VMBO Sportlab

How to you get VMBO students to continue playing sport and exercising for the long term?

Duration: 1 September 2022 until 1 September 2025
Project member(s): Prof. B. Steenbergen (Bert)
Project type: Research
Organisation: Behavioural Science Institute, Faculty of Social Sciences

A consortium comprising young people, practicioners and researchers carry out practice-orientated and needs-based research into how to sustainability increase participation of VMBO (pre-vocational secondary education) students in sport and exercise, so that they remain active later in life. The intention is that the solutions mainly come from the youngsters themselves.

This project provides insight into the successful application in practice of a sport and exercise approach for 12- to 16-year-olds and into the development of an effective activity offer that does justice to the diversity within the target group. In addition to mapping what works in existing and new initiatives, the motivations of the students and the differences in context, such as between the city and countryside, will be investigated.

Young people help conceive fresh ideas

Many existing initiatives fail to seek a solution primarily from the youngsters themselves, says lead researcher Bert Steenbergen, Professor of Perception and Action Problems. It is for this reason he took part in a special thinking session organised last year by ZonMW, the so-called Sandpit. The thinktank comprised a group of 25 researchers, practitioners and VMBO students, in which the young people played a key role. The concept plan formulated during the session was developed into an extensive programme that has now been funded by ZonMW.