Ask a Researcher: Dr. Fenton Litwiller explains how accessible recreation facilities can build community well-being.
In the Ask A... series, experts from across the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management will answer your questions about sports, recreation, kinesiology, community development and more.
A: Recreation amenities that are within walking distance act as what is called a third place. This is a space that is away from home and it's away from work. And these spaces are where we build and maintain supportive friendships. And it's where community really comes alive.
In 2024, the Women's Lab in Toronto reported on an epidemic of loneliness. They showed that about one third of older adults feel lonely at least some of the time, and that this really negatively impacts a lot of health outcomes and a lot of measures. One of the recommendations was a national strategy to address loneliness. Neighborhood recreation facilities are not only the antidote to loneliness, but they're a facilitator of individual and community well-being.
Winnipeg’s recreation strategy emphasizes developing and maintaining facilities at a small scale as well as a large scale. So regional and city-wide amenities are meant to serve community members who live within six kilometers of the site. But a growing body of research is showing that there's a connection between low income and a lack of access to these recreation services, with transportation being one of the major barriers, not the only, but one of the major barriers.
Dr. Fenton Litwiller is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management where they teach recreation and community development classes, with a critical focus on inclusion and belonging.
Litwiller is a University of Manitoba Falconer Emerging Researcher Award winner, and their research has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Research Manitoba and the University of Manitoba.
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