1. A Standards and Comparison Tool
for the Parks and Recreation Discipline
Trish Nau, Principal Park &
Recreation Planner, ECWRPC
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
A Quick Overview

2. • PRORAGIS, is short for Park and Recreation
Operating Ratio and Geographic Information
System.
• It is a national database that allows park and
recreation agencies to benchmark with others,
develop program planning, while enhancing
overall community operations.
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
http://www.nrpa.org/PRORAGIS/

3. » Launched in January 2011.
» Searchable, online database whereby the user
(public park and recreation department) fills in
valuable information on their profile and controls
that data.
» The data is used to generate a variety of reports
and users have access to GIS mapping tools.
» PRORAGIS is a merger of two preceding NRPA
products: the 2009 Operating Ratio Study and the
NRPA GIS Model.
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013

4. » 2008, the American Park and Recreation Society (APRS) branch of
NRPA sought a means of updating the facility and area standards that
had become guidelines by the 1980’s. A project was funded and launched by
APRS/NRPA to standardize the park, trails and facility terminology for Geographic
Information Systems (GIS).
» 2009, NRPA funded and conducted an Operating Ratio
Internet Survey to get a database that answers basic operation and
management questions - could be compared with peers through the
use of ratios as a performance measure, e.g., acres per 1,000 residents
and similar. (10 acres per 1,000 is what ECWRPC uses)
» In the spring of 2010, NRPA and APRS determined that developing an
online profile that was updateable, real-time, and available for
members on a 24/7/365 basis was preferable to an annual survey with
reports that could age. It was also determined that benefit could be found by
using the new GIS Model as part of the on-line profile.
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013

5. » Comparison survey of peers
» Master planning of parks
» Comprehensive jurisdiction planning
» Strategic planning
» Business and revenue-generation planning
» Marketing of facilities, programs, and tourist
attractions
» Justification of departmental budgets (ROI)
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013

6. » Operating sections
˃ Jurisdiction Information
˃ Department Details
˃ Programs Information
˃ Budget/Funding
˃ Personnel Information
˃ Facilities
˃ Land Information
» GIS Elements
˃ Parks
˃ Trails
˃ Facilities
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
Breakdown:

7. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
Only 3 Wisconsin Counties have
completed their profiles so far
More entities probably have
completed their reports than shown –
municipal level

8. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013

9. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
» Create points, lines and polygons representing your
parks, facilities and trails on the fly.
» Upload your park, facility and trail data from the
preformatted excel spreadsheet; search for features
and associate each record with a point, line or
polygon using GIS application tools.
or
» Upload your GIS data in the NRPA schema as a
zipped file geodatabase. (easiest, less time)
» View your assets and print a map
Manage your parks, facilities, and trails:

10. » Many Attributes listed: parks, facilities, and trails
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
Excel Format for
Departments with no GIS

11. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
Lat/Long
Coordinates

12. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
Park / Facility Polygons Trail Arcs
25+ Fields

13. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
» Conversion models should be written
to ease the data import process (select and calculate)
ECWRPC has written some models for
County data conversions but not NRPA
as of yet.

14. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
http://www.nrpa.org/proragis/

15. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013

16. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013

17. » Inform your parks departments that
PRORAGIS is a great resource
» Provide the GIS data / assist with importing – Open
Data Sharing/Open Records
» A great benchmark for comparison
» Participating in PRORAGIS helps your department,
helps your county/municipality, and helps NRPA be
a better advocate for parks and recreation
nationwide
» Justification for needs of your community
» Participation is free* and voluntary
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
*Free profile and data entry, fee or membership to NRPA to
access database information of others.

18. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
http://www.nrpa.org/proragis/
http://www.nrpa.connect.org/PRORAGIS
Webinars and Assistance

19. WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013
http://www.nrpa.org/proragis/

20. » Trish Nau, Principal Recreation Planner
» ECWRPC
» 400 Ahnaip Street, Suite 100
» Menasha, WI 54952
» tnau@eastcentralrpc.org
» www.eastcentralrpc.org
WLIA Annual Conference, Lake Geneva, WI Feb. 13-15, 2013