Trends in recreational walking trail usage in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for practice.

Despite its potential utility for the outdoor recreation sector, there is no centralised surveillance system for recreational walking trails in Ireland and thus trail usage in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown. This paper aims to report trends in footfall count data on Irish trails during the COVID-19 period and to triangulate findings with openly available mobility data. This descriptive study analysed changes in footfall counts gathered from passive infrared sensors on 33 of Ireland's recreational walking trails between January 2019 and December 2020. The relationship between Google Community Mobility Report (GCMR) data and footfall counts was analysed to corroborate trends in footfall data. Total footfall increased by 6% between 2019 and 2020 on trails included in this analysis. Notably, mean trail usage was between 26% and 47% higher in October-December 2020 than during the same period in 2019. A strong correlation between GCMR data from 'parks' and footfall count data was found. The conclusions of this study are twofold. Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic increased trail usage in Ireland, especially on trails closer to urban areas and there is potential for this to be a lasting legacy. Secondly, combining multiple data sources can provide trail managers with more detailed representations of trail usage and currently these are not harmonised. Future research should examine ways to encourage sustained recreational walking trail use in new users and implement novel ways to coordinate datasets across systems to monitor visitors on Irish recreational walking trails. Management implications: This paper presents a number of implications for trail management teams to consider:•Openly available datasets pertaining to mobility, such as Google Community Mobility Reports, can be utilised to corroborate data collected from footfall sensors in place on trails. Furthermore, there may be potential for Google Trends data to help trail management teams gauge interest in specific trails and parks during defined time frames.•There is considerable potential to sustain the COVID-19 legacy of increased trail use, especially for trails closer to urban areas, through promotional campaigns and continued trail maintenance.•There is a need to work across sectors and disciplines within the recreational walking system to identify potential data sources and opportunities for further data collection.

A critical analysis of walking policy in Ireland and its contribution to both national and international development goals.

Introduction: Increasing population levels of walking holds benefits for public and planetary health. While individual level interventions to promote walking have been shown to be efficacious, upstream interventions such as policies harness the greatest potential for impact at the population level. However, little is known about the nature and presence of walking policy in Ireland and the extent to which it aligns to national and global goals. This paper aims to provide an overview of local and national walking policy in Ireland and to understand the potential of Irish walking policy to contribute to national and global targets. Methods: This study used multiple methods to provide a critical overview of walking policy. Firstly, a six-phase process was employed to conduct a content analysis of local and national walking policy in Ireland. Secondly, conceptual linkage exercises were conducted to assess the contribution of walking, and national walking policy in Ireland, to Ireland's National Strategic Outcomes and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Results: Overall, half (n = 13) of the counties in the Republic of Ireland were found to have no local level walking policies. Results from the content analysis suggest that counties which had walking specific local level policies (n = 2) were outdated by almost two decades. Walking was identified to hold the potential to contribute to over half (n = 6) of Ireland's National Strategic Outcomes, and over half (n = 7) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Ireland's only national level walking specific policy, the Get Ireland Walking Strategy and Action Plan 2017-2020, was identified to potentially contribute to four of Ireland's National Strategic Outcomes and three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Discussion: Multidisciplinary action is required to update walking-related policy with embedded evaluation and governance mechanisms in all local walking systems. Furthermore, given sufficient collaboration across sectors, walking policy in Ireland has the potential to contribute to a wider breadth of national and global targets beyond the health, sport, tourism, and transport sectors.

Using systems science methods to enhance the work of national and local walking partnerships: practical insights from Ireland.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) literature is dominated by individual-level descriptive studies, which are known to have limited impact on population PA levels. Leveraging systems science methods offers opportunities to approach PA in a manner which embraces its inherent complexity. This study describes how participatory systems mapping and social network analysis (SNA) were used to understand the work of local and national level walking systems in Ireland. METHODS: Two adapted participatory action research workshops with multisectoral stakeholders were used to develop a systems map for walking in Cork, Ireland. The Global Action Plan for Physical Activity 2018-2030 (GAPPA) map was used as a framework to categorize workshop outcomes. Secondly, SNA methods were used to analyse the communication network between partners of Get Ireland Walking, a national walking promotion initiative, as defined within their strategic plan and the actual communication network as experienced by the partners. RESULTS: The systems mapping process allowed stakeholders to identify 19 suggested actions for the Cork walking system. The SNA found that there were considerably fewer communication ties between partners in the actual communication network than in the strategy defined network. CONCLUSION: The systems mapping process was a useful catalyst for engaging stakeholders in cross-sectoral communication and the GAPPA was a practical way to organize workshop outcomes. Social network analysis methods highlighted that the communication network of a national level walking promotion partnership is not working as planned. Overall, the use of systems science methods can provide practical insights for local and national level walking systems.