Chantal Royer

Sporting and leisure activities among adolescents: A case study of the spatial planning of the proximity of leisure and sports facilities in rural and suburban territories in Quebec

Quebec, like other Canadian provinces, is dealing with sedentary lifestyle problems affecting its youth. Several recent studies have suggested that good-quality spatial planning regarding recreational and sporting facilities helps to increase the level of physical activity youth undertake. However, this correlation also intermingles with spatial elements linked to the living environments of youth (urban, suburban, and rural), and this study was conducted from this perspective. It aims to analyze the spatial planning quality of recreation and sports facilities in the regional county municipality of Joliette according to youth aged between 12 and 17, and, concomitantly, identify the perceptions of local actors working or involved with youth regarding these spatial planning elements. Through 16 focus groups, this study brings to light the key elements for making the proximity of leisure and sporting venues attractive to adolescents, namely accessibility, animation, and multifunctionality.

Exploring rural youth leisure behaviour in Québec: social findings and territorial issues

Recreation and leisure undoubtedly enhance youth’s physical and mental well-being, thereby securing an important position in public policies related to public health and spatial development. Many Canadian municipalities, however, face a lack of participation in organized recreational activities for youth. This paper presents the results of a qualitative research study completed in the region of Lanaudière in Quebéc. The main goals of this research were to identify forms of recreational activities sought by rural youth aged 12–17 years, their needs in terms of leisure, as well as barriers related to their recreational participation. This study shows evidence that issues about economic and geographic accessibility are central to youth’s decisions on recreation and leisure. It also shows that notions of playing and implication should be at the heart of the proposed activities.

How Various Segments of Visitors Perceive l’Accueil in the Places Where They Eat, Sleep, and Play

ABSTRACT ‘Accueil’ is a French word that means feeling welcome somewhere and being introduced into a process that takes the visitor from being an outsider (a stranger) to being an insider (one of us). Accueil also means feeling the host’s genuine pleasure in welcoming his or her guests through words, attitudes, and actions. Based on a survey (n = 1,003) done for the Quebec Department of Tourism1, we look at how different segments of visitors perceived the ‘accueil’ they received while traveling in the province of Quebec. The results are analysed for lodging, restaurants and attractions. We found that accueil is perceived differently depending on the age of the visitor, the group size and its composition. To a lesser extend, it is also influenced by gender and social status. The characteristics of the trip (distance, purpose and length) have little impact on accueil.

Connaître et comprendre le monde À travers le loisir

Ce numéro de Loisir et Société réunit des textes qui portent sur des thèmes variés. Ils ont été choisis parmi les articles soumis à la revue en dehors des thèmes planifiés. Pour construire ce numéro, nous avons rassemblé divers types de contributions non pas en fonction de la logique thématique qu’elles présentent, puisque à la base il n’y en a pas, mais plutôt en raison de leur présence dans la file d’attente pour publication. La trame du numéro est donc une construction à posteriori. Déterminer un fil conducteur ou trouver un point de convergence dans un numéro composite n’est pas un exercice facile, mais il n’est pas insurmontable. Aussi, c’est en y regardant bien et à partir de différents angles de vue que le loisir s’est révélé vitrine sur le monde, tout particulièrement sur les sociétés qui le composent. Le loisir, en tant qu’objet d’étude, permet en effet de mieux comprendre le monde parce qu’il met en scène des particularités sociales et individuelles telles que des valeurs, des idéologies, des façons de faire, bref, des modes de pensée et d’agir. Ce numéro en témoigne éloquemment.

The many facets of leisure.

Over the past two years, our review has received a great number of articles dealing with a range of subjects outside those dealt within our calls for papers, As a result, our files now contain a significant number of articles which lie beyond the spectrum of our current thematic editions. We have therefore decided to offer a multithematic edition as an outlet for this abundance of texts. This allows our review to give an audience to articles that otherwise would have been difficult to fit in, while fulfilling the review’s purpose, which is the dissemination and promotion of leisure-related scientific knowledge.

Leisure Studies: Challenges, Stakes and Methodological Perspectives

We are witnesses of the research processes used by researchers in various domains and by graduate students; witnesses also of the problems inherent to most research processes, whether qualitative or quantitative, inductive or deductive, exploratory or confirmatory, all presenting obstacles that one way or another have to be overcome by the research workers, who themselves are witnesses and unfortunately too often victims of the rapid passage of time and the requirement that they speedily generate significant knowledge. And it is as witnesses that we have determined to revisit the area of strategies and methods, of the construction of knowledge and of science. In this context, the call for papers for the present number quite deliberately ranged wide, in order to tempt researchers from a variety of areas to write and share their analyses, experiences and thoughts on the chosen theme. This means that, this time around, we are not necessarily publishing empirical studies, but rather articles that have theoretical characteristics and a methodological flavour.