At the Trimbos Institute in Utrecht, a well-attended kickoff meeting took place on Wednesday, 11 September, for the Healthy School Study Trip Iceland, which runs from 22 to 27 September. Among those present were representatives from the education sector, Municipal Health Services, Healthy School, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, the Netherlands Youth Institute, KVLO, the VO Council and the Trimbos Institute.

After an introductory round, Jeroen de Greef of the Trimbos Institute (see photo) gave a presentation on the Icelandic prevention model, which is being led in the Netherlands by the Trimbos Institute and the Netherlands Youth Institute. Interest in the model arose following an article in de Volkskrant on 2 July 2017, ‘How Icelandic teenagers swapped alcohol and cigarettes for sport’. Municipalities asked the Trimbos Institute and the Netherlands Youth Institute whether a similar programme could also be implemented in the Netherlands. Initially, these institutions were sceptical, but it later became clear that the approach in Iceland was well supported by scientific insights and data. This ultimately led to a pilot involving six municipalities (Súdwest-Fryslân, Texel, Urk, Amersfoort, Ommen-Harderberg and the Kempen municipalities), supervised by Icelandic researchers. Representatives of the Kempen municipalities will also take part in the study trip. De Greef also spoke about the experiences with the Dutch pilots so far. These show that involving parents is the main bottleneck.

Goof Buijs, the delegation leader, then explained the objectives of the study trip:

  • Contributing to the further professionalisation of the approach to health at school.
  • Learning about good examples of Healthy School initiatives in Iceland and cooperation between schools and the local community.
  • Contributing to insight into the administrative, policy and substantive aspects of the Healthy School approach, based on Icelandic examples and experiences.
  • Networking, inspiring and enthusing the participants, and being inspired and enthused by them.

He also discussed the programme.

Kim van der Haar of Arko Sportsmedia then covered a few practical matters.

During the Healthy School Study Trip Iceland, you can read a daily blog on this website by Tilly de Jong of Gezonde Leefstijl Op School about the experiences.