Samenvatting

In the Netherlands, policymakers are increasingly concerned about the levels of physical activity (including sports participation). Generally, developments in physical activity have remained stable over the past decades, with ethnic minorities, lower educated, and low-income groups continually lagging behind in their participation levels (and in health in general). Living Labs are considered one of the solutions to counter this situation, boosting social cohesion as a pleasant side effect. Chapter 12 introduces one specific Living Lab (i.e., The Hague Sportkwartier) and concludes, based on the experience, that this approach is both promising and challenging. Evaluation results show that once interaction with citizens has been established, the approach yields considerable results. However, getting citizens involved appears to be quite demanding. Engaging multiple stakeholders in a bottom-up approach is challenging at another level and demands a new perspective on policymaking. Though the Living Lab approach provides a new way of raising levels of physical activity in society, there is much to learn in order to fully exploit the potential of Living Labs and actually raise sports participation rates among vulnerable groups of citizens.