Smaaklessen said in a LinkedIn post that it was ‘extremely proud and happy to receive this award’. Smaaklessen is also celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026. For Smaaklessen, the award is ‘recognition for everyone who has dedicated themselves over the past 20 years to teaching children more about healthy and sustainable nutrition’.

What does Smaaklessen do?

The multidisciplinary team behind Smaaklessen, EU-Schoolfruit and EU-Schoolzuivel translates scientific knowledge into practical programmes that encourage healthy and sustainable eating habits among young people. The team supports governments, companies and NGOs in developing and evaluating effective strategies for nutritious and sustainable choices. Through Smaaklessen, children learn to make conscious food choices by tasting, smelling, touching and discovering. By combining research, education and practice, the team has developed an effective, evidence-based programme that now reaches 6,115 primary school locations in the Netherlands (87%). Both Smaaklessen and the EU School Programmes are developed and implemented in close cooperation with a wide range of partners.

Smaaklessen structure

There are five lessons for each year group, with the exception of groups 1/2, which have nine lessons. The teaching materials consist of a teacher’s guide and an interactive whiteboard module. The guide contains a description of all the lessons. Everything is fully worked out so that you can get started as quickly as possible. The final lesson is a concluding lesson in which you carry out a cooking assignment together with the class. Each Smaakles comes with an interactive whiteboard module containing videos, games, illustrations and quizzes.

Impact

Impact research has shown that:

  • Smaaklessen increases children’s knowledge about nutrition.
  • Through Smaaklessen, children are more willing to taste unfamiliar foods and eat more healthily and diversely.
  • Smaaklessen, in combination with EU-Schoolfruit, further increases vegetable and fruit consumption, especially among children who receive less encouragement to do so at home.

Based on impact research among primary school pupils, the RIVM has recognised Smaaklessen as an effective lifestyle intervention.

Other nominees

The other four nominees for the WUR Impact Award were:

  • AlgaePARC - Maria Barbosa, Rene Wijffels & team
  • Water lentils - Ingrid van der Meer, Jurriaan Mes & team
  • Extreme Wildfire event datahub project - Chiel van Heerwaarden & team - Meteorology and Air Quality
  • Project HighLO - Joost Pennings, Marjolein Verhulst & team

The WUR Impact Award was presented for the fourth time. Previous winners include Food Waste United, NL2120 and the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge.