The City of Regina commissioned LEES+Associates to develop a Parks Master Plan for the city. This plan focuses on park policies and provides a clear path to sustain, improve, and develop Regina’s parks in the future. Through community engagement activities, we helped articulate Regina’s goal to create sustainable and inclusive year-round parks, offer enriching experiences, and connect communities through nature and culture to improve the quality of life of residents and visitors.

We created the Parks Master Plan by facilitating extensive community engagement to help Regina understand how the broader community wants to use their park spaces. We conducted 15 online interviews and workshops with community groups, two online surveys, and incorporated a separate Indigenous Engagement project done by Wicehtowak Limnos Consulting Services.

The City of Regina prioritized Indigenous worldviews into their Parks Master Plan, as part of a larger strategy of moving more meaningfully towards reconciliation. Sessions were held with the Touchwood Agency Tribal Council, File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council, and the Metis Nation Saskatchewan, where there were a mix of political figures, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and invited delegates. Overall, the First Nations groups recommended incorporating signs, educational plaques, and other displays to teach Regina citizens more about Indigenous use of the land, Treaties, and the histories of the First Nations of the area as well as increased naturalization and making the parks more accessible.

First Nations representatives emphasized how naturalizing some of the urban colonial public spaces could transform them into sites of greater inclusivity, and that sentiment was also echoed by broader community feedback. In response, Regina aims to naturalize 25% of its park spaces by 2028 to achieve benefits including support for biodiversity, climate resilience, reducing potable water use, and creating a sense of place for all visitors to the parks. Part of the naturalization will also include reintroducing Indigenous plants and medicines into the park landscapes, such as sage, sweetgrass, choke cherries, and other medicinal plants. Naturalized spaces will also offer trails, outdoor education, and nature appreciation to connect us to the wonder of the world around us.

Making parks more four-season friendly is also an important part of making the parks more accessible to all Regina’s citizens. Recommendations for making the parks more appealing in the winter included more events to bring people into the parks, increased lighting, improving snow clearing for pedestrians and cyclists, and planting vegetation that can protect against prevailing northwest winter winds. These steps will bring people into the parks, make them feel safer, and also encourage more casual winter activities like skating, cross-country skiing, and tobogganing.

In May 2024, the Regina Executive Committee voted 6-0 in favour of endorsing the city’s first Parks Master Plan.