Sport & Exercise

Our society has reached a pinnacle in physically inactive behavior, affecting all age groups and present throughout all socio-economic levels. This situation contributes to increasing health issues, subsequently contributing to decreased participation in society, work absences, and social isolation. The recent report of the Dutch inspectorate of education (April, 2018) witnessed a dramatic decline of motor competence among children in primary education, partly caused by an inactive lifestyle. How can this epidemic rise of physical inactivity be reversed and can a sustained activity change across the life span be reached?

In this course we will address this challenge and work towards a feasible, and science-based, solution. For this we will use theories and concepts from different disciplines, such as pedagogy, psychology, sociology, communication science, and information technology. The course consists of four classes of one hour, and a number of workgroups in which a plan of work for a possible solution is discussed and formulated. This solution has the form of a grant proposal, in which aspects of theory, feasibility, and societal impact are addressed among other aspects. The plan of work will be a team effort of students and lecturers together.

Lecturers: prof. Bert Steenbergen (Behavioural Science Institute), dr. Hidde Bekhuis (Radboud Social Cultural Research), and others