That we at TomorrowLab like to maintain a wide playing field is illustrated yet again by our collaboration with Sport Vlaanderen. The successor of Bloso is a highly interesting organisation with an important social mission: to get the Flemish to participate in sports - and keep them doing so. Because, together with us, Sport Vlaanderen wants to look far ahead.
Towards a new experience of sports
First, the bad news: keeping the Flemish moving for as long as possible and with as much life quality as possible in a rapidly changing society is not at all obvious. The good news? It’s a fascinating challenge that we at TomorrowLab have embraced with great enthusiasm.
General Director of Sport Vlaanderen Philippe Paquay is also highly motivated: “Our experience of sport is changing. People are living under ever-increasing time pressures, and so they prefer to engage in sports at moments of their own choosing.” But the fact that sports clubs are declining in popularity in favour of individual sports doesn’t have to be regarded as a problem per se. “You can grumble about it, just like about the greater attention for screens, but you can just as well seize upon this situation in order to go to work in an inventive and radically different way.” That's the kind of thing we like to hear!
You can grumble about the situation, but you can just as well seize on it in order to go to work in an inventive and radically different way.
One thing is certain: movement is an absolute condition for keeping our health care affordable. Paquay: “That’s why we want to think up more accessible initiatives to get people to participate in sports.” Because at Sport Vlaanderen they understand very well that experience is crucial, the plan to maximally integrate technology into sport is progressively taking shape. Virtual reality, anyone?
Clearly, Sport Vlaanderen wants to look farther into the future than the coming five years. And that´s why they contacted us. The result? We're now looking together with them at . . . 2040. Firstly to provide for the necessary adapted infrastructure well in advance and to better respond to the trend towards individualisation. Certainly also with regard to new target groups that are showing an interest in sports, there are a lot of fresh challenges ahead. And we’ll be working hard on them together.
Watch the video of the SportInnovatieCongres