During the Four Days’ Marches festivities, regional partners, including HAN Sport en Bewegen and GezondRijk Nijmegen, will demonstrate how prevention, exercise and health awareness contribute to a healthy and resilient region.
How do we ensure that people stay healthy for longer? That question is central to Lifeport Arnhem-Nijmegen Region. With an ageing population, increasing pressure on the healthcare system and a growing focus on well-being in the broadest sense, prevention is becoming increasingly important. Rather than waiting until people need care, we should invest in health, vitality and awareness. During the Four Days Marches, this ambition is brought to life in a place where thousands of people come together.
Within Lifeport Arnhem-Nijmegen Region, Health is one of the key themes on which organisations, research institutions, public authorities and businesses collaborate. The aim: a region where residents can grow up, live and work in good health. Prevention plays a key role in this. Healthy residents not only enjoy a higher quality of life, but also contribute to a strong labour market, reduced pressure on healthcare services and a future-proof region.
“Prevention is much more than just a healthcare issue. It affects our economy, our living environment and our wider prosperity. That is precisely why collaboration in the region is so important.” – Jan van Dellen, Director of The Economic Board Regio Arnhem Nijmegen
The Four Days Marches festivities as a meeting place for health
The Four Days’ Walk has traditionally been an event centred on physical activity. But the walking week also offers a unique opportunity to raise awareness of health among residents and visitors in an accessible way. Mariënburgplein will be transformed into Kids & Youth Square. On Thursday afternoon, 23 July, visitors will be able to discover, amongst other things, what health means to them and what role physical activity plays in it.
One of the programme components taking place that afternoon is the HAN SENECA health check. Visitors can have their blood pressure, resting heart rate and grip strength measured, amongst other things, and receive a personalised summary of their results straight away. The measurements are designed to give people an accessible insight into their health and to spark a conversation about lifestyle, vitality and prevention.
In this context, health is not just about measurement, but above all about raising awareness. By making health accessible and understandable, visitors gain an insight into what they themselves can do to stay healthy and full of vitality.
“Prevention starts with insight. Many people find it interesting to see where they stand. An initial assessment like this can be a catalyst for making more conscious choices regarding exercise, diet or lifestyle.” – Stan Blazer, HAN SENECA
Making health tangible
During the Four Days Marches, HAN plays an active role in raising health awareness. Students, lecturers and researchers from the Academy of Sport and Exercise help visitors experience how health and exercise are interconnected.
Children are also actively involved. During the BLOC test, they carry out various physical activity tasks designed to assess their motor skills. Afterwards, children and parents receive an insight into the results and how these compare with national benchmark values. The test aligns with a key ambition within the region: to encourage children to engage in sufficient and varied physical activity. It is precisely at a young age that the foundations are laid for a healthy lifestyle later in life.
“Above all, we want children to experience how much fun being active is. At the same time, parents gain valuable insights into their child’s motor development.”
Bart van Gastel, PE teacher
For students, the Four Days’ Walk also provides a unique learning environment. Here, they experience how prevention and health promotion work in practice and what role they, as future professionals, can play in creating a healthier region. By guiding visitors and engaging in conversations, they make a direct contribution to the societal challenges they will later tackle in their professional lives.
“You can tell that visitors are curious. Sometimes, just one conversation is enough to get someone thinking about exercising more or living a healthier life. That’s what makes the work during the Four Days Marches so rewarding.” – Maxime Schuurman, sports science student
Working together towards a healthy generation
Health doesn’t just start with healthcare professionals, but also in places where people exercise, meet one another and have fun. With this in mind, GezondRijk Nijmegen and N.E.C. Nijmegen will also be present at the Kids & Youth Square.
Young people can test their football skills by taking penalties and find out about the social activities organised by the Nijmegen football club. Visitors can also walk the N.E.C. Route 1900: a walk through Nijmegen’s lower town that links the club’s rich history with the city and its residents.
The presence of N.E.C. demonstrates that health and physical activity go beyond sporting performance alone. Sports clubs play an important role in promoting physical activity, social interaction and a sense of community within the neighbourhood and the region. In doing so, they contribute – just like partners in education and healthcare – to the wider prosperity of the Arnhem-Nijmegen region.
Part of a bigger picture
The health-related activities form part of a wider programme at the Jongerenplein on Thursday afternoon, 23 July, during the Four Days Marches week. Whilst visitors learn about health, exercise and prevention, young people will also discover the possibilities offered by technology and innovation. In this way, HAN, together with its partners, demonstrates that societal challenges require talent across various fields. Health, technology and innovation come together here in a natural way.
Building broad prosperity together
The Four Days Marches is therefore more than just a sporting event. It is also a place where it becomes clear how organisations in the region are working together towards a healthy, innovative and future-proof society. From prevention and a healthy lifestyle to talent development and innovation: during the Four Days Marches, the themes that are important for the region’s overall prosperity come together.
For Lifeport partners, that is precisely what it’s all about. Not just working on solutions for today, but investing in a region where people can live healthy lives, develop their potential and participate fully in society.
The activities at the Kidsplein and Jongerenplein bring this ambition to life. Children and young people are challenged to discover, experiment and get hands-on. In this way, they experience how innovation in the fields of health, technology and talent development contributes to a strong region – both today and in the future.
Practical information
Mariënburg Kids & Youth Centre
During the Four Days Marches festivities, from 18 to 23 July, children, young people and their parents can enjoy activities centred on sport, health, technology, culture and innovation. Click here to view the full programme.
