A playful and nature-rich schoolyard?

It is the initiators’ dream that by 2030 every schoolyard in the Netherlands will be a place where:

1. nature has been brought back into children’s daily play and learning environment;

2. the design encourages more and more varied movement and play;

3. students have 25% of their lessons outdoors;

4. children and local residents also use it outside school hours.

Does your municipality want this too?

Then become an ambassador! The initiators are looking for five municipalities that share this dream and want to help inspire other municipalities to ultimately provide all schools in the Netherlands with a playful and nature-rich schoolyard. Although, thanks in part to the efforts of municipalities, the initiators have fortunately already seen fantastic schoolyards emerge in many places, there are still too many schoolyards consisting mainly of grey paving stones. Together with five ambassador municipalities, the initiators are working towards an approach to structurally support schools in designing and using their schoolyards for play, exercise and learning. These may be municipalities that have already started working with their own approach, as well as municipalities that have only just begun to realise their ambitions for schoolyards.

What do the initiators offer the ambassador municipalities?

  • €50,000 budget (including VAT) for the physical transformation of schoolyard(s) in neighbourhood(s) with low socioeconomic status characteristics, to be realised using the approach.
  • Process guidance and expertise in the areas of design, participation, implementation and use of the schoolyard.
  • Visibility as a schoolyard ambassador towards other municipalities and public authorities through a visual report.
  • · Exchange with the other ambassador municipalities.

What will your role be as an ambassador municipality?

As a political and administrative ambassador, the initiators ask you to share your existing approach and lessons learned regarding schoolyards with them, or to provide the time and space to formulate and test an approach together. To see this in practice as well, the initiators would like to accompany and observe the process being carried out with one or more schools. They would like to bring the resulting approach to the attention of as many municipalities as possible. That is why they are documenting the approach. The ambassador municipalities will contribute to disseminating it by sharing the approach and ambitions and by setting a good example themselves. The five ambassador municipalities will sign a declaration of intent to apply the approach at multiple schools in the long term and to develop policy for this purpose (including funding and deployment of resources). The signing will be celebrated in a festive manner with the State Secretary.

Selection and timeline

Your municipality can apply by completing the application form at: www.gezondeschoolpleinen.nl/gemeenten

The application period closes on 14 November. At the end of November, five ambassador municipalities will be selected based on content and several more practical considerations, such as geographical distribution, availability and variation in the themes.

The timeline is broadly as follows:

• 14 November: application period closes

• End of November: announcement of ambassador municipalities

• December: introductory meeting with ambassador municipalities

• January through July 2023*: formulating the approach (accompanying the process, documenting the process, etc.)

• July through October 2023*: signing the declaration of intent, sharing the approach, completion

• November 2023: latest delivery date for schoolyard(s) (expenditure of €50,000)

* In January, May and September, there will be a meeting with all five ambassador municipalities to work jointly on the approach and exchange knowledge and experiences.