Interprofessional collaborative playground design and development

The importance of play to children’s overall development is welldocumented. One of the relevant contexts in which play is both supported and observed is the outdoor playground. There are variations in playgrounds for which multiple forms of knowledge are required in their design and development. Indeed, fully addressing the complexity of child, family, school, and community interests and needs when designing and developing playgrounds is beyond the scope of any single disciplinary perspective.

Thus, the convergence of knowledge of personnel representing different disciplines and community members is crucial for developing innovative playgrounds that allow children to develop, make friends, and play as equals. Despite this need, there is a significant divide in how the different personnel approach playground design.

In this position paper, we consider efforts to collaboratively bridge the gap between stakeholders and offer steps for engaging in a shared educational approach to interprofessional collaborative playground design. We describe the overarching context of both the academic and business environments; differing logics; time concerns; communication practices, rigor and relevance, and interests and incentives. We consider efforts to collaboratively bridge the gap between stakeholders and offer steps for engaging in a shared educational approach to interprofessional collaborative playground design and development.