Purpose: In Amsterdam – the Netherlands – we know that children living in low income households have a lower health status and report lower physical activity levels than their peers in middle- or high-income households. Seven primary schools located in neighborhoods with a low social-economic status are currently developing their own active school using the ‘Creating Active Schools Framework’. This study was conducted to assess the current physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns during and after school of the pupils in these seven primary schools.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we collect data in seven schools located within an Amsterdam neighborhood with a low social economic status score. Within each school, 4 classes are eligible for participation. Children wear an accelerometer from Monday morning until Friday afternoon to assess physical activity levels. Parents of participating children are asked to complete a questionnaire on baseline characteristics, wellbeing and out of school physical activity behaviors. The mean sedentary time (ST), low physical activity (LPA) time and Moderate to Vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time will be calculated. The association between the outcomes of the accelerometer data and gender and health related outcomes reported by parents will be assessed.Results: The data will be collected between March and May 2023. We will present the average LPA and MVPA during and after school time. The duration of the ST bouts during and after schooltime. And associations between ST, LPA and MVPA and gender and health related outcomes.Conclusions: The results of this study will be used to support local school teams in the development and implementation of local action plans towards a school day that involves less sitting and more physical activity.
One neighborhood in Groningen, the Netherlands, is a neighborhood housing about 12,000 citizens with on average a low-SES background, showing a less healthy and active lifestyle. In the past, initiatives have been undertaken to promote active lifestyle by implementing outdoor facilities stimulating physical activity. However, use of facilities was poor due to lack of citizen involvement. Aim of this project was to engage citizens in the overall process of capturing, plan making and prototyping of concepts for an exercise-friendly physical and social environment.From January 2020 - May 2022 a Living Lab was run following the ‘Our Voice’ citizen science method. Participatory citizen science was applied in which a community of stakeholders (public/private parties) and citizens was built. The community addressed the problem by creating more insight in promoting/degrading features in the neighborhood concerning an active lifestyle. Citizens (n = 40) used the Stanford Neighborhood Discovery Tool, which allowed for systematic observations of the physical environment. Additionally, emergent research walks gave extra information on neighborhood barriers/facilitators next to Discovery Tool data. Collected data allowed citizens to brainstorm on possible solutions in sessions facilitated by the researchers. Solutions were presented to local government and further developed for implementation and realization.Use of the Discovery Tool created an overview of the neighborhood. Based on positive/negative features, new ideas were generated for improving exercise-friendliness. One example was a walking route along art objects in the neighborhood. Furthermore, a citizens work group was formed which discussed this route, and other ideas and prototypes, with local government. This group was also involved in realization of prototypes.Our project resulted in a citizen science approach which can be transferred to other neighborhoods. Use of Discovery Tool showed many benefits for neighborhood plan making. Early and continuous involvement of citizens will lead to more sustainable engagement and is a powerful method to create engagement around societal problems and social innovation in the field of Health Enhancing Physical Activity.A transferable method for neighborhood development based on citizen science was developed. Key feature in our method was integration of design thinking, citizen engagement, and use of digital tools.
Residential electricity distribution grid capacityis based on the typical peak load of a house and the loadsimultaneity factor. Historically, these values have remainedpredictable, but this is expected to change due to increasingelectric heating using heat pumps and rooftop solar panelelectricity generation. It is currently unclear how this increasein electrification will impact household peak load and loadsimultaneity, and hence the required grid capacity of residentialelectricity distribution grids. To gain better insight, transformerand household load measurements were taken in an all-electricneighborhood over a period of three years. These measurementswere analyzed to determine how heat pumps and solar panelswill alter peak load and load simultaneity and hence gridcapacity design parameters. Moreover, the potential for smartgrids to reduce peak loads and load simultaneity, and hencereduce required grid capacities, was examined.
