About The Institute for Urban Parks

“Helping Other Parks” is a core value of the Central Park Conservancy and is a part of our organizational mission. Since its earliest days, the Conservancy has provided critical assistance and support to parks throughout New York City and across the globe.

The Institute for Urban Parks, founded in 2013, builds on the Conservancy’s expertise as a leader in the field of urban park management and public-private park partnerships to provide professional education, capacity building, peer-to-peer exchange, and thought leadership to strengthen the field of urban park management so that all park professionals have the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to create and support successful and sustainable parks.

Urban Park Management Certificate

Urban Park Leadership Program

Partnerships Lab

Urban Park Roundtable

Urban Park Chat

Resource Library

Meet Our Team

Continuing Education

Great parks need great leaders. In partnership with City University of New York School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS), the Institute’s continuing education opportunities provide proven practices and firsthand knowledge on topics paramount to successful park management.

Urban Park Management Certificate

Focusing on essential practices in urban park management, the certificate offers current and aspiring park professionals with critical skills in key disciplines.

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Urban Park Leadership Program

Designed for senior-level urban park professionals, the Leadership Program offers the skills and knowledge critical to the successful management of urban parks and the public-private partnerships that support them.

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Partnerships Lab

Through the Partnerships Lab, the Institute engages in collaborative, creative partnerships with organizations that support urban parks in order to help strengthen their ability to foster great public spaces. By strengthening organizations that support parks, the Institute seeks to ensure that all communities receive the social, economic, environmental, and health benefits that parks provide when well-planned and maintained.

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Urban Park Roundtable

Every spring and fall, the Urban Park Roundtable series invites park professionals across North America for a two-day convening, focused on relevant topics, challenges, and innovations in the field in urban park management and opportunities to engage with a broad network of peers.

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Urban Park Chat

The Institute hosts a weekly conversation between urban park professionals from park nonprofits and agencies to swap stories “from the field,” discover strategies to navigate the uncertainties of the moment, and learn, in real time, from the experiences of others in the urban park management field.

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Ask Us a Question

Institute staff are here to answer inquiries related to urban park management via our Peer-to-Peer form.

Get in Touch

Resource Library

Publications, presentations, videos, and more to foster urban park stewardship.

Visit the Library

Sign up for updates about programs, resources, and professional development opportunities related to urban park management.

Support for the Institute for Urban Parks is provided by The JPB Foundation, The Jerome L. Greene Foundation, The Prospect Hill Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Charina Endowment Fund, Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Ralph & Ricky Lauren, Sarah Peter, and Mr. & Mrs. Russell L. Carson.