Advocacy & Policy Development Flashcards

Which type of public-private partnership model involves a private entity financing, building, and operating a park facility while the public agency retains ownership?

Answer: Design-Build-Finance-Operate (DBFO)

Under a DBFO model, a private partner handles design, construction, financing, and operations, while the public agency retains asset ownership — a common structure in park facility advocacy for capital funding gaps.

In the context of NRPA advocacy, the 'Parks as Prescription' initiative aims to connect parks to which policy area?

Answer: Public health and preventive medicine

Parks as Prescription connects park and recreation agencies with health care providers to formally prescribe park activities as preventive health interventions, linking parks to public health policy.

A park agency seeks to place a park bond measure on the ballot. Which stakeholder engagement step is MOST critical before the measure is written?

Answer: Conducting community needs assessments to identify priorities that voters will support

Community needs assessments identify what residents value most, ensuring bond measure priorities reflect public demand and increasing the likelihood of voter approval.

Which principle of effective policy advocacy states that advocates should identify and address opposing arguments before opponents raise them?

Answer: Inoculation

Inoculation theory in advocacy holds that pre-emptively acknowledging and countering opposing arguments strengthens the audience's resistance to those arguments when they hear them from opponents.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), when must a park agency prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)?

Answer: For major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment

NEPA requires an EIS for major federal actions that may significantly affect the human environment, a threshold that triggers comprehensive environmental review and public participation.

A park professional attending NRPA's Congressional Management Conference (now NRPA Advocacy) should prepare which key document before meeting with legislators?

Answer: A one-page fact sheet tailored to that legislator's district with local park impact data

A district-specific one-pager that translates national park data into local impact figures resonates with legislators and their staff who are primarily focused on their constituents.

Which concept describes the process by which park advocates work to keep an issue on the government's formal policy agenda despite competing priorities?

Answer: Agenda maintenance

Agenda maintenance involves sustained advocacy efforts — ongoing communication, coalition activity, and media engagement — to ensure parks remain a recognized government priority over time.