The Rethink Group provides a wide range of planning and management services for the leisure services field - based on the close to 50 years of experience of the principals - working with all levels of government, NGOs, non-profit organizations and the commercial sector. We've completed over 150 assignments in this sector. The following types of projects define the breadth of our work and experience.

Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plans, Strategic Plans and Leisure Service Strategies

These plans and strategies provide comprehensive direction to municipalities typically for ten years.

The staff in the Ontario office of the Rethink Group have completed over three dozen of these types of assignments for communities of all sizes across Ontario and in Western Canada.

Facility Feasibility Studies and Needs Assessments

Typically, these studies comprise a needs and financial feasibility assessment, a process that defines the characteristics of the facility and usually a conceptual plan for the facility and site.

The staff in the Ontario office of the Rethink Group have completed close to 50 of these types of studies and plans for communities and organizations across Ontario and nationally (from arenas and multi-facility complexes to seniors and youth centres + older adult, leisure programming and volunteer engagement strategies). For feasibility studies, we collaborate with architects, landscape architects, engineers and cost specialists.

Open Space, Trails and Waterfront Planning

The staff in the Ontario office of the Rethink Group have completed over two dozen of these types of assignments, including park/open space system assessments and plans, studies for conservation authorities, recreational waterway plans, waterfront and marina studies and plans, trail plans, and input into park and outdoor facility designs. See samples projects below.

Forecasting and Customized Trend Scans

The Rethink Group is known internationally for our industry-leading trend research and forecasting for the leisure field. The Rethink Group is constantly monitoring trends that impact leisure interests and service delivery. We have prepared customized trend scans and reports, as well as trend newsletters for this and other sectors.

Examples of publications include:

• "The Elora Prescription"
• "LEISURE WATCH Canada" (18 editions)
• "Foresight – Acting on Trends That Matter"
• "Leisure Trends and the Older Adult"
• "Rethinking Leisure Services"
• "The Benefits of Parks and Recreation"
• The 2010 Benefits Databank

Other Types of Leisure Services Assignments

These include Marketing Strategies and Plans and Operational, Restructuring, Mandate and Policy Reviews.

Another of our areas of specialty is strategic planning and visioning. We've made a commitment to nurturing visionary and strategic leadership. From our Ontario office, we've completed close to 50 strategic plans, service strategies and visioning projects. Our clients have mainly been non-profit organizations and municipalities.

Volunteers are the 'unpaid' staff of organizations. We will work with organizations to develop volunteer engagement strategies, as well as satisfaction surveys, program audits and service assessments. We offer a wide variety of services to help organizations "attract, support and expand" their volunteer resources. We also provide customized training for staff and volunteers. In addition, we offer policy and procedure development, and prepare customized training materials and manuals.

The RETHINK GROUP has always placed a great deal of emphasis and importance on informing and engaging stakeholders, community leaders, user groups and residents to inform needs assessments and the planning process - integrating a variety of effective techniques that are custom-designed to suit each assignment.

Through hundreds of sessions, we've demonstrated outstanding skill and innovation in working with diverse groups and communities to understand their perspectives and issues, and to guide them toward a shared vision of the future.

The Firm has provided input into community and regional plans strategic plans, parks and recreation plans and strategies, policing plans and service strategies for social service agencies. We've worked with elected officials and senior staff in municipalities, government and non-profit agencies; architects; planners; engineers; policy makers; service providers; facility managers; and volunteer boards of directors.

We can design an engagement program that ensures that you hear from those you need to reach and guarantees that all involved know they've been effectively heard.

The partners at the Rethink Group have delivered hundreds of keynote addresses, conference workshops/training sessions, customized information and educational workshops, webinars, a community college Certificate Course in Volunteer Management, two online Volunteer Management courses designed for Charity Village, and customized training and coaching for individual clients.

Increasingly, the partners at the Rethink Group are being asked by municipalities and other firms to act as strategic advisers in our areas of expertise to guide, inform and otherwise assist with needs/demand assessments, feasibility studies, planning projects, service reviews and other assignments. Typically, we join their team to:

• provide advice about process, research and community engagement techniques;
• assist with analysis and recommendations;
• complete one or more components of the assignment (e.g., the community engagement program, trends research, a specific component of the analysis and/or recommendations); and
• report writing.