2018 PLA QLD Regional Conference
 
Keynote Speakers

Dr Jenny Veitch

Designing parks for healthy active living

Parks are a key component of liveable cities and an important public resource providing opportunities for people of all ages to engage in physical activity and active recreation, connect socially with family and friends, and have contact with nature. Research on park visitation has grown considerably in the past decade, however, parks and other green spaces are currently underutilized and most visitors engage in low levels of physical activity. To maximise use of these valuable public resources and ensure the associated physical, mental and social benefits are realised, it is important to understand how to design parks so that they are appealing and beneficial for people of all ages This presentation will include an overview of recent research examining park design. It will include findings from two natural experiments that provide evidence on the impact of park refurbishment on park visitation and physical activity, photographic studies with adolescents, qualitative studies with children and families and will also discuss current research with children, adolescents and older adults.


Prof Corneel Vandelanotte  

Professor Corneel Vandelanotte leads the Physical Activity Research Group at the Central Queensland University. Prof Vandelanotte’s research has a population-based approach to health behaviour change and is focused on the development and evaluation of web-, app- and tracker-based physical activity interventions. Prof Vandelanotte is an author on over 150 international peer-reviewed scientific journal publications and he is the most published author worldwide in the area of physical activity related e- & mHealth research. Prof Vandelanotte has been awarded over $7.5 million of competitive research funds and had received prestigious research fellowships from the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. He is leading the world renowned 10,000 Steps Australia program (Queensland Health Funded), which has attracted over 360,000 members and has over 50,000 app downloads.



Breeanna Brock

Breeanna Brock was the first female CEO to be appointed in the AFL. In her five-year tenure in female football, she has cemented Queensland’s reputation as one of the powerhouse states for women’s AFL.  By establishing the Brisbane Lions inaugural women’s team, who went on to play an undefeated debut AFLW season, Breeanna has created a full playing pathway for the women and girls of Queensland. With access to this elite, high performing environment, females are no longer forced to abandon a game they love due to lack of professional opportunity.  Above all, Breeanna’s work is slowly dismantling age-old thinking around female representation in sport, to create a more level, gender-balanced, playing field.“In my current role, I am able to combine my passion for AFL with helping women to achieve equality and success – both on and off the sports field.”