A Course for Thoughtful Professionals:

Although this is not a credit course, it is similar in nature to courses in graduate (e.g., Master of Arts) programs designed for mid-career professionals.

This innovative leadership development course is designed for current and emerging leaders who work with park and protected area systems. This annual offering was launched in 2005. Executives working in major protected area systems shaped its design. It is administered by the Canadian Parks Council http://www.parks-parcs.ca/english/index.php for qualified individuals from any country. Participants from each of the seventeen sponsoring organizations to date have given the course excellent reviews.

Competencies: Learning focuses on several of the higher-end competencies included in the attached map. It taps into exciting new research about the nature of effective leadership in the kinds of multi-disciplinary, rapidly changing environments in which park leaders work. It is meant to complement other courses that bring an operational or management focus.

Progressive Design: This course employs a blended learning model. It incorporates 1) online preparation, 2) six days of intense face-to-face interaction, 3) collaborative work using teleconferences and a forum, and 4) access to an ongoing community of practice. Participants' preparation begins in August; most complete their certificate requirements in November.

This curriculum design includes activities tailored to different styles and contexts. The face-to-face portion incorporates problem-based learning: participants develop leadership skills in diverse teams, as they address a current challenge faced by the host organizations.

Highly-qualified Learning Facilitators: All learning facilitators have protected area system expertise. They also bring experience as executives, subject matter experts, boundary-spanners and scholar-practitioners.

The Park System Leadership course enables learning in forums where current and future leaders can share knowledge across space and time.

Participants Receive:
1) Over six full days of structured on-site learning
2) Field trips to explore current issues and successes
3) Behind-the-scenes stories from retired executives, former politicians or stakeholders
4) Over two months of part-time interaction with facilitators and colleagues through teleconferences and online work
5) Learning aids including an ecologically-friendly binder
6) A copy of a leadership reference book
7) Other electronic and print resources
8) The opportunity to provide input into a current, significant park leadership challenge being faced by host organizations
9) A greatly expanded network of colleagues and
10) The option of joining, shaping and growing a community of practice for park professionals.

Leaders can be found in all levels of an organization. Here we mean persons who exhibit leadership, whether that be through executive, line, advisory, or networking roles.

History and Evolution

The Park System Leadership course was developed through the Canadian Park Council (CPC), which is made up of senior public servants who manage park and protected area systems. They noted that leaders in park and protected area systems work with increasingly significant challenges and increasingly complex environments. Furthermore, their jobs are distinctive; they may have more in common with managers thousands of miles away than those who work with organizations down the road.

Although this course was first offered in 2005, it builds on Canadian park directors’ commitments to learning at national and international levels. In 1970, CPC’s predecessor—the Federal Provincial Parks Council—endorsed the launch of an annual course, which carried on until 2002.

The CPC course has evolved from the FPPC offering in many respects including:

* A focus on current and future leaders in park and protected area systems
* More focus on adult learning principles and techniques such as
o active participant engagement and
o application of learning
* Greater continuity throughout the course
* A shorter face-to-face period, with work online before and after the face-to-face engagement.

Curriculum

This is not an operational or technical course. The primary topics, which vary slightly from year to year, are:

* Trends and future challenges
* Ecosystem and cultural heritage management
* The business of managing parks, which includes topics such as public engagement and governance.

These topics are woven together with other themes and activities including:

* The nature of leadership
* Relevance of park systems
* Interdisciplinary thinking
* A current, real-life challenge brought to the participants for hands-on work.

Course Format

There are six face-to-face curriculum days, with online work leading up to and following the face-to-face sessions.

Host Agencies

The host agencies vary each year. The province or territory in which the course is situated collaborates with the local field unit of Parks Canada. The hosts assist with the problem-based learning challenge and related field tours.

For More Information

For more information, contact Alice MacGillivray Alice@4KM.net or John Good good@parks-parcs.ca.