The widely used Icelandic motto ‘þetta reddast’, which roughly means ‘everything will work out’, can be seen as the counterpart to the structured Icelandic healthy school approach. The basis of the approach is research. ‘If we measure the right thing, we might end up doing the right thing!’. The success of this data-driven approach lies largely in the rapid feedback of research results on lifestyle factors and health determinants. This makes it possible to take action in the same school year, with the same students, involving parents, students, teachers and school management. In the Netherlands, we use a theme-driven approach. The data is not only for the schools. They apply ‘The whole of Society approach’. A healthy school is part of a healthy neighbourhood, in a healthy municipality. In Iceland, much more so than in the Netherlands, there is collective branding; everyone speaks the same language.
Leisure card
In Reykjavik, every child has a leisure card that allows them to participate in sports at a club or choose cultural activities after school. Data from the card provides a good overview of who is participating in training. Girls engage more in cultural activities and boys participate more in sports. The municipality uses the data to determine what facilities are needed to meet demand. This has resulted in fantastic sports facilities and many swimming pools, which schools can in turn use for physical education.
Six compulsory core areas
Since 2011, a new national curriculum has been implemented. It includes six compulsory core areas: health & wellbeing, literacy, sustainability, democracy & human rights, equality and creativity. As a result, schools place a great deal of emphasis on inclusion, mindfulness, calm, physical activities, healthy meals, cooking lessons and the wellbeing of both staff and students. The guiding principle is: If you are not happy, you cannot learn. Schools have a youth nurse or ‘counselor’ present, and some schools have a psychologist. Children can go there to ask for advice or discuss their problems, without parental involvement.
Alcohol abuse
One of the factors that led Iceland to adopt this approach was alcohol abuse among young people. This was a major problem in Iceland for many years. The problem was solved by applying ‘The whole of Society approach’. All parties have been working together since the early 1990s. Everyone (including parents and children) is involved from the outset, and the local authorities provided support through resources as well as policies, such as imposing a curfew for young people. According to one of the speakers (Arni Einarsson), one explanation for the success of the Icelandic approach is: 1. Cooperation 2. Activating all stakeholders in decision-making (co-creation) 3. Working primarily at a decentralised level; ‘government is fine, local governments are great’
And above all, let’s not forget ‘petta redast’. Icelanders always assume that everything will work out. And with a positive attitude, you can go a long way.