 participants to the third exercise plan plenum held at the Maritim Hotel, Schlossgarten, Fulda in Germany. Their objective was to discuss the future perspectives for public leisure areas and playgrounds. A programme of 14 well-known speakers made first-class presentations on the individual aspects of this topic and provided their audience with a range of insights into the problems involved.
From a content point of view, the first day of this event was characterised by presentations entitled "Basics of Exercise Area Planning" and including contributions from landscape architects, community personnel, scientists and citizens' initiative groups. On the second day, the topics "Inclusive Play" and "Safety in the playground" were focussed on. Here also, different speakers from many areas of expertise provided information about their activities and advice to the participants – community employees, landscape architects, academics and representatives of the playground industry - for use in their daily work.
During the breaks between the presentations, participants had the opportunity to discuss topics among themselves or ask questions of the speakers. Whether with coffee or tea in the conference room, during visits to the sponsor booths or a walk in the neighbouring "Schlossgarten" gardens, the opportunity for networking and discussion was put to good and varied use. The whole event was rounded off by the unique flair of the baroque surroundings of the venue which created a wonderful atmosphere for the plenum. From the point of view of the organiser, this year's event was extremely positive and many of the participants and speakers were also of this opinion as was shown by the results of an anonymous survey made at the end of the plenum and statements received. The organisers would like to express their great thanks to the panel of speakers for their absolutely successful and informative presentations, to the participants for their interest and attention and to the conference hotel for the first-class service. Next year's Exercise Plan Plenum in Fulda is a fixed date in the agenda – make a note of the date: April 12 and 13, 2016!
